Overview
Serving the Financial Ecosystem
Because of our deep understanding of the business and legal issues faced by sophisticated creditors, clients rely on us to provide practical and efficient solutions.
Our clients include:
- Banks, credit unions, and finance companies
- Landlords
- Leasing companies
- Manufacturers and other vendors
- Other secured and unsecured lenders, including institutional investors and high net worth individuals
- Private banking and trust operations
Comprehensive Range of Legal Services
In representing our clients in everything from ordinary course and financially troubled transactions to litigation, we offer our clients a broad and extensive range of legal services:
- Articles 3 and 4 claims and defenses, including defense of claims of forged and altered checks and negotiable instruments
- Assessing and managing risks from environmental issues as part of due diligence in lending or foreclosure decisions
- Commercial lending advice and documentation
- Construction loan documentation and enforcement
- Defense and protection of creditors in civil and bankruptcy proceedings
- Factoring and other asset-based lending advice and documentation
- Guarantees and third-party pledges
- Inter-creditor agreements, loan participations and syndications, and inter-creditor disputes
- Letter of credit transactions
- Loan assumptions and reaffirmations
- Loan sales and assignments
- Loans to technology companies, including creation and perfection of security interests in intellectual property
- Real estate lending and project finance advice and documentation
- Warrants and other equity participations
- Wire transfer fraud defense and prosecution
- Workouts, remedial actions, writs and receivers, foreclosures and other enforcement actions on behalf of secured or unsecured creditors, including actions in state, federal and bankruptcy courts
Experience
- Represented national commercial lender in a claim against borrower and other parties for recovery of diverted collateral. Obtained payment of multimillion dollar credit in full and restructured related credits through a multi-party settlement agreement.
- Represented a large regional bank in a series of related construction loans secured by deeds of trust on land to be developed as a mixed use project including a hotel and retail space.
- Represented real estate secured lender in judicial foreclosure of undeveloped real property, obtaining full payment of all principal, interest, fees and costs.
- Represented a regional bank in the sale of three problem construction loans aggregating more than $15 million in principal to an investor.
- Represented a major Bay Area municipality in the Chapter 11 filing by one of the largest terminal operators at a West Coast port.
Insights
- “Directors Owe Fiduciary Duties to Creditors of Insolvent Companies”, May 31, 2016
- “U.S. Supreme Court Expands Types of Fraud Which May Bar a Bankruptcy Discharge”, May 26, 2016
- “Court Confirms Bankruptcy Filing Prevents Expiration of Judgment Creditor's ORAP Lien”, March 23, 2016
- “Appellate Court Severely Undercuts Chapter 11's Usefulness for Individual Debtors”, February 18, 2016
- “Hopkins & Carley Continues Expansion”, January 28, 2016
Update on Mechanic's Lien and Private Works Stop Notice Laws
On July 1, 2012, the Mechanic's Lien and private works Stop Notice laws in California changed. Read more »
Creditors May Save Time and Money By Raising Plan Confirmation-Related Objections to a Chapter 11 Disclosure Statement
A recent Chapter 11 reorganization case gives creditors more incentive to raise plan confirmation-related objections at the disclosure statement hearing before the plan is presented for confirmation. Read more »
Lender Fails to Collect Default Interest Based on Poorly-Drafted Loan Documents
A recent California case warns that interest may not be collectible at a default rate following loan maturity if the loan documents are not properly drafted. Read more »
Lost Lien Priority Restored
A recent case provides a reminder about the importance of title insurance in making loans secured by real property. I Read more »
Disgruntled Borrowers More Likely to Sue Lenders for Fraud as a Result of Recent California Supreme Court Decision
For the past seventy years, California Courts have held that a party is barred from claiming fraud based on an alleged oral misrepresentation that directly contradicted the express terms of a written ... Read more »