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
PG&E Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy; Will Its Filing Impact Your Sector?
This week, Pacific Gas & Electric ("PG&E"), the state's largest utility, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Northern District of California. PG&E claims over $50 billion in assets and $... Read more »
Lender Foreclosing On Leasehold Not Liable As Tenant Without Express Lease Assumption
A recent California court case underscores the need for a landlord to insist that a tenant's lender assume the lease following foreclosure, and simultaneously highlights an opportunity for a lender fo... Read more »
Ninth Circuit Rules That Trustees May Recover Bank Deposits Irrespective of the Bank's Possessory Setoff Rights in Such Deposits
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that a bank may have to return a borrower's funds held in an ordinary bank deposit account less than 90 days before the borrower's bankruptcy. Read more »
Ninth Circuit Changes Mind To Favor Creditors In Post-Default Interest Decision
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a decision that gives creditors a powerful tool in Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases going forward. Read more »
Appellate Court Rejects Guarantor's "Sham Guaranty" Defense to Guaranty Enforcement
The California Court of Appeal has once again confirmed that a "sham guaranty" defense will not bar a lender from enforcing a commercial guaranty of a real estate secured loan. Read more »