Journal of Corporate Renewal

April

2017

So when I opened my own office, I gravitated toward some of those people.

We stayed in touch. I began to do work for entities where some of them wound up, and I started getting referred work.

The contacts just built from there.

Q What have been some of your favorite cases along the way?

I had a case relatively early on after I opened my own practice. It was really relatively small in the overall scheme of things compared with the type of cases that TMA members generally handle. There was a guy who was running a storage business in one of the more rural parts of the metropolitan area.

His wife had just passed away. He was an older gentleman, and he had gotten into a dispute with some of his partners. The lawyers who were representing him brought me in to try to work out a resolution to the case and help him keep his business, but also to turn it around.

Over the course of 18 months, we were able to do that. We got the litigation resolved outside of bankruptcy. We never had to go into bankruptcy.

This gentleman was able to keep his business. We were able to work out a resolution not only with the people who were suing him but also with his lender as well. Several years later, he was able to refinance his business, and he constructed and opened an entirely new section of storage facilities.

To be able to help somebody who was not only down business-wise but also down in his personal life and help him keep a business that he had built—in hindsight, I’d say that’s probably the most satisfying one that I’ve worked on. Most of my work is on behalf of creditors, and I’m quite good at that. But you tend to be trying to inflict stress in that circumstance. In the other one, I think I was really able to help a guy out.

Q The impact of the whole thing came down to this one individual, so you were able to see it on a more human level.

Very much. It helped, of course, that he was a good guy. That’s probably the most gratifying case I’ve had in this type of work.

Q Any other favorites?

As I said, most of them have
been cases where I’m trying to inflict
stress to help get my clients paid. I’ve had
some circumstances where we’ve gotten
very significant payouts for my clients. I
have a number of cases going in
bankruptcy right now, or ones that I
recently got out of because Chapter 7
trustees were appointed. But we’ve been
able to bring misconduct on the part of
the debtors to the court’s attention. From
my perspective, that’s always gratifying,
and my clients appreciate it very much.
While I can’t really say in those
circumstances that I’m helping to turn
around a business, I’m helping to enforce
my client’s rights.

Q You touched a little on this in the beginning, but what role has TMA played in your career?

I think that’s been a significant aspect of it. I have been able to build a network of colleagues and friends from coast to coast that I never would have had without being a member of TMA and being given the opportunities that I’ve had within TMA to network with people and to participate in TMA activities. Whether it was planning a conference or being part of the board of trustees or being the corporate secretary for a while, it has permitted me to meet so many people that I have become friends with, people who I can go to as a resource, and people who sometimes come to me as a resource.

It has been very, very gratifying, and I don’t think I’d be as good a lawyer or as good a professional today were it not for TMA. I know that sounds trite, but in my case, I firmly believe that. The opportunity to work with judges from around the country—who I will probably never have an opportunity to appear in front of—on panels, to hear what they have to say, to get insights from them as we work through presentations or as part of TMA governance has been an experience that I didn’t think I would have, but it’s been one of the best parts.

Q What other advice would you have for someone who was new to the industry or was thinking about getting into it?

Find a good mentor who has experience in the bankruptcy, turnaround, and restructuring industry from whom you can learn. Also, develop your leadership skills from the beginning.

By that I don’t mean constantly putting
up your hand to do what some people
perceive to be leading. What I mean is, if
you’re asked to do something, take the
opportunity to do it and do it well. Do
things that will permit you to meet people
and grow your own network.

For young TMA members, don’t volunteer for something just to say, “I can sit next to a judge.” Do it with an open mind and open ears and work with the judges that you have the opportunity to meet because it’s a wonderful experience. Sometimes you get some real pearls of wisdom by just listening to them talk amongst themselves.

Obviously, the most critical thing is to do a good job in whatever your engagement is, no matter how big or how small. But people who just know you as a colleague have to be able to realize that they can rely on you. That’s something I think you have to start working on at the very beginning, because it builds the trust that somewhere down the road may lead to an engagement. I think it’s something that is critically important, but I don’t think it’s necessarily something that people focus on as early in their careers as perhaps they should.

Q If you could start your own career over, would you do anything differently?

I love being a lawyer, so I don’t think I would change that aspect of it. I might focus earlier on what I really want to specialize in. I’ve wound up doing predominantly commercial litigation, real estate litigation, some construction litigation, and then, of course, bankruptcy litigation. I wish I had had a focus earlier in my career, particularly in the bankruptcy area. I did some of it, but it’s taken until probably the last 15 to 20 years for me to really focus on it. I enjoy it. I feel like I get decisions faster in Bankruptcy Court than I do in some of the other courts in which I appear. The bankruptcy cases really make progress, and I enjoy that aspect of it.

So, I probably would focus a little more on my area of practice. I would take my own advice and would learn how to lead, whether it was putting up my hand to volunteer or leading by example more than I did when I was younger.