Ulmer & Berne LLP’s Financial Crisis Task Force is made up of attorneys with extensive experience representing leading national and local financial institutions and corporations affected by the recent collapse of the subprime mortgage and securitization markets. Our nationally recognized business and litigation attorneys have the depth and expertise to advise on a broad range of subprime-related issues, including complex regulatory and transactional matters, investigations, bankruptcy and litigation.
Our multidisciplinary group combines the knowledge and expertise of highly skilled attorneys specializing in the following areas:
- Banking and Commercial Litigation
- Financial Regulatory Law
- Commercial Real Estate
- Bankruptcy/Restructuring
- Internal Corporate Investigations
- Securities
Banking and Commercial Litigation
Our Financial Crisis Task Force includes experienced banking and commercial litigation attorneys who currently represent some of the nation’s largest financial institutions in complex litigation matters arising from all aspects of the current financial crisis. Our attorneys have defended banks, hedge funds, mortgage brokers, and other financial institutions, as well as their individual directors, officers, and third-party agents, in nearly every type of lending and commercial litigation. Our experience includes complex litigation involving collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs), auction rate securities (ARSs), credit-related securities, truth-in-lending and consumer disclosure, financial privacy, Uniform Commercial Code, federal preemption, credit discrimination, unfair or deceptive trade practices, commercial lending law, and lender liability. We have litigated complex direct claims related to mortgages (including documentation and fraud claims), as well as counterclaims asserted in foreclosure actions. We have defended claims arising from the financial crisis not only against financial institutions, but also against their advisers and agents, including attorneys and accountants. Whether you are involved in complex litigation matters or need representation in smaller claims, we work diligently to resolve your dispute.
With many of the Firm’s trial attorneys regularly distinguished in The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, and Law and Politics magazine’s Ohio Super Lawyers, we offer clients a well qualified team of attorneys who have litigated in numerous jurisdictions throughout the United States with excellent results. Our comprehensive experience allows Ulmer & Berne to provide not only successful representation in litigation matters, but also valuable insights on the latest developments in banking and commercial law.
Financial Services Regulatory Law
We provide a full range of services essential to keep financial institutions competitive in today’s marketplace, while continuing to remain focused on compliance with existing and emerging regulations. Our lawyers represent financial institutions before regulatory agencies in response to examination and enforcement proceedings and advise clients on all aspects of regulatory compliance. We assist clients in complying with the full range of financial services laws and regulations, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, the Bank Secrecy Act, and many other statutes and regulations affecting the financial services industry. We also counsel clients on forming, merging, and acquiring full-service and limited purpose banks, savings associations, and holding companies.
Commercial Real Estate
Receiving the highest ranking of any Ohio-based law firm for the past four years on the Midwest Real Estate News list of Top Real Estate Law Firms, Ulmer & Berne boasts a commercial real estate practice consisting of lawyers with a broad scope of talent and expertise. We advise commercial mortgage loan sellers and servicers on loan servicing relationships and represent clients in loan transactions including the sale of beneficial interests. We also counsel servicers on loan servicing agreements and work with attorneys in the Firm’s other practice groups to provide specialized expertise in traditional mortgage financing and securitizations as well as other non-traditional transactional structures responsive to their needs and to those of their customers and markets.
Bankruptcy/Restructuring
A major aspect of the financial crisis is the increase in distressed commercial debt. We recognize that significant business opportunities can be present in insolvency proceedings and, specifically, in the current business environment surrounding the distressed debt market. We regularly assist clients in acquiring and selling distressed assets, whether through direct transactions or through proceedings such as secured party sales and sales under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. Our attorneys serve creditors (secured and unsecured), debtors, trustees, and others in restructurings, out-of-court workouts, bankruptcies, receiverships, and other insolvency proceedings. We also work closely with our litigation attorneys in developing strategies and in structuring resolutions in connection with claims arising from or related to insolvencies and distressed businesses.
Internal Corporate Investigations
We have performed internal investigations of entities, officers, and employees in alleged securities, disclosure, employment, and financial reporting misconduct for a variety of clients. These investigations have included representing and working with special board and board audit committees in extensive due diligence, project and document review, employee and related-party interviews, comprehensive reporting, and other tasks related to internal investigations.
Securities
In this unsettled financial climate, investors increasingly look to the perceived “deep pockets” of financial institutions, as well as their officers and directors, for recovery. Many of the nation’s major banks and other financial institutions turn to Ulmer & Berne for defense against charges of securities fraud, misrepresentation, unauthorized trading, or alleged violations of federal and state laws and related regulations. The Firm’s attorneys also represent entities and individuals in regulatory and white-collar investigations at both the federal and state levels, and advise clients on disclosure issues related to the financial crisis. In the near future, we expect even more claims will be filed against those who participated in packaging and selling securities backed by subprime mortgages.