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Mr. Levine focuses upon the representation of senior and Tranche B lenders, hedge funds and other creditors in the documentation, structuring and recovery of loans, leases, taxable and tax-exempt bond offerings, securitizations and other complex financings. During his more than twenty years experience in the bankruptcy area, he has represented secured and unsecured creditors, official and unofficial committees, debtors and trustees. He has developed particular expertise in issues confronting secured creditors and equipment lessors including debtor-in-possession financing, cash collateral and stay litigation, and plan confirmation challenges.
In recent years, a significant portion of Mr. Levine's practice has involved specialty lending particularly to retailers, including the recovery of loans in or out of bankruptcy proceedings. He also has significant experience in health care and airline finance and other complex insolvency matters. Over the last decade, he has devoted a substantial portion of his practice to the structuring, documentation and work-out of asset-backed securitizations, leasing transactions and taxable and tax exempt debt offerings.
Also, as part of the firm's Structured Resolution Group, Mr. Levine helps to analyze the issues surrounding the subprime market collapse in an effort to help clients identify and execute on arbitrage and repackaging strategies.
Mr. Levine is recognized by Woodward/White's The Best Lawyers in America, in the area of Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law.
Recent Matters
o Counsel to First Lien Trustee in Chapter 11 proceedings of Calpine Corporation.
o Represented specialty Tranche A and Tranche B lenders in a series of secured financings to retail borrowers and in Chapter 11 cases throughout the country.
o Counsel to an ad hoc committee of 2nd lien lenders in the out-of-court restructuring of Environmental Systems Products Holdings Inc. involving a debt for equity exchange.
o Obtained full recovery for several lenders in retailers' Chapter 11 proceedings, through coordination of going out of business sale and guarantor litigation.
o Counsel to largest creditors in Exide Technologies Chapter 11.
o Served as counsel to trustee and/or bondholders for several tax exempt financings in issuer's bankruptcy proceedings. For example, Imperial Sugar Company and Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Chapter 11 proceedings succeeded in rendering bonds unimpaired.
o Representation of official creditors' committee in Business Express Airlines reorganization.
o Representation of Indenture Trustee in Safelite Auto Glass, Motient Corporation, Fountainview, Zilog, PNV and other recent Chapter 11 cases.
o Documented and rendered bankruptcy opinions and structured several securitizations involving tobacco legal fees, equipment leases, accounts receivable, payments in lieu of taxes and other asset classes.
o Represented senior management of equipment leasing company in leveraged buy-out financed through a securitization of its lease portfolio, more than $350,000,000 in securitization facilities, and subsequent merger with a state chartered bank.
Publications
o Author, "Lending to the Emerging Debtor in the Face of an Appeal," Commercial Lending Review, January-February 2006
o Author, "The Inconsistent Treatment of Secured Tax Claims in Liquidation and Reorganization Proceedings," 93 Comm. L.J. No. 3 (Fall 1988)
o Author, "Broken Promises: Repudiation of Contracts under FIRREA" (MCLE, 1991)
o Author, "Workouts of Troubled Real Estate Transactions" (MCLE, 1988)
o Author, "Protecting the Transaction from Bankruptcy and Insolvency Risks" a chapter in Securitization: Asset-Backed and Mortgage-Backed Securities, (Michie/Butterworth, 1991)
o Author: "Lender Beware - Fraudulent Conveyance Preference and Other Legal Concerns in Forbearance Agreements", ABI 2003
Speaking Engagements
o Adjunct Professor in Securitization and Structured Finance, Boston University School of Law since 1996.
o "Recent trends in Debtor in Possession Financing", 2001 American Bankruptcy Institute Leadership Conference
o Using Chapter 11 to Sell a Business - July 2003, American Bankruptcy Institute Northeast Conference
o Strategic Research Institute; Asset Based Lending Seminar
Community Involvement
o Board of Directors, Chairman of Pro Bono Committee of Turnaround Management Association, Massachusetts Chapter
o Treasurer, Jewish Family Services of The North Shore
Bar Admissions & Memberships
o Admitted, Massachusetts Bar
o Admitted, United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts; First Circuit Court of Appeals
o Member, American and Boston Bar Associations
o Admitted, New York Bar, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York |
