c. edward dobbs

Bankruptcy Experience:

• Represented Oglethorpe Power Corporation in a multi-billion dollar dispute in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of Westinghouse Corporation and its affiliates pending in New York, and claims against the parent company, Toshiba Corporation, which resulted in full recovery of approximately $1.3 billion of liquidated damages while preserving the company's interest in intellectual property critical to the continued construction of nuclear plants.
• Represented court-appointed monitor in a civil action brought the Securities and Exchange Commission pending in Federal Court in New Jersey against defendants accused of violating the federal securities laws in connection with various municipal bond and private placement offerings in connection with their acquisition and management of various types of senior care facilities.
• Represented Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent and lender, under a $1.2 billion debtor-in-possession financing facility to American Tire Distributors, Inc, and their domestic and foreign affiliates in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in Delaware.
• Represented the Colonial BancGroup, Inc, a publicly traded bank holding company, as Chapter 11 debtor in Montgomery, Alabama, in a hotly contested proceeding involving a myriad of claims asserted by and against the FDIC as receiver for Colonial Bank, leading to a successful confirmation and post-confirmation pursuit of asset recoveries.
• Represented Bank of America, N.A., as agent, lender, and letter of credit issuing bank under an revolving credit facility provided to Noranda Aluminum, Inc. and affiliates, which comprise a vertically integrated producer, manufacturer, and distributor of alumina, aluminum, and rolled aluminum products. The companies filed chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in St. Louis, Missouri in February 2016, and the firm assisted Bank of America in negotiating, documenting and obtaining court approval of a $130 million debtor-in-possession financing facility to support the debtors' operations in chapter 11.
• Represented Bank of America, N.A., as agent, in connection with a senior secured, asset-based, cross-border revolving credit and term loan facility provided to Modular Space Holdings, Inc. and affiliates, which engaged in the sale and leasing of temporary buildings and structures. The companies filed pre-arranged chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in Delaware, and the firm represented the agent bank in the pre-petition, post-petition, and exit financings.
• Represented Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent, lender, and letter of credit issuing bank under an asset-based lending facility provided to The Standard Register Company and its affiliates which provide printing, distribution, and marketing materials and services to medical service providers, governmental agencies, and other businesses. The companies filed chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in Delaware in 2015, and the firm assisted Bank of America in negotiating, documenting, and obtaining court approval of a $125 million debtor-in-possession financing facility to support the debtors' operations in chapter 11, including negotiating a post-petition intercreditor agreement between the asset-based lenders, the first lien term lenders and the second lien term lenders.
• Represented HSBC, as lender, in connection with the recovery of amounts outstanding under a senior secured revolving credit facility in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in the Western District of New York of a publicly owned company engaged in the business of manufacturing and selling ready-to-assemble furniture.

Mediation Experience:

• Mediated $1 billion claim arising out of the one of the nation's largest Ponzi schemes and asserted by the liquidating trustee under the Ponzi debtor's Chapter 11 plan against numerous individuals and entities for receipt of Ponzi scheme proceeds and profits, with a settlement in the high eight figures.
• Mediated claims for alleged breach of fiduciary duty and aiding and abetting breaches of fiduciary duty by individuals serving as fiduciaries of a post-confirmation liquidating trust in Florida for having filed claim exceeding $750 million in a separate Chapter 11 case of Ponzi schemer and having the alleged effect of diluting liquidating trust claims against the Ponzi schemer's estate.
• Mediated global resolution of various disputes and claims arising out of a $48 million Ponzi scheme, including claims asserted against the Chapter 7 bankruptcy estates of entities through which the Ponzi scheme was perpetrated, claims against the Ponzi scheme perpetrator's decedent's estate (he committed suicide after the Ponzi scheme was discovered), claims asserted by the Securities and Exchange Commission against the bankrupt entities and the decedent's estate, threatened investor claims against the spouse of the Ponzi scheme perpetrator (who received substantial life insurance proceeds), claims of the Chapter 7 trustee and various investors against a life insurance company alleged to be involved in the Ponzi scheme, and claims asserted against the Chapter 7 estates, the decedent's estate, and various other parties by a company in which the Ponzi scheme perpetrator orchestrated some of the fraudulent activities.

Presentations:

• Numerous presentations at seminars on lending, bankruptcy and mediation topics sponsored by bar and banking associations and other CLE providers, including the American Bar Association, Atlanta Bar Association, the State Bar of Georgia, Mississippi Bar, Texas Bar, Tennessee Bar, Oklahoma Bar, Florida Bar, West Virginia Bar, the Practicing Law Institute, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Commercial Finance Association, the Turnaround Management Association and Commercial Law League of America.
• Presenter, "Enforceability of Intercreditor Agreements in Bankruptcy: Maximizing Recovery for First and Second Lienholders," Strafford Webinar (August 2020)
• Presenter, "Mediation Demonstrations: Bridging the Gap," ABI/St. John's Law School Forty-Hour Bankruptcy Mediation Training (December 2019)
• Presenter, "The Psychology of Negotiation," Meritas U.S. Fall Meeting (November 2019)
• Moderator, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Multi-lateral Negotiations," Turnaround Management Association Annual Conference (September 2019)
• Panleist, "Mediation Strategies in Chapter 11," ABI Southeast Bankruptcy Conference (July 2019)
• Co-presenter, "Some Cognitive Biases and Influences in Negotiations," Atlanta Bar Bankruptcy Law Section (May 2019)
• Presenter, Arbitration Institute on Ethical Rules and Guidance for Arbitrators (March 2019)
• Presenter, "Avoiding and Dealing with Impasse," St. Johns Law School Mediation Training Program (December 2018)
• Presenter, "Heuristics: Potential Pitfalls For The Unwary Arbitrator," State Bar of Georgia ADR Institute (2016)
• Presenter, “Psychological Influences in Negotiation,” State Bar of Georgia Annual Corporate & Business Law Institute (2015)
• Presenter, “Negotiating the Settlement of a Lawsuit,” State Bar of Georgia Annual Corporate & Business Law Institute (2014)
• Presenter, “Mediation in Bankruptcy,” Bankruptcy Law Section of the State Bar of Mississippi in Jackson, Mississippi (December 2013)
• Panelist, Troubled Businesses and Bankruptcy Symposium sponsored by the Georgia Society of CPAs (October 2013)
• Faculty leader, American Bankruptcy Institute and St. John's University School of Law Bankruptcy Mediation Training Program (2011-2019)
• Panelist, "Irrational Decision Making in Mediation," ABI 2013 Spring Meeting (April 2013)
• Panelist, "Emerging and Complex Issues in Chapter 11: Part One," National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges in Tampa, Florida (October 2011)
• Presenter and Author, "Mediation in Bankruptcy Cases -- A Mediator's Perspective," ABI 2011 Spring Meeting (April 2011)
• Presenter and Co-Author, "Commercial Law -- Year in Review," Atlanta Bar Association (December 1989 - present)
• Presenter, "Workouts and Forbearance Agreements - Due Diligence and Documentation," Turnaround Management Association (Atlanta Chapter) series of Interdisciplinary Programs (June 2009)
• Panelist, “In-Transit Inventory Financing,” teleconference by Strafford Publications (2012, 2015)
• Panelist, "Negotiating Intercreditor Agreements as Bankruptcy Filings Soar," teleconference by Strafford Publications (2008, 2009, 2011 - 2013, 2015, 2016)
• Panelist, "The Bankruptcy Boom is Here: Are You Prepared for the Exponential Growth of Bankruptcy Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution," ABI Annual Meeting (April 2009)
• Panelist and Co-Author, "In Transit Inventory: Loan Documentation and Practical Considerations," ABA Spring Business Law Section Meeting (April 2009)
• Moderator and Panelist, Business Bankruptcy Panel on the "Brave New World of Finance," 23 Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal, 549 (2007)