John is an experienced restructuring attorney and assists clients on a wide range of insolvency and creditor rights issues including bankruptcy, commercial litigation, foreclosure and state law remedies.
His versatility is demonstrated by the fact that he has represented a number of corporate clients in some of the largest business chapter 11 cases filed in Virginia as well as managed and coordinated high volume litigation for financial and other institutions in consumer bankruptcy and foreclosure cases on a nationwide basis. He regularly appears in complex chapter 11 cases representing stalking horses and other bidders acquiring assets through section 363 sales, contract parties with regard to assumption or rejection of contracts, and creditors in claim litigation. He has also defended clients in hundreds of preference and fraudulent transfer actions under the Bankruptcy Code.
He is a past-president of the Bankruptcy Section of the Richmond Bar Association. He has lectured on bankruptcy law at various continuing legal education programs and bar functions.
From 1996 to 1997, John served as law clerk for the Honorable Conrad B. Duberstein of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York, and from 1995-1996, he served as law clerk for the Honorable Douglas O. Tice, Jr. of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Eastern District of Virginia.
Experience
- Banc of America Leasing & Capital, LLC as owner of special unit of beneficial interest with respect to prepetition ABS facility in Hertz Corporation chapter 11 bankruptcy case.
- CSX Transportation as creditor and contract parties in bankruptcy cases nationwide
- National trucking company in various distressed asset acquisition transactions
- Credit card lender and deposit bank in Paper Source bankruptcy case
- Freddie Mac in HOA lien foreclosure litigation in Nevada.
- Stalking horse bidder for assets of auto parts distributor in North Carolina.
- Bidder for various Toys R Us locations in Toys R Us bankruptcy case.
- Purchaser of education based intellectual property license in education platform provider Chapter 11 case in New York.
- National mortgage lender on complex standing and loss mitigation nationwide.
- Servicer in various consolidated single asset real estate Chapter 11 cases in Virginia.
- Secured lender in luxury hotel Chapter 11 case in Charlottesville, Virginia.
- LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. as Chapter 11 debtor.
- Liquidating Trustee as plaintiff in fraudulent transfer litigation in The Austin Company Chapter 11 case.
- Secured lender in out of court workout with lumber company located in Richmond, Va.
- Secured lender in Chapter 11 case of real estate developer in Charlottesville, Va.
- Critical vendor and contract party in General Motors Chapter 11 case.
- Critical vendor and contract party in Chrysler Chapter 11 case.
- Bond participant in Lehman Chapter 11 case.
- Contract party in Global Power Equipment Chapter 11 cases.
- Xybernaut Corporation as Chapter 11 debtor.
- Adversary defendant in Enron Corporation Chapter 11 case.
- AMF Bowling Worldwide, Inc. as Chapter 11 debtor.
- Best Products as Chapter 11 debtor.
- Heilig-Meyers Company as Chapter 11 debtor.
- Committee chair and adversary defendant in Durango, Georgia, Chapter 11 case.
- Adversary defendant and contract party in Solutia, Inc. Chapter 11 case.
- Indirect asbestos claimant in Kellogg, Brown & Root Chapter 11 case.
- Investment banker for employment issues in various Chapter 11 cases.
- Public Housing Authority as senior secured creditor in various Chapter 11 cases.
- Adversary defendant and contract party in Bethlehem Steel Chapter 11 case.
- Unsecured creditor and contract party in Mirant Corporation Chapter 11 case.
- Bank in Open Plan Systems, Inc. Chapter 11 case.
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St. John’s University School of LawJD
Managing Editor, American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review
1995 -
State University of New York at Stony BrookBA
summa cum laude
1991
Member; Past-President, Bankruptcy Law Section, Richmond Bar Association
Advisory Board Member, American Bankruptcy Institute Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop
Member, Creditors’ Rights and Bankruptcy Subcommittee, Real Property Section, Virginia State Bar
- Speaker, "Bankruptcy Issues, Avoidance of Liens for Disallowed Secured Claims: In re Blendheim," Current Legal Issues and Trends in Mortgage Origination and Servicing, Mortgage Servicing In-House Counsel Forum, February 2016
- Roundtable leader, "The Treatment of Shopping Center Leases in Bankruptcy," US Shopping Center Law Conference, International Council of Shopping Centers, October 2015
- Speaker, "Two Important Bankruptcy Issues for Every Real Estate Attorney (Single Asset Real Estate Bankruptcy Cases)," Virginia State Bar, May 2013
- Speaker, "Default Interest and Yield Maintenance Premiums – Are They Enforceable?," Default Interest and Yield Maintenance Premiums, April 2013
- Speaker, "Emerging Threat to Closely-Held Businesses: Creditor Issues," American Bar Association – Real Property, Trust and Estate Section, Closely Held Business, Farmers and Ranchers Sub-Committee, July 2012
- Speaker, "Lessons in Real Estate and Bankruptcy from the Global Financial Crisis," Virginia State Bar, June 2011
- Speaker, "Recent Developments Concerning Property of the Estate Issues under Section 541 of the Bankruptcy Code," Virginia Bar Association, October 2009
- Speaker, "Selected Current Bankruptcy and Loan Workout Issues," Virginia State Bar, May 2009
- Speaker, "Bankruptcy From the Inside," Richmond Bar Association, April 2009
- Moderator, "Labor/Pension, Public Finance and International Aspects of Airline Insolvencies," State Capital Global Law Firm Group, September 2007
- Hon. Douglas O. Tice, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, 1995-1996
- Hon. Conrad B. Duberstein, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, 1996-1997
- New York
- Virginia
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia
Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation – Bankruptcy, Woodward/White, Inc., 2018-2025
Selected for inclusion in America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Bankruptcy/Restructuring, Virginia, Chambers USA, 2015-2024
Named to “Virginia Super Lawyers,” Bankruptcy, Intellectual Property, Thomson Reuters, 2023, 2024
Named to “Legal Elite,” Bankruptcy/Creditors’ Rights, Virginia Business, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017-2023
Named “Lawyer of the Year,” Richmond, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Best Lawyers, 2023
- Author, Senators Propose COVID-19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act to Extend Covid-19 Changes to the Bankruptcy Code, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, March 3, 2021
- Author, "Enforcement of Liens and Judgments in Virginia," Virginia CLE, 1998-present
- Authors, "Successful Strategies for Representing Creditors in the Complex Practice of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy," Creditors’ Rights in Chapter 11 Cases, 2009
- Co-author, "The Impact of Recent Bankruptcy Decisions in Piccadilly and Buffets Holdings on the Practice of Real Estate Law," The Fee Simple, November 2008
- Co-author, "Maintaining and Enforcing Common Carrier Liens in Bankruptcy," American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, July/August 2008