Key Contacts
Jamie P. Dreher
Partner
Sacramento 916.520.5478
Related Industries
- Aerospace
- Agribusiness
- Construction
- Municipal & Public Agency
- Nonprofit/Tax-Exempt Organizations
- Real Estate
- Retail
Related Practices
Bankruptcy & Insolvency
Led by partner Jamie Dreher, Downey Brand’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Group is a multi-disciplinary practice. The team of bankruptcy and insolvency attorneys are equally adept at both litigation as well as strategic advisory and transactional services. The practice is led in Sacramento but serves clients in cases and matters in California bankruptcy courts as well as nationally.
Our California bankruptcy lawyers generate success for a wide range of stakeholders in insolvency-related matters, including debtors in complex chapter 11 cases, committees, secured and unsecured creditors, receivers and other court-appointed fiduciaries, asset purchasers, trustees, hedge funds, equity security holders, and special servicers in many diverse industries such as real estate (office, retail, multi-family, land), food and agriculture, retail, banking and financial institutions, asset-based lending, environmental, construction, energy, manufacturing, engineering, mining, and oil and gas.
For troubled or challenged companies or high net-worth individuals, our interdisciplinary team includes banking attorneys as well as corporate restructuring and tax professionals, allowing a team approach that brings with it the specialized and focused expertise which is available at Downey Brand.
In addition to select debtor representation, our bankruptcy attorneys represent financial institutions and special servicers from credit inception through enforcement and trial, including loan documentation, navigating default and foreclosure of real and personal property for secured creditors, exercising prejudgment remedies including receiverships, and representation in bankruptcy court on behalf of such clients as Textron Financial, Farm Credit West, Farmers & Merchants Bank, Silverpoint Capital, California Bank & Trust, Met Life, Credit Suisse, Golden 1 Credit Union, and various special servicers and leading financial institutions in their capacity as trustee/servicer.
When an out-of-court solution is not practicable, our team is proud of its achievements and results, including litigation and confirmation of plans of reorganization on behalf of industry-leading companies and obtaining unanticipated distributions out of chapter 11 cases on behalf of creditors’ committees or other creditor constituencies. The favorable results obtained by our Sacramento-based bankruptcy attorneys for clients have made our Bankruptcy & Insolvency Group an industry leader.
Selected Experience
Selected Experience
- In a recent dairy chapter 11 the firm helped Farm Credit West obtain full payment of over $30 million, including default interest, prepayment premiums, attorney’s fees and costs.
- In the Pacific Gas and Electric Company case the firm represented Merced Irrigation District in helping to defeat PG&E’s first proposed chapter 11 plan which provided for the breakup of PG&E.
- In the IRM case which involved over 50 properties, 100 partnerships and 2000 investors the firm restructured all of these into a single, public limited liability company which ultimately resulted in investor recoveries
Creditor Representations
- In a recent dairy chapter 11 the firm’s bankruptcy attorneys helped Farm Credit West obtain full payment of over $30 million, including default interest, prepayment premiums, attorney’s fees and costs.
- In the Pacific Gas and Electric Company case the firm represented Merced Irrigation District in helping to defeat PG&E’s first proposed chapter 11 plan which provided for the breakup of PG&E.
- In the IRM case which involved over 50 properties, 100 partnerships and 2000 investors the firm’s bankruptcy attorneys restructured all of these into a single, public limited liability company which ultimately resulted in investor recoveries
Debtor Representations
- Confirmed chapter 11 plan of reorganization for luxury houseboat rental and sales operator, including payment in full to unsecured creditors and restructure of matured secured debt at favorable terms.
- Represented a Lake Tahoe timeshare developer in Chapter 11 including related shareholder litigation, leading to confirmation of liquidating plan.
- Confirmed Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization for organic foods retailer leading to successful post-confirmation sale of business.
- Co-counsel for the Debtors in the jointly administered cases of Circus and Eldorado Joint Venture, dba Silver Legacy Resort Casino, and Silver Legacy Capital Corp.
Committee Representations
- Represents the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the SK Foods, L.P. chapter 11, one of the largest chapter 11’s filed in the Eastern District of California.
- Represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Matterhorn, Inc. case, a large-scale manufacturer of ice cream and novelty confections.
- Represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in Chapter 11 case involving a U.S subsidiary of an international medical device manufacturer, resulting in substantial distribution to unsecured creditors.
- Counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the case of singer and entertainer Wayne Newton.
Additional representative casework includes substantive roles in connection with the following cases: Enron, Montgomery Ward, K-Mart, Linens N Things; United Air Lines, Delta Air Lines, 360 Global Wines, City of Vallejo Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy, Shasta Lake Resorts, Commonwealth Equity Trust, Desert Power, Circuit City, Dunmore Homes, Hometown Buffet, Mervyn’s, Quebecor, Mariner Post- Acute Network, Inc., Tower Records, Zacky Farms, Aquarius Pools, Flying J, Inc., Reynen & Bardis, Sagewood Manor Associates Ltd., Tropicana Entertainment, LLC, Specialty Trust, Inc., and others.
Jamie P. Dreher
Partner
Sacramento 916.520.5478
Michael J. Laino
Michael J. Laino
Senior Associate
Since joining Downey Brand in 2019, Michael Laino has represented businesses and individual clients in a wide arrange of civil litigation matters, including partnership and shareholder disputes, construction and product defect litigation, wildfire liability, adversary proceedings in bankruptcy cases, financial security matters, and general real estate and contractual litigation.
Sacramento 916.520.5360
Senior Associate
Sacramento 916.520.5360
Danielle R. Stephens
Danielle R. Stephens
Partner
Danielle Stephens is a skilled transactional attorney who assists clients with commercial real estate leasing, financing (including CMBS and SBA loans), acquisitions and sales, easements, and title matters with a focus on contractual negotiations requiring collaborative deal-making. She also advises on matters involving contaminated properties including due diligence and remediation.
Sacramento 916.520.5475
Partner
Sacramento 916.520.5475
Announcements
11 related items-
November 2, 2023Downey Brand Ranked Nationally and Regionally in 2024 Best Law Firms®
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November 5, 2022Downey Brand Ranked Nationally and Regionally in 2023 “Best Law Firms” by U.S. News – Best Lawyers®
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November 5, 2021Downey Brand Ranked Nationally and Regionally in 2022 “Best Law Firms” by U.S. News – Best Lawyers®
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November 9, 2020Downey Brand Ranked Nationally and Regionally in 2021 “Best Law Firms” by U.S. News – Best Lawyers®
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February 7, 2020Danielle Stephens Rejoins Downey Brand as a Partner
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November 4, 2019Downey Brand Ranked Nationally and Regionally in 2020 “Best Law Firms” by U.S. News – Best Lawyers®
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November 12, 2018Downey Brand Ranked Nationally and Regionally in “Best Law Firms” 2019 by U.S. News – Best Lawyers®
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November 6, 2017Downey Brand Named a Tier 1 Regional “Best Law Firm” in Six Practice Areas by U.S. News – Best Lawyers® in 2018
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January 4, 2016Downey Brand Names New Partner
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October 30, 2015Jamie Dreher to Serve as Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference
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December 6, 2013Downey Brand Names New Partner
In the News
4 related items-
May 4, 2021Local bankruptcy filings drop 35%
Sacramento Business Journal -
April 17, 2014Detroit Seeks Creditor Votes With Divide and Conquer
Bloomberg News -
July 15, 2013Detroit Creditors Get New Worry in Alabama Fee Ruling
Bloomberg News -
March 22, 2013Stockton Creditors Face Long Odds to End City Bankruptcy
Bloomberg News
Speaking Engagements / Events
7 related items-
March 30, 2023Tips and Tricks for Successful Remote Appearances Including 341’s, Evidentiary Hearings, and BDRP’s
Speaker, Northern California's 22nd Annual Bankruptcy Conference -
October 20, 2022Bankruptcy 101: An In-Depth Exploration of the Basics, Types and Limits of Bankruptcy
Speaker, Sacramento Legal Secretaries Association General Membership Dinner Meeting -
May 21, 2022Federal Arbitration Act – Should I Stay or Should I Go? Enforcing Arbitration Agreements in Bankruptcy Proceedings
Speaker, 34th Annual Insolvency Conference -
May 15, 2020Business Guidance on Next Steps in Recovery for Yuba and Sutter Counties
Greater Sacramento Economic Council, COVID-19 Webinar Series -
January 30, 2020Credit Disaster Roundtable
Presenter, The Risk Management Association, Central Valley Chapter -
April 30, 2015California Receivers Forum, Sacramento Valley Chapter
Receivers Operating In Bankruptcy -
May 20, 2014Beware the Bankruptcy Trustee, South Placer Estate Planning Council
Presenter
Publications
4 related items-
March 6, 2016The Premier Cru Bankruptcy
Guest blogger, LEX VINI Blog published by Dickenson Peatman & Fogarty -
February 2014Case Update: Paulson v. Go Global, Inc., Case No. NV-12-1596-JuKiKu (Jan. 13, 2014)
State Bar of California, Business Law Section, Insolvency Law Committee, Bankruptcy e-Bulletin, Co-Author -
January 2014Case Update: In re Hazelrigg v. United States Trustee, Case No. WW-13-1230-TaDJu (Nov. 19, 2013)
Co-Author, State Bar of California, Business Law Section, Insolvency Law Committee, Bankruptcy e-Bulletin -
September 24, 2013Receiverships: Resolving Disputes with Management of a Small Business
Northern Nevada Business Weekly, Business Law Guide