Mr. Kalikman is the co-chair of the Firm's Business Services Department and the managing partner of the Firm's San Francisco office. He represents money center banks, investment banks, hedge funds, private equity and venture capital investors, real estate investors, and other secured and unsecured creditors in financial restructuring, bankruptcy, workouts, secured creditor enforcement, commercial financing, loan documentation, secured transactions, and other transactional and litigation matters. He has also represented numerous Fortune 500 companies and major European, Latin American, and Pacific Rim businesses engaged in diverse industries including financial services, real estate development, telecommunications, information technology, manufacturing, music and entertainment, resort and hospitality, construction, oil and gas, agriculture, health care, and insurance.
Areas of Experience
Bankruptcy, Workout, and Restructuring
In addition to his representation of clients in out-of-court workouts and restructurings, Mr. Kalikman has represented creditors, creditors' committees, debtors, and prospective asset purchasers in all aspects of Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, including debtor-in-possession financing, negotiation of debt and equity restructuring, sales of substantially all of a debtor's assets under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, "pre-packaged" plans, plan preparation, plan confirmation, objections to confirmation, avoidance actions, and automatic stay, dischargeability of indebtedness, and preference litigation. He has also advised licensees of intellectual property rights on issues arising under section 365(n) of the Bankruptcy Code.
Representative cases include:
· In In re Enron Corp., et al., worked with a team of lawyers serving as co-counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors.
· In connection with the bankruptcy case filed by General Motors Corporation (GM), represented New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI), the last vehicle assembly plant in California and one of the largest employers in Alameda County, in a vast array of complex matters relating to NUMMI's eventual closure. Filed a $500 million claim in GM's bankruptcy case; negotiated and documented a $250 million financial support package with Toyota Motor Corporation and several of its affiliates to fund transition support for NUMMI's salaried and hourly team members.
· In In re Harder, represented the debtor-in-possession in the largest Chapter 11 bankruptcy case ever filed in Oregon. The case involved over 200 assisted living facilities in 37 states, more than 100 institutional lenders asserting secured claims of $1.8 billion, and 2,000 unsecured creditors and investors asserting claims in excess of $600 million.
· In In re Metricom, Inc., represented a Fortune 100 company that was the debtor's largest unsecured creditor.
· In In re MCSi, Inc., represented Hitachi America, Ltd. and one of its affiliates.
· In In re Winterland Concessions Co., represented Signatures Network, Inc., the leader in the entertainment/music artist tour merchandising industry, in its successful bid to acquire the debtor's assets.
· In In re Emergency Financial Services, Inc., et al., represented a money center bank that was the secured lender to the named debtor and 26 related debtors.
· In In re Los Medanos Health Care Corp., represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the largest Chapter 9 case ever filed in Northern California.
· In In re Commonwealth Equity Trust, represented the reorganized debtor in the largest bankruptcy case ever filed in the Eastern District of California.
· In In re At Home Corp., represented Adelphia Communications Corp. and one of its affiliates.
· In In re Leasing Solutions, Inc., represented the debtor's primary landlord (the nation's largest office building owner and manager, and also the largest REIT in the United States).
· In In re Hamilton Taft & Co., represented The Oakland Athletics Baseball Club and Payless Shoe Source.
Financial Services
· Mr. Kalikman has created form loan and security and credit facility documentation for a money center bank, a major U.S. manufacturer of home and hardware products, a leading international electronics manufacturer, and an international pharmaceutical services provider.
· He has represented institutional lenders located in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Japan, and Australia in the negotiation and documentation of asset-based, real estate, construction, acquisition, and working capital loans.
Structured Finance
· Mr. Kalikman has substantial experience in structured finance transactions and in the issuance of "true sale," "true transfer," and substantive non-consolidation opinions in real estate and intellectual property securitizations.
· In the first securitization to use a new asset class - theatrical film rights - as collateral, he participated in structuring the bankruptcy-remoteness of the transaction, a $525 million non-recourse debt facility.
Financial Services Litigation
· Mr. Kalikman has represented regional banks, money center banks, credit card companies, hedge funds, and investment banks in litigation in state court, federal district court, and bankruptcy court, and in arbitration proceedings.
Real Estate Lending
· Mr. Kalikman has represented money center banks in the negotiation, documentation, and restructuring of commercial real estate loans and in the sale of real estate loan portfolios.
Real Estate Transactions
· Mr. Kalikman has represented real estate investors in partnership, limited liability company, acquisition, sale, and lending transactions.
· He represented several parties in their multi-million dollar sale of their member interests in a limited liability company developing a 300-unit apartment/condominium project in downtown Philadelphia.
· He represented several limited partners in the $50 million sale of a 302-unit apartment complex in Philadelphia to an affiliate of Berkshire Income Realty Inc.
· He represented a money center bank in what was then the largest real estate workout in Pennsylvania. Successfully resolved the matter by negotiating and documenting the restructuring of the indebtedness secured by many of the affiliated borrowers' properties, and selling the remaining loan portfolio to a third party.
Real Estate Litigation
· Mr. Kalikman has represented commercial landlords in unlawful detainer litigation, as creditors in Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases throughout the U.S., and in other landlord - tenant matters.
· He represented three affiliated hedge funds in litigation among 19 parties involving various loans made in connection with the development of time-share resorts in California, Hawaii, and Canada.
· He represented a Taiwanese limited partner in a partnership dispute among the owners of one of the largest resorts in Hawaii.
· He represented a general partner and the limited partner of the owner of an affordable housing project for seniors listed on the National Register of Historic Places in multi-million dollar disputes with the two other general partners.
Business Transactions
· Mr. Kalikman has structured, negotiated, and drafted a wide variety of contracts for many public and private companies.
Prior Experience
Mr. Kalikman was born in Philadelphia, raised in Haddonfield, New Jersey, and practiced law in Philadelphia and New Jersey until 1990, when he moved to San Francisco.
Community Activities
· President, Exeter Association of Northern California, Phillips Exeter Academy
· General Alumni Association, Phillips Exeter Academy, former Director
· Susan G. Komen Foundation, San Francisco Chapter, former Board Member
· A Home Away From Homelessness Foundation, former Board Member
Clerkships
The Honorable Abraham J. Gafni, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas
Professional Affiliations
· State Bar of California, Business Law Section
· American Bankruptcy Institute, Finance and Banking Committee
· State Bar of California, Business Law Section, Uniform Commercial Code Committee (2008)
· State Bar of California, Business Law Section, Insolvency Law Committee (1999 - 2002)
· The Bar Association of San Francisco, Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Section (chair, 1998 - 1999; vice-chair, 1997 - 1998)
· Bench - Bar Liaison Committee, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of California (1998 - 2001)
· Board of Directors, Bay Area Bankruptcy Forum (1998 - 2001)
· Mediator, Bankruptcy Dispute Resolution Program, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of California (1994 - present)
Other Distinctions
· Listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Bankruptcy and Creditor - Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation - Bankruptcy, 2012
· Listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Bankruptcy and Creditor - Debtor Rights Law, 2010, 2011
· Named a "Northern California Super Lawyer" for creditors' rights and bankruptcy, 2004-2011
· Rated AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell®
· Mr. Kalikman has presented lectures on financial restructuring and secured transactions issues for the National Business Institute, Inc., The Bar Association of San Francisco, and the continuing legal education program sponsored by Hastings College of Law
News
09/19/2011, Sixty-Eight Schnader Attorneys Rated AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell®
09/01/2011, Thirty Schnader Attorneys Recognized as "The Best Lawyers in America" for 2012
05/27/2011, Super Lawyers Recognizes Many Schnader Attorneys in 2011
08/04/2010, Thirty-Two Schnader Attorneys Recognized as "Best Lawyers in America" for 2011
03/02/2010, George H. Kalikman Named Managing Partner of Schnader's San Francisco Office
01/01/2010, Super Lawyers Recognizes Many Schnader Attorneys in 2010
08/03/2009, Three Schnader Attorneys Named as 2009 Northern California Super Lawyers
01/16/2009, Schnader Welcomes Two New Partners to the Firm's San Francisco Office