John W. Mills is a partner in Barnes & Thornburg LLP's Atlanta and Los Angeles offices, where he is a member of the firm's Finance, Insolvency and Restructuring Department. He concentrates his practice on bankruptcy, debtor/creditor rights, bankruptcy acquisitions and insolvency related litigation, including receiverships and foreclosures. His experience also includes secured lending transactions; loan workouts; and general commercial litigation in state and federal courts.
Prior to joining Barnes & Thornburg, Mr. Mills was a member of Feder & Mills, a boutique bankruptcy firm in Los Angeles (1991 - 2002), and was a partner in Kilpatrick Townsend Stockton LLP in Atlanta (2002 - 2009). Mr. Mills has authored a number of articles and seminar materials on a wide range of topics, including receivership and foreclosures; bankruptcy litigation and appeals; employment and compensation of professionals in bankruptcy cases; representation of committees in chapter 11 cases; venue issues for ancillary and cross-border bankruptcy cases; taxation of transfers in sales under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code; administration of Ponzi scheme cases in chapters 7 and 11; issues arising in franchisor/franchisee bankruptcy cases; and pre-packaged chapter 11 plans.
Mr. Mills currently is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bankruptcy Section of the Atlanta Bar Association. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal. In 2008, he was the recipient of the Atlanta Bar Association's inaugural Pro Bono Award for his creation of a program to provide counseling to pro se debtors in connection with reaffirmation agreements in bankruptcy cases. In 2012, he was the recipient of the Law Firm Attorney of the Year Award from Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta.
Mr. Mills currently is a member of the Executive Committee of the Bankruptcy Section of the Beverly Hills Bar Association. He is also a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Commercial Law Section of the State Bar of California and The Financial Lawyers Conference.
Mr. Mills is admitted to practice in all of the state courts of California, Georgia, and New York, the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the U.S. District Courts and Bankruptcy Courts for the Central, Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts of California, the U.S. District Courts and Bankruptcy Courts for the Middle and Northern Districts of Georgia, the U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts for the Southern District of New York, and the U.S. District Court and Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona.
Mr. Mills received his B.A. from Wofford College in 1982. He earned his J.D. in 1990 from Emory University School of Law, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal.
Mr. Mills' experience includes:
Creditors' Committees
In re Bill Heard Enterprises, et al. (Bankr. N.D. Ala.) - Counsel to the official committee of unsecured creditors in jointly administered chapter 11 cases of fourteen high volume Chevrolet dealerships and affiliates (over $500 million in debt).
In re NII Holdings f/k/a Nextel International (Bankr. D. Del.) - Counsel to the official committee of unsecured creditors in chapter 11 case involving Nextel's South and Central American operations (over $2 billion in debt).
Examiners and Trustees
In re International Management Associates, LLC, et al. (Bankr. N.D. Ga.) - Counsel to chapter 11 trustee of eleven defunct hedge funds, involving liquidation of approximately $15 million in real and personal property assets and investigation and prosecution of tort and avoidance actions seeking recovery of over $285 million.
In re Mizuno, et al. (Bankr. C.D. Cal.) - Counsel to chapter 11 trustee seeking to recover assets from $900 million fraud perpetrated in Japan. Several hundred million dollars in assets were liquidated, including three golf clubs in Nevada, California and Hawaii.
In re HomeGold, Inc., et al. (Bankr. D.S.C.) - Counsel to examiner appointed in chapter 11 case of a subprime mortgage lender and its affiliates that raised capital from the sale of subordinated debentures to the public in the "Upstate" area of South Carolina. Losses to subordinated debenture holders exceeded $350 million. The examiner's powers were expanded to operate the debtor entities pending confirmation of a liquidating plan and appointment of a plan trustee. Operation of the debtors included liquidation of several subprime mortgage pools.
In re Lazar, et al. (Bankr. C.D. Cal.) - Counsel to examiner appointed in chapter 11 cases of gasoline retailer with over 250 locations in Southern California.
In re First Capital Holdings, Inc. (Bankr. C.D. Cal.) - Counsel to examiner appointed in chapter 11 case of insurance holding company whose operating subsidiaries, First Capital Life (California) and Fidelity Bankers Life (Virginia) had been seized by state regulators.
Debtors
In re Friedman's Jewelers (Bankr. D. Del.) - Counsel to chapter 11 debtor in liquidation of over 650 retail locations.
In re Hamakua Sugar Company (Bankr. D. Haw.) - Counsel to chapter 11 debtor in the liquidation of a quasi-governmental entity manufacturing sugar, providing housing and hospital services to employees and providing electric power to portions of the island of Hawaii.
In re Realty Trust Corporation (D. N. Mar. I.) - Counsel to chapter 11 debtor, a real estate holdings and sales company based in Saipan, mired in litigation over raced based restrictions on long term holdings in land in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
In re Gibraltar Financial (Bankr. C.D. Cal.) - Counsel to chapter 11 debtor in the liquidation of a holding company for one of the largest savings and loan failures in U.S. history (Gibraltar Savings & Loan).
In re American Continental Corporation (D. Ariz.) - Counsel to chapter 11 debtor in the liquidation of a holding company for the one of the largest savings and loan (Lincoln Savings & Loan) and real estate (Phoenician Hotel, etc.) failures in U.S. history.
Purchasers
In re Perry Uniontown LLC (Bankr. S.D. Ala.) - Counsel to § 363 sale purchaser of assets of landfill owner and operator in Perry County, Alabama.
In re Swoozie's, Inc. (Bankr. N.D. Ga.) - Counsel to § 363 sale purchaser of assets of a fifty store retail chain selling stationary, commemorative cards and art supplies.
In re Meadowcraft (Bankr. D. Del.) - Counsel to § 363 sale purchaser of facility in Alabama manufacturing wrought iron patio furniture.
In re T.I. Acquisition, Inc. (Bankr. N.D. Ga.) - Counsel to § 363 sale purchaser of textile mill in Dalton, Georgia.
In re Aerosol Packaging, Inc. (Bankr. N.D. Ga.) - Counsel to chapter 11 plan purchaser, plan sponsor and debtor in possession financier of aerosol packaging operation in Canton, Georgia.
Secured And Unsecured Creditors
In re America West Airlines (Bankr. D. Ariz.) - Counsel to secured lender to commercial air carrier with mixed collateral comprised of aircraft, spare parts and rotables, and real property.
In re Suzuki Outlet of Myrtle Beach, S.C., LLC (Bankr. D.S.C.) - Counsel to floor plan lender in chapter 11 case of automobile dealership.
In re Joe Gibson Automotive/In re Joe Gibson Auto World (Bankr. D.S.C.) - Counsel to floor plan lender in chapter 11 cases of three automobile dealerships.
Counsel to Regional Bell Operating Company and its wireless communications subsidiary in a number of chapter 11 cases, including: Worldcom (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.), Adelphia Communications (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.), Allegiance Telecom (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.), Leap Wireless/Cricket Communications (Bankr. S.D. Cal.), Focal Communications (Bankr. D. Del.) and Supra Telecom (Bankr. S.D. Fla.).
In re Golden Restaurants, et al. (Bankr. N.D. Tex.) - Counsel to franchisor in chapter 11 cases of franchisees operating 42 restaurants.
Publications
04/01/2010, Georgia State Bar Association 2010 Real Property Foreclosure Seminar
03/03/2008, National Law Journal - March 2008
11/21/2005, National Law Journal - November 2005
09/01/1996, Beverly Hills Bar Association Journal - Summer/Fall 1996
03/01/1996, Beverly Hills Bar Association Journal - Winter/Spring 1996
Events
· Attorney Presentation - Confirmations and Deficiency Actions
· Attorney Presentation - Ponzi Schemes - Bankruptcy Court v. Federal Equity Receivership
(Also at Los Angeles, California Office)