Patrick E. Mears is a partner in the Grand Rapids, Michigan office of Barnes & Thornburg LLP and chair of the firm's Finance, Insolvency and Restructuring Department. Mr. Mears concentrates his practice in insolvency, workouts and restructurings, commercial finance, securitizations, and creditors' rights. He represents financial institutions as individual creditors and as members of loan syndicates in matters throughout the country. Although his primary practice is representing financial institutions as secured and unsecured creditors, he also represents debtors and creditors committees in bankruptcy cases and out-of-court workouts.
Mr. Mears is an elected fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and an elected member of the American Law Institute. He is listed in Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America®, Euromoney's Guide to the World's Leading Insolvency and Restructuring Lawyers, and Who's Who in America. Mr. Mears is formerly the chairperson of the Real Estate Financing Group of the American Bar Association's Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section and is currently chair of the Uniform Commercial Code Committee of the Michigan State Bar's Business Law Section.
Mr. Mears is a frequent speaker at national and local bar associations and client groups on issues involving insolvency, creditors' rights, commercial finance, and securitizations and has published numerous books and articles on these issues. He is a contributing author to Collier's Bankruptcy Practice Manual published by LEXIS/NEXIS, and has authored the treatises Bankruptcy Law and Practice and Michigan's Revised Article 9 of the UCC, both of which are published by the University of Michigan Press, and is the lead author of Strategies for Secured Creditors in Workouts and Foreclosures, a treatise published by the American Law Institute-American Bar Association's Committee on Continuing Professional Education. Mr. Mears also publishes a blog on issues arising in workouts, restructurings and bankruptcies in the automotive industry in the Bankruptcy Law Center of LEXIS/NEXIS.
Mr. Mears graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1976. His undergraduate degree is also from the University of Michigan. Mr. Mears is admitted to practice in the states of Michigan, Illinois and New York.
Publications
10/01/2010, Institute for Continuing Legal Education - Michigan Security Interests in Personal Property
03/01/2010, The Stereoscope - From the Palmer Raids to the Bridgman Raid
09/10/2009, Commercial Finance & Insolvency Bulletin - September 2009
10/31/2007, Auto Supplier Newsletter, Vol. 2, Issue 4 - October 2007
10/15/2006, Auto Supplier Newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 5
10/01/2006, Pratt's Journal of Bankruptcy Law - "Bankruptcy Briefs"
09/18/2006, Auto Supplier Newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 4
08/03/2006, Auto Supplier Newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 3
08/01/2006, Of Congressional Witch-Hunts in Academia
06/23/2006, Auto Supplier Newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 2
05/26/2006, Auto Supplier Newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 1
11/11/2005, What Congress Hath Wrought
Events
03/10/2010, Will we ever hit bottom? Commercial Real Estate Lending, Workout and Disposition Strategies in 2010
02/05/2009, Gathering Clouds or Raging Storm? (Grand Rapids)
02/03/2009, Gathering Clouds or Raging Storm? (Indianapolis)
07/19/2008, Pat Mears to Participate in ABA Connections Teleconference
11/17/2006, Group of Attorneys Present at National Japanese Organization
10/05/2006, How to Deal with the Financially Troubled Auto Industry
04/01/2006, Patrick Mears Speaks on Auto Suppliers and Bankruptcy
03/23/2005, Essential Issues for Creditors
02/23/2005, Essential Issues for Creditors
01/19/2005, Bankruptcy: A Comprehensive Updated Study of Bankruptcy Materials and Legal Information