| Biography | Paul is a member of the Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Commercial Law Section in the firm's Boston and New York offices. He has more than 25 years of experience representing debtors and creditors in workouts, restructurings and commercial bankruptcy proceedings and in commercial finance transactions. Prior to joining Mintz Levin, Paul was associate general counsel to M&T Bank, where he was responsible for the bank's entire commercial and back office activities. Paul has developed a national reputation representing bondholders and indenture trustees (particularly in connection with tax-exempt bond debt) in workouts and Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases throughout the country. He is also counsel to debtors, unsecured creditors' committees, secured lenders of various lien priorities, major trade vendors, landlords and tenants, equity holders, and buyers of many different types of assets in bankruptcy proceedings, both domestically and internationally. His industry experience includes health-care (particularly medical and psychiatric hospitals, CCRCs, senior living and skilled nursing facilities, and pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers), biotechnology, telecommunications, tier I and II automotive and parts suppliers, computer software and hardware manufacturers, retail clothing stores, convenience stores, restaurant and food service chains, real estate management and development firms, construction contractors, large hotels and convention centers, casinos and gaming enterprises (including American Indian casinos), solar power panel manufacturers, arms and weapons manufacturers, book publishers, aircraft manufacturers, space satellite launch and operating companies, insurance companies, sewage treatment facilities, shipping and marine cargo docks and warehouses, textile manufacturers, public housing developments, and institutions of higher education. Paul also is an expert in commercial finance transactions. His expertise includes representing lenders and borrowers in demand, term and revolving loans, syndicated bank loans, asset-based lines of credit, project finance, acquisition loans, highly leveraged loans, cash flow credits, cross-border lending, foreign exchange credits, second lien and mezzanine loans, intercreditor and subordination arrangements, commercial and standby letters of credit, personal property leasing and sale and leaseback transactions, and structures involving vertically and horizontally integrated borrowers and guarantors as well as the use of special purpose entities to create so-called bankruptcy remoteness. Paul also represents buyers and sellers of distressed claims, and was a member of a team of litigators that obtained a seminal judicial decision holding that portions of the industry standard method for trading claims fails to establish a binding contract on the seller until the trade is consummated. Paul has particular expertise in secured transactions law, especially the Uniform Commercial Code, including credit transactions secured by intellectual property such as patents, trademarks and copyrights, and licenses and royalties derived there from. He is an expert on the rendering of legal opinions in credit transactions and is a member of the firm's Legal Opinions Committee. Paul has been the lead trial attorney and appellate counsel in a diverse array of litigation matters in state and federal court, particularly bankruptcy court, including lien priority and other secured creditor disputes, fraudulent conveyance, lender liability, equitable subordination, the valuation of secured claims, and the confirmation of bankruptcy plans of reorganization. Paul's published articles have appeared in West Publishing Company publications, the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, the Daily Bankruptcy Review, the Corporate Finance Review, the Bankruptcy Strategist, the New York Law Journal, the Journal of Corporate Renewal, and numerous bar association publications and newsletters such as the Boston Bar Association Newsletter and the American Bankruptcy Institute Healthcare Committee Newsletter. Paul has had numerous teaching and speaking engagements for professional organizations, bar associations and industry groups, including the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Association (MCLE) (designated by the Massachusetts Bar Association and the Boston Bar Association as the official provider of continuing legal education in Massachusetts), the National Federation of Municipal Analysts, the National Association of Bond Lawyers, the Commercial Finance Association, the Council of Infrastructure Finance Associations, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Turnaround Management Association, the Bond Buyer (Symposium on Specialty Credits), and Lorman Seminar Services. Paul has been inducted as a Fellow in the prestigious American College of Bankruptcy in recognition of his having demonstrated the highest levels of character, integrity, professional expertise and leadership in the profession. He is also listed in Best Lawyers in America, in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, and as a Massachusetts and New England Super Lawyer. Publications: "Rekindling the War on Secured Creditors: Unsecured Creditors Score Important Early Victories," chapter in Bankruptcy and Restructuring Law 2010, West Publishing (2011) "Amended Rule 2019 Allays Fears of Claims Trading Industry," Daily Bankruptcy Review (June 17, 2011) "Current Strategies for Expanding the Source of Recovery for Creditors," chapter in Bankruptcy and Restructuring Law 2009, West Publishing (2010) "The New Rules Concerning Disposal of Patient Records: Section 351 May Not Reduce Controversies Over the Proper Procedures To Be Followed By Health Care Debtors," American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, Vol. XXV, No. 11 (December, 2006) "The New Exception to the Automatic Stay Permitting the Government to 'Exclude' Healthcare Providers: The More Things Change, the More Things Stay the Same," American Bankruptcy Institute Healthcare Committee Newsletter, Vol. 3, No. 1 (August, 2006) "When Worlds Collide: Lessons from a Not-For-Profit Bankruptcy Case," Corporate Finance Review (September/October 2005) "When Debt Confronts Charitable Mission - Handling the Non-Profit Workout/Bankruptcy," The Bankruptcy Strategist, Vol. 22, No. 9 (August 25, 2005) "Reorganizing a Not-For-Profit Debtor," New York Law Journal, Vol. 234, No. 6 (July 11, 2005) "Lien on Me; What's in a Name (Apparently, a lot)," American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, Vol. XXIV, No. 4 (May, 2005) "Cleaning Up Environmental Claims in Bankruptcy - Conflicts Between Bankruptcy and Environmental Laws," The Journal of Corporate Renewal, Vol. 16, No. 7 (July, 2003) "Did Revised Article 9 Amend the Bankruptcy Code?" Boston Bar Association Newsletter (2003) Industries Financial Services |