Sheppard Mullin

The Asset Based Lending practice of Sheppard Mullin is composed of attorneys who specialize in the documentation, negotiation and structuring of secured financial transactions. We represent lenders, lessors, venture capital groups, investors and, at times, sellers, lessees and borrowers. Our client base consists primarily of financial institutions such as domestic and foreign banks, commercial finance companies and insurance and leasing companies.

Our major focus is on personal property secured transactions, including loans and leases, syndications/participations, chattel paper portfolio purchases and sales, consumer transactions, structured or financially engineered creditor facilities (whether secured or unsecured), interest rate and currency swaps and credit enhancements for taxable/tax exempt debt securities. Because Sheppard Mullin is located throughout California, we are able to provide the flexibility to handle matters in the locale most convenient to the transaction. We have also closed multistate transactions with a consistent level of efficiency and success.

With a focus on experience, organization and the effective use of technology, we are able consistently to provide not only superior legal counsel, but also greater service to our clients at a price and within the time limitations now expected and required in the marketplace. It is our belief that the use of a select cadre of attorneys experienced in various aspects of financial transactions work, coupled with the matching of that experience with particular matters, is the best way to provide excellence at a competitive cost. Each attorney in our Asset Based Lending practice has represented both lenders/lessors and borrowers/lessees and has a working knowledge of secured financing transactions both from a structuring and documentation standpoint. We understand real property transactions, as well as the basic bankruptcy and litigation concepts and procedures as they pertain to these matters.

Many of the attorneys in our firm are recognized experts in commercial law. Articles by Sheppard Mullin attorneys appear in prominent legal and business publications. In addition, we regularly lecture on the various aspects of commercial law for the California Committee on Continuing Legal Education, the SMU School of Law Annual Institute on Commercial Lending, the Bank Lending Institute, the Practicing Law Institute and various sections of the American and California State and County Bar Associations.

"As Sheppard Mullin continues to grow, it is important that we not lose sight of the need to recruit women, attorneys of color and others of diverse backgrounds."
-Guy Halgren, Chairman of the Executive Committee

At Sheppard Mullin, we make every effort to recruit the finest lawyers and nurture their talents. The firm recognizes the importance of diversity and the need to create a workplace of inclusion. We need ¿ and our clients demand ¿ a team of attorneys that is as diverse as our increasingly global client base. Achieving and maintaining diversity is key to great client service ¿ a core value of our firm. What distinguishes good intentions from results is a commitment by senior management to find the best attorneys possible coupled with the sincere belief that people with diverse backgrounds bring valuable attributes to the firm. At Sheppard Mullin, the Executive Committee, Diversity Committee, and the lawyers in each of our offices work hard to ensure that all attorneys who join our firm fit in seamlessly and are encouraged to succeed.

Members of our Diversity Committee include ethnically diverse attorneys and a representative from the firm's Executive Committee. Diversity Committee members have served on the Boards of the Anti-Defamation League, the Black Women Lawyers Foundation (Los Angeles), and the Charles Houston Bar Association (northern California). Women and minority attorneys participate on key committees of the Firm (Executive Committee; Compensation Committee; Diversity Committee; Recruiting Committee; Professional Personnel Committee; Associate Issues Committee). Four of the Firm's nine Office Administrative Partners are women, one of whom is African-American and another is multi-racial.

"Serving on the firm's Diversity Committee is one of the most important things I do. I firmly believe that we must be vigilant in our efforts to recruit talented women attorneys and attorneys of color. Our success in this area has a positive effect our firm's culture, practice and client relationships."
-Joan Story, Member Executive Committee and Diversity Committee

Below is a description of just some of our outreach efforts.

• The firm participates in and financially supports the California Minority Counsel Program and the ABA Minority Counsel Program, as well as several minority bar associations. These groups are dedicated to increasing access for and promoting and retaining minorities in the legal profession.
• The firm actively recruits law students of color, e.g., we participated in the National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA) of the Western Region job fair held at UCLA School of Law.
• Sheppard Mullin contributes to the Minority Corporate Counsel Association; California Women Lawyers; Queen's Bench; Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles; and the National Black Law Students Association, among others.
• We actively participate with other major Los Angeles law firms in the Diversity Directors Roundtable, a group that is committed to promoting diversity in the legal profession and in our firms.
• The firm received the Law Firm Award from the Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles Foundation for its strong commitment to the promotion of community and pro bono activities.
• Multicultural Law magazine named Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP as one of "The 2011 Top 100 Law Firms for Diversity."
• Sheppard Mullin helped underwrite the production of a motion picture project entitled "Soul of Justice: The Life and Times of Thelton Henderson." The film chronicles the life of respected African-American jurist Thelton Henderson, a crusading civil rights litigator and role model.
• The firm signed the Bar Association of San Francisco's "No Glass Ceiling Initiative," BASF's "Minority Goals and Timetables," the New York County Lawyers' Association Diversity Statement, and the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Diversity Statement.

Much of our pro bono work relates to the diversity of the communities in which we practice; sample clients include:

• Constitutional Rights Foundation
• Domestic Violence Project, Los Angeles Bar Association
• Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights
• Task Force for the Women's Resource Fair, City of San Diego
• Tolerance Through Education Program, Beverly Hills Barristers Associations
• Violence Against Women Act Program, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles

Awareness of diversity enables us to understand the value of differences. At Sheppard Mullin, we are committed to hiring top tier attorneys, without regard to race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation.