Joel W. HarmonShareholder/Director
Joel Harmon is a director in Crowe & Dunlevy’s Oklahoma City office and co-chair of the firm’s Banking & Financial Institutions Practice Group. He focuses his practice in commercial and banking law, lending transactions, workouts and restructurings, bankruptcy litigation, creditor’s rights law and defense of financial institutions. His representation of creditors presently includes national banking associations and state-chartered banks as well as industrial concerns, creditor’s groups and individuals. Joel represents many clients as lead counsel in creditor related litigation and financing transactions.
He is admitted to practice law in Oklahoma and Texas and is a member of the Oklahoma County Bar Association, the Oklahoma Bar Association, the Texas Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
Recent Matters and Engagements*:
- Lender's counsel in leading Oklahoma Supreme Court case on guarantor liability related to real estate loans.
- Lender's counsel in documenting $35 million oil & gas loan transaction secured by oil & gas properties in several states.
- Lender's counsel in foreclosure and sale of multiple low income tax credit properties and in dealing with state regulatory authorities and transfer of credits.
- Represented secured lender in Section 363 sale of telecommunications assets including spectrum licenses.
- Lead counsel in successfully defending Lender at trial against allegations of misleading Borrower and breach of duty of good faith; zeroed out counterclaim and obtained judgment in full for all outstanding note balances, default interest and fees.
- Counsel for national financial institution in pursuing $185 million financial fraud claim in securitization industry; successfully settled.
- Lenders counsel in documenting $60 million of construction loans secured by numerous parcels of real estate in retail industry.
- Lead counsel in defending Lender against general lender liability claims and successfully upholding jury trial waiver provisions in loan documents; zeroed out counterclaim and obtained judgment in full for all outstanding note balances, default interest and fees.
- Defense of numerous preference claims and other bankruptcy litigation in bankruptcy courts throughout the United States.
- Litigation with Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee over ownership of beach front real estate located in Mexico.
- Litigation with Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee over valuation of oil & gas reserves located along offshore Louisiana; obtained order determining client's claim to be fully secured.
- Lead counsel in numerous automatic stay, cash collateral, valuation and Section 363 disputes in various bankruptcy courts.
*Past results afford no guarantee of future results. Every case is different and must be judged on its merits.
University of Oklahoma College of Law
Norman, Oklahoma
J.D., 1985
Oklahoma Christian University
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
B.S., Accounting, 1982
- Oklahoma, 1985
- Texas, 1998
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Oklahoma, 1985
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Oklahoma, 1985
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, 1998
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, 1998
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, 1986
- U.S. Supreme Court, 1993
- Oklahoma County Bar Association, Member
- Oklahoma Bar Association, Member, Bankruptcy and Reorganization Section
- American Bar Association, Member, Banking Law Committee
- Listed in Best Lawyers in Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Transactions/UCC Law, Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law, Banking and Finance Law (2013 - Present)*
- Named Best Lawyers 2022 Lawyer of the Year in Commercial Transactions/UCC Law
- Named Best Lawyers 2019 Lawyer of the Year in Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law
*Crowe & Dunlevy has no input in the rating methodologies used by Best Lawyers publication.
- Speaker, BKD and Oklahoma Bankers Association Financial Services Symposium, September 28, 2017, Oklahoma City, OK
- Speaker, BKD and Oklahoma Bankers Association Financial Services Symposium, September 27, 2016, Oklahoma City, OK
- Speaker, "Spousal Guarantor Challenges under Equal Credit Opportunity Act", Oklahoma Bankers Association, June 2016, Tulsa, OK
