Banking & Financial Institutions

We know where loans break and how to protect the bank

A loan can look sound on paper and still create risk in the real world. Our significant experience documenting, restructuring and enforcing commercial loans gives us a practical view of where problems begin, how borrowers may challenge the bank and what can be done before positions harden. We help clients structure and document loans, respond when a credit deteriorates, and pursue repayment when a consensual solution is no longer possible.

Our lending work includes:

• Commercial, real estate, oil and gas and agricultural loans
• Syndicated and asset-based lending
• Loan negotiation, documentation and collection
• Restructurings, workouts and other creditor remedies

Banking disputes demand dedicated banking litigators

Our clients within the banking industry routinely turn to us for complex disputes involving a commercial loan, a borrower default or a lawsuit against the institution. Our dedicated banking litigators understand the documents, the relationship, and the business stakes. We defend financial institutions in lender liability claims, consumer claims and other civil litigation, and we pursue claims when a bank must enforce its rights. Because our transactional lawyers and litigators work closely together, we can assess how a loan was built, where the dispute turned, and which strategy gives the bank the strongest practical position.

Clients can rely on the full strength of the firm

Financial institutions rarely face issues that fit neatly in one practice area. Our clients benefit from our full-service offering and our ability to draw on lawyers across the firm to address the corporate, employment, bankruptcy, creditors’ rights, technology, cybersecurity and litigation needs that come with running a financial institution.

That full-service approach supports banks in matters including:

• Bank and bank holding company organization, new charters, branch banking and non-banking activities
• Mergers, acquisitions and sales, recapitalizations, S corporation planning and trust preferred issuances
• Retail banking concerns, deposit account issues, consumer credit, financial privacy, electronic funds transfer and ACH matters and electronic banking
• Corporate and personal trust matters, fiduciary responsibilities, securities compliance and employee benefit plan administration
• Employment counseling and disputes and civil litigation for financial institutions

We stay ahead of the developments that put financial institutions at risk

Regulation shifts with administrations while technology, cybersecurity threats, artificial intelligence, and shifting economic conditions keep changing the risk profile of the banking and financial services industry. We monitor those developments and help financial institutions decide what they mean for policies, operations, customer relationships, and litigation exposure. We advise on regulatory compliance and represent institutions and individuals in enforcement matters before regulatory agencies, including memorandums of understanding, formal agreements, cease and desist orders, capital directives and related proceedings. Our goal is practical: identify the pressure point early, give the bank clear options, and move quickly when the situation demands it.