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COVID-19 has transformed the global economy. With virtually every sector experiencing unprecedented changes, no business is insulated from the short- and longer-term effects of the pandemic.

As businesses grapple with the economic fallout of the virus, they will require specific strategic guidance, both business and legal, depending on whether seeking to protect or acquire distressed assets.

Some businesses will need to reinvent business models or restructure operations, while others face the impending threat of litigation against contractual counter-parties, or are defending against claims brought by shareholders or employees. Still others may find that they need to divest assets or consider bankruptcy.

Bilzin Sumberg can assist with recommendations for making decisions about best options for the future, whether weathering, restructuring, divesting, or acquiring distressed assets, in the new economy.

The team includes lawyers from across disciplines with market-leading business and legal experience focused on:

  • Restructuring and Bankruptcy, including buying assets out of bankruptcy
  • Corporate and Joint Venture, including P3s
  • Finance, including private equity and other opportunity funds
  • Real Estate, from acquisition to disposition
  • Land Use and Entitlements
  • Environmental
  • Taxation
  • Litigation & Dispute Resolution
  • Asset Distress & Revitalization Podcast Series
  • Feb. 2021
Episode 1: Impending Wave of Distressed Assets & Common Types of Related Disputes
As businesses grapple with the economic fallout of the pandemic, they will require specific strategic guidance, both business and legal, depending on whether seeking to protect or acquire distressed assets. In this episode of the series, Litigation Practice Group Leader, Phil Stein, discusses the impending wave in distressed assets, types of disputes that commonly arise when an asset goes into distress, and lessons from the last recession.
Typical Litigation Issues
Mortgage-Related Disputes
CMBS-Related Distressed Assets

Corporate Debt: Still Growing, and Still a Concern
Financial Services Watch Blog

As the pandemic began unfolding about a year ago, we wrote about the risk that the high volume of corporate debt might make it the next market bubble to burst. The issuance of corporate debt only accelerated in 2020 compared to 2019, growing by 17% and setting a new record in volume. S&P Global Ratings has predicted that corporate debt issuance in 2021 will remain robust, decreasing by only 3% compared to a frenetic 2020 (which would still be up 14% over 2019 levels).

Click below to learn more about the implications of this continued acceleration of corporate debt issuance brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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  • Blog Post
  • December 2020
Still Litigating the 2007-08 Financial Crisis: The Claims Keep Coming
It has been over a decade since the global financial crisis rocked the housing market in the U.S. The global recession began as a subprime mortgage crisis that rippled through the wider economy, and yet 12 years after it began, there remains significant residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) litigation pending in the courts. Phil Stein outlines these pending cases and what is at stake for the litigants and the RMBS industry. 

A tale of two markets: Some CMBS players see huge losses, others opportunity

The Real Deal

In today's economic client, foreclosures and loan modifications in the CMBS market - particularly in the hotel and retail market - are becoming more prevalent. More real estate investment firms are considering turning over properties tied to securitized commercial mortgages back to lenders, while banks and other CMBS servicers are increasingly faced with the difficult decision of foreclosing or making serious loan modifications. CMBS debt restructurings are highly complex, with a litany of problems for borrowers, lenders, and bondholders, and particularly for borrowers looking to refinance distressed assets after special servicing commences.

“If the borrower recently cashed out with a refinancing, they will be more likely to hand [the property] back to the lender,” said Suzanne Amaducci-Adams, head of real estate at Bilzin Sumberg.

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  • Publication
  • December 2020
Will CMBS litigation be the new RMBS litigation?
The economic havoc wreaked by COVID-19 may have the knock on effect of a wave of Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) litigation, mirroring the deluge of Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) litigation following the 2008 financial crisis. While CMBS and RMBS litigation each have their own unique of set of circumstances, Philip Stein and Kenneth Duvall demonstrate that there are enough commonalities between them to potentially see some repeated issues and patterns come up in future CMBS litigation.

White Knights or Opportunists? Bridge, Preferred Equity Investors an Option for Struggling Real Estate

GlobeSt.com

"Bridge lenders and preferred equity investors are in line to become the go-to rescuers for property owners, especially hoteliers and retailers that have taken the hardest hit. … Attorneys who negotiate between lenders and borrowers also are seeing an uptick. Bilzin Sumberg Miami partner and real estate head Suzanne Amaducci-Adams is looking at more than $200 million in interest for bridge loans and preferred equity. 'People are definitely researching the opportunities,' Amaducci-Adams said."

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