Jerry Blanchard has a broad financial institution practice which covers three major areas. The first area of expertise involves advising senior management and bank boards on strategic decisions and providing guidance on a wide variety of legal and regulatory issues including Dodd-Frank implementation, bank core functions such as treasury management, allocation of risk for check and wire fraud, vendor agreements and the development of new financial products and services. The second area involves documenting all types of real estate and commercial loans including acquisition facilities, letter of credit facilities, bank holding company loans, church loans, construction loans, private banking and related transactions such as interest rate swaps, loan participations and individual and portfolio loan sales. The third area is in the area of problem loan workouts, collections, foreclosure, lender liability and distressed loan sales.
He advises clients on managing legal and reputational risk and enterprise risk management. He has dealt extensively with state and federal laws and regulations such as the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, Dodd Frank Act, Reg U, Basel III, anti-tying, privacy and Sarbanes-Oxley. He has counseled institutions dealing with various levels of regulatory enforcement actions including Cease and Desist Orders and Consent Orders and has worked extensively with both state and federal bank regulatory agencies.
Mr. Blanchard has advised loss-share banks concerning the interpretation of Purchase and Assumption Agreements as well as various powers flowing through to loss-share acquirers as a successor to the FDIC. He has assisted institutions in asserting claims in receivership proceedings.
He is the author of "Lender Liability: Law, Practice and Prevention" and is co-author of "Problem Loan Workouts," both published by West, and is a frequent speaker in the areas of board practices, current banking issues, loan documentation, bankruptcy and lender liability and is experienced in the investigation of financial frauds and scams.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Blanchard served as Associate General Counsel for Bank of America Corporation, where he managed a team of lawyers providing legal support to Middle Market Banking, Small Business Banking, Special Assets, Dealer Finance and Private Lending client groups. During his 24 years as in-house counsel he was called upon to advise his clients on the applicability of federal and state laws affecting their lines of business and worked closely with the credit and compliance functions in analyzing legal, credit and reputational risks.
Mr. Blanchard was chairperson of the Atlanta Chapter of the Corporate Counsel Association of America for 2003 and was the Treasurer of the Corporate Counsel Section of the Atlanta Bar Association for 2005-06. He has served as the Treasurer for the Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta since its inception. He was the winner of the 2004 A Business Commitment Pro Bono Award from the State Bar of Georgia for professionalism and strong commitment to the delivery of pro bono business law services to the nonprofit and community economic development sectors in Georgia, exemplified by his service to the Cobb Microenterprise Center and his demonstrated commitment to increased pro bono activity of corporate counsel during his tenure as President of the Georgia Chapter of the American Corporate Counsel Association. Mr. Blanchard was chairperson of the Atlanta Chapter of the Corporate Counsel Association of America for 2003 and is the Treasurer of the Corporate Counsel Section of the Atlanta Bar Association for 2005-06. He was the winner of the 2004 A Business Commitment Pro Bono Award from the State Bar of Georgia for professionalism and strong commitment to the delivery of pro bono business law services to the nonprofit and community economic development sectors in Georgia, exemplified by his service to the Cobb Microenterprise Center and his demonstrated commitment to increased pro bono activity of corporate counsel during his tenure as President of the Georgia Chapter of the American Corporate Counsel Association.
