Jonathan Doolittle recently joined our Commercial Restructuring & Bankruptcy team in San Francisco after practicing for almost twenty years in New England, primarily as an associate and then partner with Verrill Dana LLP at its headquarters in Portland, Maine.

Jon brings with him a strong practice in bankruptcy, restructuring and workouts. His practice focuses primarily on representing secured creditors in bankruptcy, federal and state court proceedings, and negotiating and documenting out-of-court restructurings. Jon has substantial experience representing secured parties in Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”) Article Nine sales and non-judicial foreclosures, and receivers and trustees liquidating real estate and other business property in state and federal courts.

Jon served as lead counsel in many distressed asset sales in and out of court, including operating businesses and commercial real estate. These transactions include a going concern sale of a wood truss manufacturing facility with assets in two states, a going concern sale of a railroad with operations in three states and Canada as part of a successful chapter 11 reorganization plan, and a going concern sale of a for profit psychiatric hospital with operations in two states as part of a successful chapter 11 reorganization plan.

Jon has expertise resolving challenges by debtors and trustees to the validity of secured claims under the UCC, including litigating perfection disputes related to asset based lending facilities, equipment financing transactions, real estate backed loans, consignment agreements, and security interests in certificated securities. In the course of this work, Jon served as lead counsel in bench trials in bankruptcy courts and in over twenty appeals, including appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Jon has argued numerous appeals to the U.S. District Court and the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the First Circuit.