John R. Clemency

John’s practice involves dissecting and diagnosing problems, and then devising cures and solutions for nearly anything related to troubled loans and troubled companies. A commercial bankruptcy specialist certified by the Arizona State Bar, John spends a considerable amount of time assisting lenders, borrowers, secured and unsecured creditors, fiduciaries, and asset buyers navigate their way through the Chapter 11 process.

John’s commercial bankruptcy work has spanned most industries including: commercial and residential real estate, retail, wholesale, franchises, hospitality, casinos, food, technology, finance, media, heath, agriculture, and his bankruptcy practice has landed him in bankruptcy courts throughout the United States.

John’s litigation practice takes him to state and federal courts and into arbitration proceedings for clients whose commercial disputes may not require bankruptcy solutions. In this regard, John has done a substantial amount of receivership work, guarantor and deficiency actions, fraud litigation, particularly litigation involving Ponzi schemes, and other commercial litigation, including work that functionally amounts to business divorces. Rounding out his practice, John also does a considerable amount of out of court restructurings of problem loans and troubled companies. He routinely assists clients with structuring transactions in manners that minimize or eliminate the effects of future litigation or bankruptcies.

• Representation of loan participants in an out-of-court workout of a $200 million shared credit with one of the largest suppliers of dairy products in Arizona and Nevada.
• Representation of asset based lenders with loans between $5 million and $25 million in workouts, collections, receiverships, UCC sales, foreclosures, and bankruptcy cases.
• Resolution of a $33 million loan through the sale of a mixed use office, retail, and residential project out of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy within four months of the filing.
• Representation of the owners of a Nevada hotel and casinos with publicly traded bond debt in Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases that resulted in confirmed plans of reorganization.
• Representation of a factoring company that had been riddled with fraud by prior management in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy that resulted in: (i) confirmation of a 100 percent payment plan for creditors; (ii) a $7 million fraud verdict against prior management; and (iii) an ultimate settlement of the fraud case that produced a recovery of over $10 million in cash and publicly traded stock for the creditors in the case.
• Negotiation, documentation, and approval of multi-million dollar DIP loans for health care lender in various bankruptcy cases across the country.
• Representation of parties bidding on and acquiring assets out of bankruptcies, including the successful prosecution of motions that provide buyer protections in the form of breakup fees and topping fees.
• Successful prosecution of numerous requests by lenders for the appointment of receivers for real property assets and for operating companies.
• Representation of national airline and commuter airline in Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.
• Collection of $14 million judgment from an Arizona municipality that had breached a contract with a client.
• Successful use of Chapter 11 process to accomplish, on client’s home turf, prompt reorganization of a $30 million minority owned business and streamlined resolution of costly and protracted, minority shareholder litigation that had languished for years in foreign jurisdiction.