Commercial Lending Lawyers

Your partner in corporate financing transactions, loans and project financing

Our commercial lending law team has extensive experience with a wide range of commercial financing projects. We work with borrowers, as well as lenders, to provide creative and innovative solutions in structuring, negotiating and restructuring financing transactions. We also leverage our multi-disciplinary team to provide advice on loan-related issues, such as transactional and litigation matters, as well as specific, focused counsel on issues that may arise within the course of a project financing, such as environmental liability and intellectual property.

With DRM’s Commercial Lending Attorneys, It’s a done deal

Whether you need assistance with straightforward or complex financing issues, our mission is to help get your deal done well with prompt, custom-tailored, innovative and cost-effective service. Our team frequently advises out-of-state and international lenders on state-specific laws affecting loans involving Vermont and New Hampshire-based borrowers or collateral. We represent institutional (bank and non-bank) lenders and borrowers in all types of financing transactions, including:

• general business loans
• asset-based financings
• commercial mortgage and leasehold  mortgage lending
• SBA loans
• bond financings
• floorplan financing
• factoring transactions
• Article 9 transactions
• securitization of receivables and other debt instruments
• participated and syndicated loans
• loan workouts
• loan enforcement actions

Minimize risk, maximize return.

Our commercial lending legal team is skilled at understanding a deal’s structure, analyzing relevant loan and financial documents, considering any collateral or regulatory matters, such as permitting and environmental issues, and working with our clients to develop and implement a strategy tailored to help successfully achieve their objectives.

We counsel lenders on documentation and loan enforcement issues to minimize the risk of lender liability exposure. We advise clients on a range of issues arising under state banking laws and regulations, including Vermont’s unique regulatory scheme applicable to non-bank lenders. We have considerable capability and proficiency in structuring a client’s financing proposals for presentation to credit enhancement agencies such as the Vermont Economic Development Authority.

We collaborate with financial institutions and investment managers involved in probate and fiduciary litigation matters, as well as businesses with complicated contract and business tort disputes, lending our know-how to help mediate or reach settlement and conclusion. Further, we represent both secured and unsecured creditors and other interested parties (such as landlords) in all aspects of reorganization and liquidation proceedings, including prosecution of claims, relief from stay, sales of assets, and the prosecution and defense of adversary litigation.

Recent Commercial Lending Legal Accomplishments

DRM’s commercial lending attorneys borrowers and lenders, buyers and sellers across a wide range of commercial financing projects. Here’s a sampling of recent accomplishments:

• Lead counsel to the issuer on a series of secured bond financing transactions that were structured to enable the client to make acquisitions and capital investments, and we coordinated the work of counsel in six states.
• Assisted borrower in obtaining New Markets Tax Credit and Recovery Bond financing to build an addition to its manufacturing plant, leveraging not only our legal expertise, but also our Government and Public Affairs group to obtain favorable investment tax legislation to enable the manufacturer to stay in the Northeast Kingdom rather than moving its business out of Vermont.
• Worked with a non-profit borrower in obtaining New Markets Tax Credit financing to enable it to expand its operation and the services it provides to Vermont families.
• Assisted lender with documenting and closing new credit facility for long-time borrower to enable borrower’s acquisition of a new business, including modification of lender’s existing security package to harmonize and cross-collateralize new and existing credit facilities.
• Worked with lender to find a creative solution to obtain additional security for its loan after long-time client of the bank sold the real estate securing the loan without obtaining the bank’s consent.
• Represented numerous bank and non-bank lenders to review and modify their loan document packages to comply with Vermont and/or New Hampshire laws, as well as to meet state-specific requirements for achieving the client’s desired priority.
• Regularly advise lenders in connection with workout or enforcement of distressed commercial loans, including analysis of lender documentation, collateral position and enforcement options, and undertaking actions to help maximize lender recovery and protect lender collateral from third party actions, including collection and collateral recovery actions, judicial and non-judicial foreclosure, and injunctive relief.
• We regularly represent issuers in the private placement of both secured and unsecured notes.
• Work with regional planning commission to prepare a suite of loan documents to be used in making loans from federal grant funds to clean up brownfields sites carefully structuring such documentation to ensure that it complies with federal regulation, and protects lender from liability for site cleanup.