Overview
Navigate Banking and Financial Complexity with Industry-Focused Counsel
The banking and financial services industry has never been more complex, competitive, or closely scrutinized. You need counsel that understands the law, dynamics, regulatory trends, and expectations of customers. As a full-service law firm, we provide seamless, business-forward representation across the entire lifecycle of legal and regulatory issues. We serve regional, national, and global clients, including holding companies, banks, thrifts, credit unions, trust companies, mutual funds, mezzanine lenders, private equity firms, and insurance companies. Our multidisciplinary team partners with you to help you grow and thrive while staying ahead of regulatory changes.
Chambers & Partners
Michael Best's Banking & Finance Practice was ranked Band 2 in Wisconsin.
Our Approach: Business-Savvy Solutions
Our approach is grounded in responsiveness, clear communication, and measurable outcomes. We offer coordinated support across disciplines, connecting you to one team for all your legal matters. Chambers has repeatedly recognized our team’s ability to handle the full spectrum of lending and transactional matters including our strengths in distressed financing, regulatory compliance, New Markets Tax Credit and tax increment financing, creditors’ rights, reorganizations and workouts, and derivatives matters. We translate that experience into actionable guidance that advances your priorities.
"The Michael Best team provides a broad range of experience, efficiency, and industry insights."
"Michael Best couples its terrific knowledge with direct and quick access to senior partners."
Focus Areas
End-to-End Support Across Your Full Risk and Growth Agenda
Get the counsel you need to help your company adopt, invest in, create technical solutions around, and navigate the regulatory landscape of blockchain and distributed ledger technology.
We partner with you to help answer your questions regarding the full range of financing and lending transactions, including: revolving and term loans, secured transactions (including asset-based lending, equipment leasing and floor plan financing, and aircraft and vessel financing), commercial mortgage and construction loans, ESOP loans, intercreditor agreements, loan syndications, and participations, New Market Tax Credit financings, Mezzanine loans, leveraged buyouts, private equity and venture capital financings, letters of credit and reimbursement agreements, agricultural and other specialty finance, and the purchase and sale of individual loans and loan portfolios.
We have a proven track record representing lenders and other financial service providers in matters ranging from commercial foreclosures and collateral replevin to FDIC receiverships, complex Chapter 11 bankruptcies, and insurance company insolvencies and rehabilitations. We have also successfully defended banks and their officers against allegations of fraud and non-conforming lending practices. We know the banking and financial services landscape and use that knowledge to inform practical litigation strategies.
Our attorneys are experienced in helping our clients navigate tumultuous situations involving businesses in financial distress and achieve favorable outcomes.
We advise dealers and end users on a full range of derivative products throughout the entire derivatives lifecycle, from the structuring and documenting of transactions to enforcement.
Although leasing and finance companies work diligently to protect themselves through their underwriting process, defaults and disputes still happen. When they do, our experienced legal team can work with you to obtain a successful resolution. We have extensive experience in successfully obtaining possession of equipment so that it can be auctioned, litigating and settling cases in a cost-effective manner, and obtaining successful decisions at trial.
We assist a cross-section of banking & financial services organizations in complying with the complex and changing regulations imposed by state and federal governments. Our attorneys are well versed in compliance and regulatory issues, including consultation with the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of Currency, FDIC, and Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions.
Our team, led by former federal prosecutors, has extensive experience handling sensitive government and internal investigations and maintains a strong record of successfully resolving regulatory and criminal matters. We assist banking & financial services industry clients with all facets of regulatory enforcement investigations, corporate criminal defense, civil litigation, grand jury proceedings, corporate internal investigations, risk assessment, and compliance counseling.
We regularly represent admitted and non-admitted carriers, re-insurers, health insurers, trustees, and other insurance industry clients in a range of areas, including:
- Primary and excess coverage litigation
- Directors’ and Officers’ insurance coverage disputes, both as coverage counsel to the insurer and defending bank and other corporate boards and directors under such policies
- Export credit insurance coverage analysis and collection claims
- Subrogation claims, including “make whole” remedies under ERISA plans
- Multiemployer pension and health plan liability
- Jointly administered Taft-Hartley plan disputes and deadlocks between trustees
- Insurance company rehabilitation proceedings, serving as litigation and tax counsel to the regulator, lead litigation counsel for the subject insurer or creditors’/policyholders’ counsel.
Our team provides legal counseling to assist you with risk mitigation strategies across your enterprise, helping you stay ahead of emerging threats. We have real-world experience with the ways privacy and cybersecurity affect the banking & financial services industry, including on issues related to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), as well as privacy programs and cybersecurity guidance through state to national regulations.
Experience
Won court approval of a $5 billion debt exchange transaction to facilitate a successful exit of the Segregated Account of Ambac Assurance Corp. from an insurance rehabilitation, the largest in Wisconsin history.*
Represented a regional financial services company on credit facilities to a large agricultural borrower for its capital needs and future operations. The transaction combined a refinance with new additional credit commitments, and included term and borrowing base revolving credit facilities. Our team provided all representation to the lender, including due diligence, drafting, negotiating, and coordinating execution of loan documents. Our work involved issues unique to production agriculture, including the impact of state agricultural liens, the federal Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act trust provisions, water rights, and hedging arrangements.
- Represented a financial services holding company on a commercial real estate construction loan for a 400-unit apartment development with 750 parking spaces in Grandville, Michigan. We provided all representation to the lender, including drafting, negotiating, and coordinating execution of the loan documents for this new customer—the largest developer of multi-family residential properties in Western Michigan.
- Defended a multinational banking and financial services company in a state court residential foreclosure case in which the borrower filed counterclaims for misrepresentation and violations of federal regulations governing loan modifications. At trial, after the close of the borrowers’ case, we moved to dismiss for lack of evidence. The court granted our motion and dismissed all claims against our client.
- Represented a national bank in recovering $10 million from the FDIC related to a failed correspondent bank under receivership.
- Work with clients making title insurance claims for insured policy risks and defaults under closing Protection letters.
*Disclaimer: OCI retained Michael Best in this case pursuant to its procurement protocols after issuance of a Request for Qualifications; selection of the firm as counsel is not an endorsement by the state of Wisconsin or any state agency.
