Editorial: Banking in Georgia
01 April 2007
Alston & Bird LLP claims top honours in our study into the banking legal marketplace in Georgia.
Two attorneys make it onto our list. Elected by his peers, who described him as “a regulatory genius” and a “highly-esteemed lawyer”, John Douglas received more votes than anyone else in our banking survey. His recent credits include: representing the former chairman of Crédit Lyonnais in the Executive Life matter; acting for Inovant, the data processing subsidiary of Visa, as part of the Visa global restructuring; and the representation of The Bank of New York in an $880 million dispute with the FDIC over the failure of NextBank. Other clients include Checkfree and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta. Douglas is a member of the steering committee of the Financial Services Volunteer Corps (providing technical assistance to countries developing capital markets and banking systems, such as Russia, China, Indonesia and Egypt). On the financing side, Richard Grice comes highly recommended for his practice, which focuses on large-scale financings for public companies. Grice has represented Movie Galley in connection with $1.3 billion of indebtedness arising in its acquisition of Hollywood Entertainment Corporation. He has also acted for Checkfree, Russell and Knology. Alston & Bird is acknowledged as one of the busiest banking and finance practices, not only in the south-eastern region, but also in the US as a whole. A team of 50 transaction experts were active in the Enron Examiner case, analysing and reporting over 50 structured finance transactions.
Hot on the heels of Alston & Bird, our research identifies a group of four firms, each represented by two attorneys. At King & Spalding LLP, “one of the best in town for lending” and possessed of “all-round talent and broad experience”, Albert “Chip” Conrad was picked out by many of his peers. Conrad counts among his impressive list of clients the likes of SunTrust Bank subsidiaries, Bank One, The Bank of Nova Scotia and UPS Capital. He previously served as chair of the Corporate and Banking Law Institute. Partner Carolyn Zander alford is similarly well known for lender representation, having recently counselled SunTrust as administrative agent and SunTrust Capital Markets in a $900 million senior credit facility for Atmos Energy, the country’s largest natural gas utility, and GE Capital in a $40 million senior secured credit facility. Alford is opinion committee chair for the Georgia State Bar’s business law section, and a member of the American College of Investment Counsel.
Kilpatrick Stockton LLP appears courtesy of the “fine reputation” of its lending practice, led by its chair of finance, real estate and restructuring, Hilary Jordan, who was described to researchers as “an excellent technician [and] very knowledgeable”. Strengths include corporate lending, assetbased lending and asset securitisations. Partner Richard Cheatham (“very good”) joins him in these pages. Head of the lending and structured finance practice at Jones Day, Aldo “Al” LaFiandra, coasted through the research on a wave of praise for the dual aspect of his practice. “He’s up there with the very best” for complex secured and unsecured credit arrangements (including intercreditor arrangements and multiple tranches of debt), and also carries a “fine reputation” for bankruptcy and restructuring into the insolvency section of this book. He is director of the Association of Certified Turnaround Practitioners. Partner Ralph “Chip” MacDonald is noted for his work on the regulatory side of the practice; the firm boasts comprehensive representation across both sides of the banking and finance sector. Troutman & Sanders LLP also fields two successful nominees. Hazen Dempster’s recent credits include acting as lead counsel to a publicly-held national car hauling trucking firm in connection with a restructuring of $230 million secured debtor in possession credit facilities, and acting as lead counsel to a publicly-held manufacturing company in connection with the securitisation of over $160 million in insurance receivables arising out of the payment of asbestos liability claims. Partner Thomas Powell has been active on behalf of both buyers and sellers, including Century South Banks, Southeastern Banking Corporation, GB&T Bancshares and First Banks among many others, and is outside general counsel to Cotton States Insurance Group.
Four other firms provide star practitioners for these pages. Chris Molen of Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP is backed by a considerable sum of votes. Molen frequently handles multimillion-dollar senior debt financings for the likes of Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Citigroup, Wachovia Bank, Wells Fargo Foothill and General Electric Capital. At Parker Hudson Rainer & Dobbs LLP, we recognise Edward Dobbs, who is described as “a well-known authority on lending and bankruptcy matters”. “Regulatory guru” Walt Moeling appears for Powell Goldstein LLP. Finally, this publication includes Edgar Snow of Burr & Forman LLP, who was recommended for his expertise in middle and large market, secured and unsecured, commercial and asset-based lending. Clients include Wachovia, RB Centura, Georgia Bank, Orix Financial and Chatham Capital. With such a ready pool of talent available across a spectrum of banking and finance matters, one can easily understand why Georgia – and particularly Atlanta – is often described as the financial hub of the South-East.