Practice Areas
Education
Mr. Thompson joined HSSM in 2007 and in 2011 stepped in to lead the expanded Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Creditors’ Rights practice group of the firm. In that capacity, he has represented debtors-in-possession resulting in successfully confirmed plans of reorganization. In addition, he has led numerous local businesses and business owners through the process of negotiating out-of-court workouts to restructure debts and avoid bankruptcy altogether. He has also advised guarantors on negotiating significant reductions in their liability for business debt.
In addition to representing chapter 11 debtors, he has also led HSSM’s expansion into significant creditors’ rights representation. The firm’s work in this field has been primarily in representing creditor’s committees in large local cases and representing manufacturers and service industry providers who are trade creditors involved in bankruptcy cases across the nation. It has also led to some interesting challenges, such as protecting the rights of a franchisor against an attempt to circumvent non-compete provisions of a franchise agreement; protecting financial institutions from misappropriation of the their assets by a debtor-in-possession; and negotiating on behalf of vendors to protect against the sale of intellectual property and trade dress. Mr. Thompson has also developed a sub-specialty in involuntary corporate bankruptcy cases, having represented creditors in filing and prosecuting more than 15 in recent years.
Prior to joining HSSM, Mr. Thompson was an associate in the Orange County, CA office of Shook. Hardy & Bacon with a practice concentrating on product liability litigation. That litigation experience now serves as a cornerstone of the practice group. Before that, he spent two years as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable J. Craig Whitley, United State Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of North Carolina. Mr. Thompson has been admitted to practice in both California and North Carolina.
Mr. Thompson is a native of Charlotte, having attended Myers Park High School, and a second-generation bankruptcy lawyer.
Experience
- Representation of Chapter 11 Debtors-in-Possession including negotiating use of cash collateral; preparing, negotiating and litigating plans of reorganization; disputing lien priorities; managing assumption/rejection of executory contracts and leases; conducting asset sales; objecting to creditor claims; and prosecuting and defending avoidance actions.
- Representation of principals of Chapter 11 Debtors including resolution of bankruptcy litigation claims, negotiating guaranty liability with banks, and protecting equity position within reorganization.
- Consultation to equity owners and Boards of Directors in analysis, evaluation and consideration of insolvency issues and restructuring, reorganization and liquidation considerations.
- Representation of individual Unsecured Creditors including filing proofs of claim, asserting 20-day administrative claims under section 503(b)(9) of the Bankruptcy Code, asserting reclamation rights, and protecting priority claims.
- Prosecuting and defending hundreds of bankruptcy litigation claims, such as preference, fraudulent conveyance, post-petition transfer, lien priority disputes, and other litigation issues common to bankruptcy cases.
- Representation of Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in all aspects of bankruptcy cases warranting oversight and input of a committee.
- Representation of Official Committee of Asbestos Claimants to protect rights of victims in corporate effort to shed mass tort liability through bankruptcy.
- Representation of Creditors in filing involuntary bankruptcies to prevent dissipation of assets by Debtor, equity holders, or secured creditors.
- Representation of Secured Creditors including foreclosing on real estate assets; obtaining relief from the automatic stay; protecting cash collateral assets; negotiating asset sales; and determining the validity, extent and priority of liens.
- Representation of Property Owners Associations in asserting bankruptcy and litigation rights with respect to bankruptcy of developers and developments.
Honors + Activities
- “Legal Elite” selection ten times running by Business North Carolina’s “Legal Elite” publication (2011-2020)
- “Super Lawyer” selection nine times running in the North Carolina Super Lawyers publication (2012-2020)
- “Best Lawyer” selection five time running selection by the Best Lawyers in America publication (2016 – 2020)
- Member of Board of Directors, Mecklenburg County Bar (2019-2020)
- Member of Board of Directors, Dilworth Center (2016-2019)
- Council Member, Bankruptcy Section of the North Carolina Bar Association (2011-2013)
- Chair of Business Committee Bankruptcy Section of the North Carolina Bar Association (2009-2011)
- Attorney Mentor, Mecklenburg County Bar Special Committee on Diversity
- CLE Committee of the Mecklenburg County Bar, Member (2011), Co-Chair (2012), Chair (2013)
Publications
- Co-Author, Survival Guide to Bankruptcy for In-House Counsel, published by the American Bankruptcy Institute, 2018
Presentations
- Speaker, “Bankruptcy Treatment of Tax Claims” at the NC State & Local Tax Conference, by the North Carolina Association of CPAs, 2017
- Moderator, “Workouts from the Secured Lender’s Perspective,” Western North Carolina Bankruptcy Seminar, 2015
- Speaker and co-author, “Shifting Sands: Emerging Duties and Conflicting Interests of Directors and Officers of Insolvent Companies,” NCBA Bankruptcy Institute, 2014
- Featured Speaker, “Seven and a Half Topics in 75 Minutes: Recent Developments in Creditor’s Rights Issues,” Furniture Manufacturers Credit Association, 2014
- Speaker and co-author, “Construction Law Issues in the Bankruptcy Arena: Competing Claims and Interests under Federal and North Carolina Law,” NCBA Construction Law Winter Program, 2012
- Speaker and author of “Perspectives that Corporate and Non-Bankruptcy Attorneys Need to Know to Protect Their Corporate Clients and Business Owners,” Mecklenburg County Bar, 2011
- Speaker and author of “Beyond Reorganization: Chapter 11 Issues for the Non-Operating Business,” W.D.N.C. Seminar, 2011
- Speaker and author of “Tips and Tricks of Bankruptcy Practice in the W.D.N.C.,” Mecklenburg County Bar, 2011
