John F. Isbell

Practices

• Business Restructuring, Creditors' Rights & Bankruptcy
• Business Litigation

Professional Experience

John is a partner in the Business Restructuring, Creditors' Rights & Bankruptcy practice group and is based in the firm's Atlanta office. He concentrates his practice in the areas of bankruptcy and insolvency law, including insolvency-related commercial litigation in both state and federal courts. John represents secured lenders, debtors/borrowers, official committees of unsecured creditors, landlords, and other parties in interest in relation to, among other things, bankruptcy cases, receivership litigation, workouts, restructurings and state court foreclosures and confirmation proceedings. John frequently lectures on bankruptcy and commercial litigation topics before bar and trade groups, as well as continuing legal education programs.

John is admitted to practice in the states of Georgia and Alabama.

Education

• The University of Alabama School of Law, J.D., 2000, summa cum laude
• The University of the South, B.A., 1996

• Lead counsel for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of a distributor of infrastructure supplies and materials.
• Lead counsel for a court appointed receiver overseeing the operation of a multi-family apartment complex.
• Co-counsel for secured creditor in defending more than $16 million in lender liability claims brought by a creditor of a failed borrower/developer.
• Lead counsel for secured lender in a complex $36 million intercreditor dispute involving another secured creditor and the loan servicer.
• Lead counsel to creditor in arbitration proceeding involving $9.1 million in disputed claims asserted against guarantors.
• Lead counsel to secured creditor in negotiating the sale of more than $7 million in collateral through a Section 363 bankruptcy sale process.
• Co-counsel for a secured creditor/DIP lender in a large, multi-national bankruptcy case, including negotiating a $6 million post-petition credit facility, negotiating the sale of more than $40 million in debtor assets during a series of section 363 sales, and negotiating the terms of a plan of liquidation.
• Lead counsel for secured lender in bankruptcy case of a failed real estate development, wherein the secured lender was repaid in full after a lengthy contested bankruptcy case wherein the secured creditor was ultimately repaid through a negotiated exit loan provided by insiders.  
• Lead counsel for secured lender in obtaining relief from stay in bankruptcy case to foreclose on improved and unimproved parcels of land with outstanding debt of over $40 million, while defending against claims of lender liability and objections to claim amounts.
• Defended more than $120 million in claims based upon alleged alter ego liability, pension plan evasion liability, environmental indemnification liability and preference claims brought by a bankruptcy trustee against a former owner.
• Co-counsel to aircraft lessor in defeating bankruptcy debtor's multi-million dollar claims of fraud, breach of contract, accounting, turnover, and tortious interference with contract after a five-day bench trial in bankruptcy court, while also obtaining a $2.8 million judgment on client's counterclaims.
• Lead counsel for landlord in defeating bankruptcy debtor/tenant's claims of breach of contract, conversion, equitable estoppel, unjust enrichment, statutory attorneys' fees and punitive damages after a one-day bench trial in bankruptcy court.
• Lead counsel for a debtor's sole secured lender in obtaining dismissal of an involuntary bankruptcy case twenty-nine days after the case was filed.
• Represented world's largest independent producer of primary and secondary carpet backing in bankruptcy with total assets and liabilities each exceeding $500 million.
• Represented a sub-prime auto leasing company in bankruptcy.  Served as lead litigation counsel during contested confirmation proceeding.
• Represented grocery retailer with $10 billion per year in annual sales in bankruptcy.  Responsible for disposition of unwanted store locations, including selling below market leases and closing stores.
• Represented furniture retailer in bankruptcy.  Responsible for all litigation aspects of bankruptcy case, including litigation against former advertising agency, former insurance carrier, and former landlord.
• Represented sub-prime lender in bankruptcy.  Responsible for developing litigation strategy for bankruptcy case, including pursuit of fraudulent conveyance claims against former owner while negotiating consensual liquidation process.
• Represented healthcare provider in bankruptcy, while defending against personal injury claims and seeking to subordinate or eliminate claims of punitive damages in bankruptcy case.

• Linda A. Striefsky, John F. Isbell, and Andrew L. Turscak, Jr., "TOUSA 2 – Round Two of TOUSA Battle Goes to Lenders" · ALI-ABA Course of Study, Commercial Real Estate Financing: Strategies for Changing Markets and Uncertain Times, April 14, 2011
• Arthur J. Steinberg and John F. Isbell, "Resolution of Madoff Customer Claims: Still in Act One" · New York Law Journal, April 21, 2010.
• Arthur J. Steinberg and John F. Isbell, "The Need to Revisit the “Value in Good Faith” Defense to Fraudulent Transfer Claims" · Norton Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice, August 2009
• John F. Isbell, "Fighting Dispossession" · Fulton County Daily Report, July 1, 2009
• Arthur J. Steinberg and John F. Isbell, "Protecting Redemptions in a Ponzi Scheme Case" · New York Law Journal, March 2, 2009

• Bankruptcy Litigation Tips for Trying a Real Estate Valuation and Fraudulent-Transfer Actions, 35th Annual Judge Alexander L. Paskay Seminar on Bankruptcy Law and Practice – SPECIAL FOCUS Real Estate in Crisis, Sponsored by American Bankruptcy Institute and Stetson Law School, March 11, 2011
• Intersection of Bankruptcy and State Foreclosure Laws, Strafford Bankruptcy CLE, February 8, 2011
• Best Practices for Remedies, Workouts, Forbearance & Foreclosure, Preserving Capital, Enhancing Value: A Seminar for Special Asset Managers & Credit Officers, May 25, 2010
• The Intersection of Fraud and Bankruptcy, Fourth Annual Fraud and Forensic Accounting Education Conference, sponsored by Georgia Southern University, May 13, 2010
• Insolvency Update for Bankers: the Tousa Opinion, National Funding Association Monthly Meeting, February 18, 2010
• Bankruptcy Reorganization Plans and Cram Downs: Strategies for Debtors and Creditors to Navigate Complex Plan Confirmation Rules, Strafford Bankruptcy CLE, July 22, 2009
• Representing Creditors – Issues and Strategies, 2008 Real Property Foreclosure, Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia, April 11, 2008