Subprime Lending and Mortgage Task Force
Vedder Price focuses its litigation, corporate reorganization and insolvency, regulatory, corporate, finance and capital markets practices on a broad range of international financial institutions and financial services companies. Vedder Price has hundreds of clients in those sectors, including large banks around the globe such as Chase, ABN AMRO, Citibank, Macquarie Bank, Deutsche Verkehrsbank, National City and Bank of America; large diversified finance companies and hedge funds such as GMAC, CIT Group, Inc., Fortress Investment Group LLC, DWS Funds, Nuveen Investments, Powershares Funds and Marathon Structured Finance; and major capital markets players and investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Fortis Securities, LLC and BMO Nesbitt Burns Capital. Vedder Price’s client mix and significant experience in mortgage fraud, securities and insolvency litigation, coupled with the depth and breadth of its practice area expertise, make the firm uniquely qualified to address the complex issues and challenges confronting participants in today’s credit markets.
Vedder Price has formed its Subprime Lending and Mortgage Task Force to assist clients with investigations, lawsuits and bankruptcy proceedings arising from the current crisis involving the contraction of the lending and mortgage markets and other structured credit markets. Vedder Price’s Task Force includes skilled and experienced attorneys throughout the firm, including former federal prosecutors and attorneys who have worked with federal banking regulators such as the OCC and FHLBB, who can advise clients on the investigation of failed deals and investments, dispute resolution, bankruptcy counseling, and to the extent necessary, provide efficient and practical representation in high-stakes litigation. These attorneys have extensive experience dealing with matters regarding a variety of complex financial transactions and the issuance of debt instruments backed by "plain vanilla," as well as esoteric assets, and an exemplary record of resolving related disputes. Vedder Price’s attorneys also regularly represent financial institutions in high-stakes investigations regarding matters such as the recent market timing issues involving mutual funds and hedge funds and the recent ERISA subprime "stock drop" cases brought against financial institutions and other employee benefit plan fiduciaries. Vedder Price’s Subprime Lending and Mortgage Task Force is consistent with the firm’s 55-year history of providing its clients with up-to-the minute strategic and comprehensive legal counsel in an efficient and effective manner.
Members of Vedder Price’s Subprime Lending and Mortgage Task Force include the following:
Commercial and Financial Institution Litigation Group
Vedder Price litigators include former assistant U.S. attorneys, and they are involved in high-stakes disputes regarding complex financial transactions, corporate governance, and white-collar defense. Vedder Price litigators defend financial institutions throughout the country in class-action litigation based on mortgage origination and servicing and other lending practices. Vedder Price has successfully defeated class claims based on alleged violations of TILA, ECOA, RESPA, HOEPA, FDCPA and RICO, including a RESPA class action in which the trial court certified a class with potential damages of $2.7 billion. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit reversed that decision, and the case was brought to a successful conclusion. Last year Vedder Price litigators defeated certification of a substantial class against a financial institution whose lending practices were alleged to have violated FHA, ECOA and the Civil Rights Act. Vedder Price litigators also have extensive experience in defending financial institutions throughout the country in contract claims, and state fraud claims and representing lenders in class-action litigation involving mortgage escrow practices, automobile leases, collateral protection insurance and yield-spread premiums. Vedder Price litigators served as National Mortgage Fraud Recovery Coordinating Counsel for one of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders for the past several years. In that role, Vedder Price supervised and directed trial counsel in numerous cases across the country in which the lender sued mortgage brokers, appraisers, real estate developers, closing and escrow agents, and title companies for multiple loan schemes involving appraisal and transaction fraud. Vedder Price also handled multiple loan mortgage fraud cases as plaintiff’s lead trial counsel, and represented a mortgage lender in pursuing insurance bond recoveries for mortgage fraud. Vedder Price’s efforts as plaintiff’s counsel for mortgage lenders related to mortgage fraud have resulted in recoveries of over $50 million. Vedder Price also represents mortgage lenders as Plaintiffs in complex fraud cases such as ABN AMRO Mortgage Group Inc. v. CBSK Financial Group d/b/a American Home Loans; American Homes Realty and Development involving appraisal and transaction fraud by loan officers, appraisers, title companies, and sellers. Other high-profile litigation includes the representation of (i) GMAC in obtaining $110 million from the Bank of New York to settle GMAC’s claims concerning the Bank of New York’s sale of its factoring and asset-based finance business; (ii) The Boeing Co. and McDonnell Douglas Corp. in a multi-million-dollar breach-of-contract dispute involving aircraft lease payments; and (iii) Auto One Acceptance Corp. in a dispute involving hundreds of millions of dollars of securitized loans. Vedder Price litigators also have been involved in numerous high-profile securities cases, including nation wide class actions brought under the 1933 Act, the 1934 Act and common law and the representation of one of the world’s largest financial institutions in litigation brought by the former shareholders of Enron Corp. Vedder Price trial attorneys also have represented numerous corporate executives and accounting professionals in proceedings before the SEC, including recent proceedings involving General Motors Corporation and Delphi Corporation.
Securitization and Real Estate Finance Group
Vedder Price’s Securitization and Real Estate Finance attorneys have represented market participants in structuring, negotiating and documenting complex financial transactions involving several asset classes. Vedder Price attorneys also have been involved in a broad range of transactions involving the issuance of trust-preferred securities including fixed-rate, floating-rate and convertible securities, pooled vehicles and REIT preferred securities.
Capital Markets and Financial Services Group
Vedder Price Capital Markets and Financial Services attorneys, who include a former OCC high-level attorney and a former staff member of the FHLBB, are experienced and skilled at advising financial services clients on the changing landscape of the regulations and enforcement actions related to the subprime lending and mortgage markets. Over the past five years, Vedder Price attorneys also have represented a number of underwriters and corporate issuers in underwritten transactions with an aggregate amount exceeding $9 billion.
Investment Services Group
Vedder Price Investment Services attorneys are experienced in all aspects of federal and state investment company and investment adviser securities regulations, broker-dealer regulatory and compliance matters, derivatives and financial product matters and ERISA and tax matters. Clients include mutual fund complexes, hedge and other private funds, money managers, broker-dealers, independent directors, and many other types of institutions such as banks, savings and loans, pension plan sponsors, group trusts, insurance companies and investment limited partnerships.
ERISA Litigation Group
Vedder Price attorneys have successfully defended numerous high-stakes ERISA litigation claims, including two Supreme Court cases and dozens of important cases in the courts of appeals and federal district courts. The ERISA Litigation Group has experience handling class action litigation and has achieved summary judgment in “stock-drop” cases alleging breach of fiduciary duty related to plan investment in company stock. Vedder Price ERISA litigation attorneys have also won dismissal or summary judgment in class actions and multi-plaintiff actions involving a wide range of breach of fiduciary duty theories and benefits claims.
Vedder Price’s ERISA Litigation team is supported by more than 20 lawyers specializing in the design and administration of all types of qualified retirement plans, including defined benefit, cash balance, profit sharing, 401(k) and employee stock ownership plans. The Employee Benefits Group regularly counsels plan sponsors and corporate committees regarding disclosure and other fiduciary obligations under ERISA.
Corporate Reorganization, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Group
Vedder Price bankruptcy attorneys are experienced in significant representations of secured creditors, unsecured creditors, lessors, tenants and purchasers in all aspects of corporate reorganization, whether in-court or out-of-court workouts and insolvency proceedings or in Chapter 11 cases involving corporate debtors. Vedder Price is cognizant of increasingly frequent reports of lawsuits and greater scrutiny from government regulators involving the subprime lending markets. The Vedder Price Subprime Lending and Mortgage Task Force can provide immediate help in navigating this high-stakes and rapidly changing area of the law.
For more information, please contact:
Co-Chairs of Subprime Lending and Mortgage Task Force
Margo Wolf O’Donnell
Shareholder, Litigation Practice Area
312-609-7609
modonnell@vedderprice.com
Vivek G. Bhatt
Shareholder, Capital Markets Group
312-609-7880
vbhatt@vedderprice.com
Michael A. Nemeroff
President of Vedder Price P.C. and Chair of
Finance and Transactions Group
312-609-7858
mnemeroff@vedderprice.com
Karen P. Layng
Chair of Litigation Practice Area
312-609-7891
kplayng@vedderprice.com
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