Managing Commercial Real Estate Loan Workouts in the Shadow of Bankruptcy

Tobias S. Keller | Keller Benvenutti Kim LLP

Tobias Keller counsels clients in a variety of industries dealing with financial distress, advising on dislocations arising from excessive leverage, uncontrolled litigation, or unanticipated employee or vendor problems, and the governance questions that arise in connection with those challenges.

Tobias has represented several overleveraged, venture-backed technology clients through out-of-court restructurings and/or bankruptcy preparation projects; he has advised technology companies of all sorts (hardware, software, e-commerce, semiconductor), biotech and life science companies, and “old economy” companies including a professional consulting company, a nutritional supplement company, various retailers, trucking companies and airlines. He also has advised private equity funds, parent companies, and joint venturers in the restructuring of affiliates and strategies that both minimize legal exposure while maximizing their returns; committees in obtaining substantially increased returns for unsecured creditors; and buyers in acquiring distressed properties.

Tobias regularly lectures for organizations on governance, distressed mergers and acquisitions, and various restructuring topics. He is a fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and has been recognized as a leading lawyer in publications including Chambers USA and PLI Which Lawyer?

Jane Kim | Keller Benvenutti Kim LLP

Jane Kim is the managing partner of Keller Benvenutti Kim, a San Francisco-based corporate bankruptcy and restructuring boutique law firm, where she represents debtors in possession, distressed companies, and other parties, in both in-court and out-of-court situations.

Jane’s recent engagements include representing In-Shape Health Clubs, LLC, a premium regional fitness club chain in California, and Ravn Air Group, Inc., a regional airline in Alaska, in their respective chapter 11 cases filed in Delaware. Jane also serves as bankruptcy co-counsel for Pacific Gas & Electric Company in its chapter 11 case, the largest chapter 11 filing in the Northern District of California in over a decade, which emerged from bankruptcy in July 2020 through a confirmed, largely-consensual plan of reorganization.

Before moving to California and joining Keller Benvenutti Kim in 2014, Jane practiced in New York at the law firm Cleary Gottlieb for over a decade. Jane received her JD from Harvard Law School in 2002 and her BA from Columbia College, Columbia University in 1999.

Jane is a fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and has been recognized as a leading lawyer by numerous publications and organizations, including Chambers USA. She was named Lawyer of the Year in the 2023 edition of Best Lawyers and included on Global M&A Network’s Annual Top 100 Restructuring Professionals in 2022 and the Daily Journal’s list of Top Bankruptcy Lawyers of 2022. She is a frequent speaker on a wide range of bankruptcy-related subjects, including the intersection of bankruptcy and arbitration, mass torts bankruptcy cases, asset sales, and cross-border insolvency issues.

I. Issue Spotting in Anticipation of Bankruptcy | 2:00pm – 2:30pm

II. Special Issues in Real Estate Workouts | 2:30pm – 3:00pm

Break | 3:00pm – 3:10pm

III. Workout Negotiations and Strategies | 3:10pm – 3:40pm