Jeremy C. Hollembeak

Profile

Jeremy C. Hollembeak is a member of the firm’s Creditors’ Rights and Litigation teams who concentrates his practice on value maximization and monetization of his clients’ investments in special/distressed assets and litigation, bankruptcy and cryptocurrency claims.  Jeremy regularly develops and executes bespoke legal strategies for private capital providers, strategic investment funds, banks/institutional lenders, and creditor committees/trustees/fiduciaries in situations involving:

• Loan workouts and rescue financing
• Litigation financing
• Asset tracing, seizure and liquidation
• Judgment enforcement
• US bankruptcy cases (incl. Chapters 7, 11, 12 & 15)
• Complex commercial litigation and arbitration

Jeremy’s practice spans key jurisdictions throughout the United States on engagements frequently involving international issues.  He has appeared before courts in New York, Delaware, Texas, Florida, Nevada and Minnesota (among other states) and before the ICC’s International Court of Arbitration.  He earned the distinction of Fellow from INSOL International for completing advanced training in international/comparative law in 2016, and has more than a decade of experience representing non-US clients in US proceedings brought to support or defend against disputes and insolvencies in other key jurisdictions throughout the world. These US proceedings include: 

• Section 1782 applications seeking documents and testimony in the US to use as evidence in proceedings before foreign or international tribunals
• Chapter 15 cases supporting non-US insolvency proceedings (both restructurings and liquidations)
• US state and federal court actions for recognition and enforcement of non-US money judgments under the UFMJRA of 1962 and UFCMJRA of 2005, and of foreign and international arbitration awards under the New York Convention of 1958.

Prior to joining Baird Holm, Jeremy practiced for 13 years in the New York City offices of two international law firms, Milbank LLP and Kobre & Kim LLP.  He is an active member of numerous professional organizations and bar associations, has spoken on several conference panels and authored a number of topical treatises and articles.

Areas of Practice

• Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights
• Litigation
• International Services

Education

• Hofstra University School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude
• Kansas State University, B.S., Chemical Engineering

Bar & Court Admissions

• New York
• Minnesota
• Nebraska
• Iowa
• Kansas
• United States District Court, Southern District of New York
• United States District Court, Eastern District of New York
• United States District Court, Minnesota
• United States District Court, Nebraska
• United States District Court, Kansas
• United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
• United Stated Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Professional & Civic Affiliations

• INSOL International, Member and Fellow
• Turnaround Management Association, Member of New York and Minnesota chapters
• American Bankruptcy Institute, Member; Midwest Bankruptcy Institute, Board member
• New York State Bar Association, Member
• Nebraska State Bar Association, Member, Bank Attorneys Section Executive Committee

Selected Practice Highlights

Special/Distressed Asset Value Maximization and Monetization Engagements:

• Developed and implemented recovery strategy for distressed lending client who was ultimately repaid more than $45 million on a busted $26 million construction loan after an extended period of default by the bankrupt borrower. Successful result was achieved after a 13-month campaign of aggressive litigation to uncover, attack and unwind borrower’s fraudulent transfer of real estate collateral to fund other businesses and lavish lifestyle, as well as strategic deal-making with insider-transferees to force refinancing of client’s position on favorable terms.
• Developed and executed proactive collateral protection and investment exit strategy on behalf of private capital provider client. Following a default and several months of state-mandated mediation during which the recalcitrant borrower secretly transferred business operations to a newly-formed family-owned entity, Baird Holm brought actions in Minnesota State Court to foreclose borrower’s assets and obtained novel pre-judgment injunctive relief which induced a buyout of the client’s investment on favorable terms.
• Developed and implemented repayment strategy for global supplier of industrial solar power products following payment defaults by distressed developers and general contractors on multiple New York-based solar projects. Threatened investigation and enforcement litigation led to client’s repayment in full within months of initial engagement.
• Negotiated and consummated strategic acquisition of distressed US food processing business on behalf of South Korean client.

Section 1782 Subpoena Engagements:

• Prosecuted contested Section 1782 discovery application before SDNY District Court and Second Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of strategic investment fund client with minority shareholder position in Brazilian public company. Court approval of the application, over strenuous opposition by the Brazilian company and its wealthy owners allowed client to obtain US bank records evidencing illicit international financial transactions for submission to Brazilian regulators and criminal authorities.  Shortly after bank records were obtained, the Brazilian company agreed to settle with client on favorable terms.
• Prosecuting contested Section 1782 discovery application before SDNY District Court on behalf of clients who are female heirs to Brazilian family-owned business fortune. The application, which is being opposed by clients’ older brothers who now control their deceased father’s business, seeks US bank records to substantiate the brothers’ suspected diversion and hiding of estate assets outside of Brazil.  This matter is ongoing.
• Prosecuting Section 1782 discovery application before Atlanta, Georgia District Court on behalf of Hong Kong-based victim of international spoofing attack. The application seeks US bank records to locate over $6 million of fraudulently obtained funds and to identify perpetrator of spoofing scheme for criminal investigation and prosecution in Brazil and other jurisdictions outside the US.  This matter is ongoing.

Cryptocurrency Claim Recovery Engagements:

• Represented BVI-based token-issuer with its recovery on claims against bankrupt crypto-platform FTX. The FTX bankruptcy estate initially refused to recognize the claims because they were based on deposits held in the FTX account of client’s Singapore-based market maker.  Following protracted negotiations with the market maker and FTX representatives, the claims were ultimately allowed in full in the client’s name by the FTX bankruptcy estate.  Thereafter, Baird Holm advised client in its sale of the allowed claims in the secondary market at a substantial premium to their face value.
• Advised cryptocurrency investor client with its recovery on one of the largest claims against bankrupt crypto-platform Genesis Global Capital and with client’s membership on the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors appointed in Genesis’s Chapter 11 case before the SDNY Bankruptcy Court. The client ultimately received a 100% in-kind recovery under Genesis’s confirmed plan.
• Represented several individual cryptocurrency investors with recovery on their claims against bankrupt crypto-platforms FTX, Voyager and Celsius. Most of these engagements also involved advising clients concerning there defense against threatened or filed lawsuits that sought to clawback allegedly preferential pre-bankruptcy withdrawals from their platform accounts.

Chapter 15 (aka “Foreign Representative”) Engagements:

• Developing and executing asset tracing and recovery strategy for client in his role as Brazilian bankruptcy trustee and Chapter 15 “foreign representative” of a large Brazilian retail company. The company’s insolvency was the result of looting by its wealthy Brazilian owners who were discovered to be using stolen company funds (laundered through shell companies) to stockpile substantial US assets and maintain a lavish lifestyle in Miami.  Upon commencement of the Chapter 15 case, emergency orders were obtained from the Florida Bankruptcy Court that froze the looters’ assets and compelled Miami branches of international banks to produce of records of the looters’ financial transactions to locate and liquidate assets for distribution to creditors in the Brazilian bankruptcy proceeding. 
• Developing and executing strategy for US Chapter 15 recognition and enforcement of Mexican manufacturing client’s restructuring of $1.2 billion of defaulted New York-issued bonds in a Mexican concurso Notable successes during multi-year engagement included the defeat of involuntary Chapter 11 petitions by bondholders against the client’s non-debtor US subsidiaries and injunctive relief protecting the client’s US assets from enforcement of New York state court judgments through the duration of Chapter 15 cases before the Texas Bankruptcy Court and subsequent appeals before the Texas District Court and Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Obtaining US Chapter 15 recognition and enforcement of Canadian CCAA plan and related settlement and channeling order that reorganized debtor’s Chinese-based lumber business and resolved related Canadian class-action litigation against debtor’s auditors and other professionals. Notably, the SDNY Bankruptcy Court granted recognition and enforcement of broad third-party releases in Canadian plan and order that would not have been permissible in a Chapter 11 case.

Rescue Financing Engagements:

• Represented distressed lender client in connection with $24 million debtor-in-possession financing provided to bankrupt developer for construction of assisted living and memory care facility in San Bernadino County, California. Notably, after the California Bankruptcy Court approved the financing, Baird Holm continued to advise the lender and worked with the borrower to convert the facility to an exit financing under a confirmed Chapter 11 plan.
• Represented distressed lender client in connection with $10 million debtor-in-possession financing provided to bankrupt developer for construction of retail multi-tenant commercial property in Bellflower, California. Notably, after the California Bankruptcy Court approved the financing, Baird Holm continues to advise the lender as it works with the debtor/borrower toward an exit transaction involving a sale or refinancing on favorable terms.  This matter is ongoing.
• Negotiating and closing out-of-court workout transaction on behalf of private capital provider client that purchased defaulted bank debt and provided rescue financing to distressed agribusiness borrower, including forbearance arrangement with bespoke milestones tied to the borrower’s farm and feedlot operations.

Creditors’ Committee, Bankruptcy Trustee and Receiver Engagements:

• Developed and prosecuted bankruptcy estate litigation on behalf of Official Unsecured Creditors Committee in large Chapter 11 case before SDNY Bankruptcy Court. The litigation included fraudulent transfer avoidance and clawback actions attacking validity and priority of claims arising from eve-of-bankruptcy transactions involving unsecured-for-secured notes exchange.  Ultimately a settlement was reached providing significant funds for distribution to general unsecured creditors.
• Developed and executed recovery strategy on behalf of receiver and Chapter 11 trustee responsible for compensating victims of one of the largest ever Ponzi schemes. Strategy involved prosecution of litigation before Minnesota Bankruptcy Court targeting complex structure of off-shore (BVI & Cayman) master/feeder funds owned by HNWI that was an early-exiting investor in scheme.
• Acted as general bankruptcy counsel for Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of large agribusiness debtor before Iowa Bankruptcy Court.

Foreign Money Judgment and Arbitration Award Domestication and Enforcement Engagements:

• Developed and in process of executing strategy on behalf of Brazilian strategic fund client to trace assets of judgment debtors and enforce $37 million Brazilian judgment. A public records investigation by Baird Holm’s team enabled service of summons on individual Brazilian judgment debtor at a vacation home in Florida he recently acquired (through a corporate intermediary).  A New York State Court has issued an order domesticating the Brazilian judgment paving the way for further tracing and enforcement efforts.  This matter is ongoing.
• Developed US asset tracing strategy for enforcement of Singapore judgment confirming SIAC arbitration awards collectively exceeding $20 million against Vietnamese companies. Engagement by judgment creditor clients was funded by litigation financier.  
• Developed and in process of executing recovery strategy on behalf of distressed lending client against guarantor. Baird Holm first obtained $25 million judgment against guarantor from New York State Court and is now taking steps to domesticate and enforce judgment in California where investigation indicates the guarantor maintains assets.  This matter is ongoing.

Other Proactive/Offensive Litigation Engagements:

• Prosecuted contentious litigation before SDNY Bankruptcy Court on behalf of strategic investment fund client that purchased bankruptcy claims under false pretenses. After commencing action in New York State Court against the claims seller and its broker, those defendants and the reorganized Chapter 11 debtor removed the action to federal bankruptcy court.  Over their objection, Baird Holm successfully secured remand of the action, enabling the client’s requests for rescission of the sale and damages for fraudulent inducement to proceed before the New York State Court.
• Developed and implemented litigation strategy to secure release of margin account funds of family office client being improperly held by its stock broker. Just days after Baird Holm commenced litigation against broker in New York State Court, broker released funds leading to dismissal of action.
• Represented US client with operations in MENA region in connection with its prosecution of multi-million dollar claims in international arbitration against former counterparties located in U.A.E. and Turkey. The arbitrator ruled in our client’s favor and the award was subsequently confirmed.
• Developed and executed recovery strategy on behalf of bank client damaged by interstate Ponzi scheme involving fabricated cattle purchases and check-kiting. Baird Holm brought civil RICO claims in Nebraska District Court and defeated scheme participant defendant’s motion to dismiss.
• Developed and executed arbitrage litigation strategy before Delaware Bankruptcy and District Courts and Third Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of Indenture Trustee client concerning a disputed collateral allocation governed by a unitranche inter-creditor agreement among holders of billions of dollars of structured first lien indebtedness of bankrupt energy company.

Defensive / Legacy Ownership Engagements:

• Represent developer of luxury brand resort being constructed in Turks & Caicos in defense against litigation claims brought by former seed investor in Pennsylvania Bankruptcy and State Courts in Pittsburgh. Former investor is seeking damages for transactions between client and other defendant parties that caused redemption of investment at par and release of lien on small part of resort property that former investor had been leveraging to hold up commencement of construction on project.  This matter is ongoing.
• Developed and implemented coordinated international legal strategy for equity sponsor of nearly-completed Caribbean casino and resort facing severe liquidity crisis in jurisdiction that lacked modern restructuring regime and whose local government supported take-over/foreclosure of project by Chinese secured lender.
• Represented legacy ownership of Nebraska agribusiness client in out-of-court restructuring of capital structure following defaults on indebtedness and operational obligations owing to Canadian private equity acquiror.
• Developed and implemented defensive strategy on behalf of non-debtor owner of Nebraska-based data collection company incorporated in Nevada. Owner provided debtor-in-possession loan to fund debtor’s bankruptcy case and negotiated settlement with debtor to significantly reduce owner’s pre-petition secured claims in effort to ward off allegations by debtor’s competitor and largest unsecured creditor that owner’s control over debtor was exercised improperly. Following years of litigation before Nevada Bankruptcy and District Courts and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, disputes ultimately resolved through settlement on favorable terms to client.
• Represented Hong Kong-based law firm that was targeted in litigation before the Connecticut Bankruptcy Court brought by the Chapter 11 Trustee for the bankruptcy estate of a supposedly wealthy Chinese individual debtor. The Trustee’s action sought clawback of legal fees paid by debtor to the law firm client in prior litigation in New York and arbitration in Hong Kong.  Baird Holm was able to settle the matter quickly and before motion practice on terms favorable to client.

Selected Recent Publications

• “Strategies to Mitigate Credit Risk in a Highly Liquid Economy,” Nebraska Bankers Magazine Pub. 16 2021-2022 Issue 6, May 2022
• “The Restructuring of Corporate Groups: A Global Analysis of Substantive, Procedural and Synthetic Group Procedures,” INSOL International Special Report on Restructuring of Corporate Groups, May 2022 

Recent Speaking Engagements

• “Maximizing Returns on Under/Non-Performing Bank Loans,” Baird Holm Financial Services Industry Webinar, Omaha, NE, May 2022
• “Strategies to Mitigate Credit Risk in a Highly Liquid Economy,” Risk Management Association’s Lunch and Learn, First National Bank of Omaha Headquarters, Omaha, NE, April 2022