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Credit Crisis Litigation Team
The Credit Crisis Litigation Team focuses on all aspects of litigation and investigations related to the subprime meltdown and credit crisis, and includes attorneys from Katten’s financial services litigation, structured finance and securitization, securities litigation, bankruptcy, real estate litigation and white collar criminal and civil litigation practices. The members of the Credit Crisis Litigation Team have a winning record of successfully handling numerous investigation and litigation matters related to the credit crisis, including the following:
- Internal and governmental investigations into the valuation of mortgage-backed securities, trading practices, risk disclosures and whether subprime lenders engaged in predatory lending practices or violated securities laws.
- Various types of claims involving derivatives, valuations and claims by counterparties relating to credit derivatives and swaps sold in connection with residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).
- Class action lawsuits and shareholder derivative actions concerning disclosures made in connection with the purchase or sale of securities involving investments based upon subprime loans, such as RMBS or CDOs.
- Real estate, bankruptcy, environmental and ERISA claims and investigations related to subprime loans and securities, RMBS, asset-backed securities (ABS) and CDOs.
- Class action lawsuits against financial institutions alleging consumer fraud or predatory lending practices.
- Inquiries and investigations of mortgage lenders, brokers and insurers by state regulators, attorneys general and the Department of Housing and Urban Development on issues involving the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA), the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and the Gramm-Leach Bliley Act.
- Lawsuits against mortgage originators and sellers of subprime loans, seeking to enforce contractual repurchase obligations.
- Claims against corporate directors and officers in connection with governmental and private civil litigation, including claims regarding improper accounting and abusive and improper lending practices.
Professionals
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Chicago
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Chicago
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Chicago
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New York
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Chicago
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Chicago
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Charlotte
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Managing Partner, Charlotte
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Chicago
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Chicago
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New York
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New York
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Los Angeles - Century City
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Managing Partner, Century City
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December 2, 2008
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August 14, 2008
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Represented secured lenders in litigation concerning (i) a debtor’s attempt to enjoin the secured lender from exercising its right of sale (non-judicial foreclosure) under the applicable deed of trust; and (ii) a guarantor’s
liability for the borrower’s violation of non-recourse covenants.
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Represented financial institution in consumer fraud class action lawsuits filed in numerous states which alleged that the terms of home mortgages violated consumer protection laws, deceptive trade practices and breach of contract and fraud.
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Represented financial institution’s mortgage services company and its predecessor in dozens of lawsuits against originators and sellers of subprime loans seeking to enforce their contractual obligation to repurchase deficient subprime loans that they sold
to our client.
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Represent defendants in a securities fraud action brought by investors in a hedge fund that invested in subprime automobile finance loans. The defendants allege that the hedge fund and its affiliates misrepresented the extent to which there was a
secondary market into which the subprime loans could be resold if necessary to provide liquidity to fund redemptions by the investors.
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Represented a multibillion-dollar hedge fund during an internal investigation and in response to investigations by various regulators. Katten conducted an extensive
investigation into transactions involving the complete range of mortgage-backed investment vehicles, which involved a detailed analysis of the structure of the products, the marketplace for those products and the methodology for pricing mortgage-backed instruments. All investigations were closed without any action taken against the client.
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Represented a director in connection with civil and governmental actions brought in connection with
improper accounting and lending practices by the institution. This case involved allegations of improper and abusive lending practices in connection with large commercial real estate transactions. In the end, no action was taken against the director.
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Represented a senior officer of a financial institution in connection with governmental and private civil litigation. This case
involved allegations of improper and abusive lending practices in connection with large commercial real estate transactions. No criminal charges were brought against the director and no individual settlement was required.
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Represented lenders in connection with commercial real estate bankruptcies, including bankruptcies in which we represented the lender in obtaining stay relief to allow foreclosure.
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Represented major mortgage originator in investigation of fraudulent mortgage elimination scheme and related litigation to establish lien priority, and in the investigation
and prosecution of other fraud-based claims against brokers, closing agents and other settlement service providers.
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Represented mezzanine lenders in commercial bankruptcies.
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Represented lenders in state court-contested receiverships of distressed real estate with respect to (i) a hotel; (ii) a chain of fast food restaurants, resulting
in the sale of the chain and related realty, including leasehold interests, as a going concern; and (iii) a manufacturing facility that had significant environmental (CERCLA) problems, resulting in foreclosure.
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Represented issuer of proprietary credit card securitizations in connection with bankruptcy-related claims by creditors committees.
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Represented insolvent manufacturing companies and companies that owned land where manufacturing was conducted in connection with Environmental Protection Agency claims and Superfund claims.
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Represented fiduciaries of a large pension plan in negotiating the repurchase of subprime securities by an investment manager which allegedly purchased the securities for the plan in violation of its investment policy statement.
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Represent underwriter in shareholder class action alleging misrepresentations and omissions by corporate issuer regarding issuer's exposure to subprime and Alt-A mortgage-backed securities.
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Represent major financial institution in connection with governmental inquiry regarding subprime instruments and valuations.
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Represent originator of subprime mortgages in consumer fraud class actions and suits by municipalities alleging common law nuisance.
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