Lowis & Gellen Attorney is Speaker at CBA Committee Meeting

James Froberg, a member of Lowis & Gellen’s Corporate Practice Group, participated as a guest speaker at the Chicago Bar Association’s Commercial Finance & Transactions February 2010 meeting to discuss Lender Liability Issues at the CBA’s headquarters in Chicago, Illinois.

With financial adversity and hard times continuing to affect the national economy broadly it is not unexected that there is renewed focus on lender liability in the commercial and consumer market place. Lender liability is made up of a body of common and statutory law covering a broad spectrum of claims. Claims may arise under the a wide array of theories as well as new theories as this area of the law evolves: For purposes of the Committee’s discussion of Lender Liability the focus was on on Common Lender Liability Theories in Contract and Tort in commercial transactions. The presentation also discussed the importance of The Illinois Credit Agreements Act in defusing certain elements of lender liability in Illinois as well as the importance of periodic portfolio review and the use of forbearance agreements in mitigating or avoiding liability. The discussion also covered a few recent cases addressing lenders from liability under a couple of old and new theories. The presentation also addressed some strategies for managing and reducing the risks of lender liability.

Lowis & Gellen’s Corporate Practice Group represents public and private companies in connection with a wide variety of transactions, including mergers, stock purchases and asset acquisitions, divestitures, leveraged buyouts, restructurings and other transactions involving changes in corporate control. For more information on Lowis & Gellen’s Corporate Practice Group, please contact James Froberg at jfroberg@Lowis-Gellen.com or (312) 456-2718.

Lowis & Gellen Get Involved in Rugby

This St Patrick's Day weekend (13/14 March) sees Lowis & Gellen sponsoring an invitational rugby team in the annual Savannah Shamrocks RFC St Patrick's Day Tournament in Savanah, Georgia. The tournament is a prestigious one, having first been run in 1979 and, continuing to grow annually, it now attracts some of the best teams from within the USA and further afield.

The team, organised by the Chairman of Lowis & Gellen's EU Committee, Cary Depel, has played in the tournament for several years now, winning it for the last 3. Originally from Indiana, Cary has lived in the UK for many years and was a late convert to rugby. He decided a few years ago to organise an invitational side, "The Willing", to play in the Savannah tournament and various others around the world. Players who have played (and will be playing) for the Willing come from all four corners of the globe including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, England, Wales, Ireland and France. With Cary still suiting up, you can also add the USA to that list. In addition, James Kindon, a UK qualified lawyer who is currently working in our Chicago office will also be playing.

Lowis & Gellen think this is a great weekend with a difference - an oportunity to meet people from all over the world, mingle in a relaxed environment and enjoy the weekend making new friends. Any clients or contacts of the firms who would be interested in meeting up with Cary, James and the team should contact either Gerald Haberkorn or James Kindon in our Chicago office.

This year will see an extension of Lowis & Gellen's sponsorship to allow a second "over 35" team to be entered into the veterans tournament. This will allow some of our older contacts and clients who have decided to enjoy the weekend with us to decide whether they also want to have a run around and find out (in a slightly more relaxed environment than the main tournament) what rugby players the world over would say they have been missing.

We look forward to seeing you there.