Archive for April, 2016

Al Durham Receives the Sara H. Davis Excellence Award from the N.C. State Bar Board of Legal Specialization

Rayburn Cooper & Durham is pleased to announce that the North Carolina State Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization presented Al Durham with the Sara H. Davis Excellence Award on April 29, 2016. The Board accepts nominations and presents this award to a certified specialist who has a “long and consistent record of handling challenging matters successfully, for sharing knowledge and experience with other lawyers, for earning the respect and admiration of all others with whom the lawyer comes into contact in his/her daily work, and for high ethical standards.”

Al Durham has been a Certified Specialist in Business and Consumer Bankruptcy Law since 1987, the first year that the Bar certified specialists in these fields.  One of his nominators described Al as “an example to the entire Bankruptcy Bar for his meticulous analytical capabilities and encyclopedic knowledge of the Bankruptcy Code.”  Another nominator shared that Al is a “caring mentor to attorneys both within and outside his firm.”

Al Durham represents debtors in business workouts and financial reorganizations and trustees, debtors, creditors, and creditors’ committees in business bankruptcies under Chapter 7 or 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. He also works with restructuring financing and/or operations outside a formal court proceeding for financially distressed business entities.

RCD is proud that Al’s many accomplishments and tireless work ethic have recognized by his peers and the NC State Bar.

Posted 04/30/16

Shelley Abel Speaks at Western North Carolina Bankruptcy Seminar

Shelley Abel, a member of RCD’s Bankruptcy practice group, is scheduled to speak on May 13, 2016, at the Mecklenburg County Bar’s Western North Carolina Bankruptcy Seminar, an annual continuing legal education program. Shelley and her co-presenters, Cotten Wright of Grier Furr & Crisp and Glenn Thompson of Hamilton Stephens Steele & Martin, will deliver the topic “Involuntary Bankruptcies From Multiple Perspectives.” Shelley Abel serves as the co-chair of the planning committee for this seminar. Get more information and register to attend here.

Posted 04/15/16

Sixth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment on Non-Dischargeability Claim

On March 28, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a judgment obtained by Rayburn Cooper & Durham, P.A. for client RDLG, LLC (view a copy of the Sixth Circuit opinion here).  RCD was granted summary judgment on a non-dischargeability claim for client RDLG, LLC in the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, in which the court found that RDLG, LLC’s fraud judgment against Fred M. Leonard, Jr. obtained in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina was not dischargeable in appellant’s subsequent Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.  The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee had previously affirmed the Bankruptcy Court’s judgment before the appeal to the Sixth Circuit.  RDLG, LLC was represented by Ross Fulton as lead counsel.

Posted 04/13/16