Author Archive
For the eleventh consecutive year, Chambers USA has recognized Rayburn Cooper & Durham and its attorneys. Chambers USA gives its top Band 1 rating in North Carolina to the firm’s bankruptcy practice, stating that RCD is “[w]idely regarded as a leading firm for debtor-side bankruptcy work, acting for companies in financial difficulties on recapitalizations, workouts and other insolvency work” and is “[r]egularly retained on some of the most significant matters in North Carolina.”
“Interviewees confirm that this is ‘the preeminent debtor practice,’ citing its ‘excellent reputation as a boutique debtor-focused restructuring firm.’”
Richard Rayburn, first ranked in Chambers USA 2007, “is highly renowned for his representation of debtors in bankruptcy litigation and workouts. Interviewees confirm his ‘great reputation,’ labeling him ‘the best’ in this space.”
Of counsel Albert Durham, first ranked in Chambers USA in 2009, is “recognized for his longstanding debtor-side practice. He remains a key point of contact for distressed companies in court proceedings and financing restructuring.”
RCD is one of the smallest law firms in North Carolina to receive accolades from the independent research publisher Chambers and Partners, considered to be among the most prestigious of law firm rating organizations.
The Chambers USA directory is published annually by UK-based Chambers and Partners. The independent guide is compiled by a team of more than 140 researchers based on interviews with lawyers and clients throughout the United States.
Individual lawyers are ranked on the basis of their legal knowledge and experience, their ability, their effectiveness, and their client-service. In addition to these qualities, rankings of practices areas are based on the effectiveness and capability of the department as a whole – its strength and depth.
Posted 06/06/17
The North Carolina Bar Association’s Bankruptcy Section has recognized RCD attorney Al Durham with its Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award, which recognizes Al’s service to and leadership within the Bankruptcy Bar, was presented at the 39th Annual Bankruptcy Institute in New Bern, NC on November 18, 2016. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes a bankruptcy practitioner who, for not less than 25 years, has contributed to the betterment of the NCBA Bankruptcy Section and the profession and who has set an aspiring example for those who follow.
Al has practiced bankruptcy law, appearing in the Bankruptcy Courts of North Carolina, South Carolina and Delaware, for over forty years. Al served as the president of the NCBA’s Bankruptcy Section from 1990-91. He has been a Certified Specialist in Business and Consumer Bankruptcy Law since 1987, the first year the NC Bar certified specialists in these fields.
“Our attorneys regularly benefit from Al’s exceptional knowledge of the Bankruptcy Code and related case law, his untiring dedication to his clients, his attention to detail, and his commitment to civility among members of the bar,” said Rick Rayburn, RCD’s managing shareholder. “Dozens of North Carolina attorneys count Al as a mentor and a friend – someone they trust for his exceptional analytical skills, unmatched treasure trove of cases and articles, and unfailing willingness to share his knowledge. Al is a true stalwart of the North Carolina Bankruptcy Bar.”
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 assists with restructuring financing and/or operations outside a formal court proceeding for financially distressed businesses.
RCD is proud that Al’s peers have recognized him with this singular honor.
Posted 12/20/16
Shelley Abel, a member of RCD’s Bankruptcy practice group, is scheduled to speak on November 18, 2016, at the North Carolina Bar Association’s 39th Annual Bankruptcy Institute, a continuing legal education program, held this year in New Bern, NC. Shelley and her co-presenters, Terri Gardner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP and Jennifer Lyday of Waldrep LLP, will speak on Icing on the Cake or Adding Insult to Injury? – The Secured Lender’s Right to Default Interest and Attorneys’ Fees. Get more information and register to attend this event at http://gateway.ncbar.org/store/seminar/seminar.php?seminar=75210.
Posted 11/11/16
A principle of landlord-tenant law is the power of the tenant to transfer all or part of its lease unless the lease includes provisions that limit that power. The law of assignments and subleases seeks to strike a balance between the tenant’s interest in the alienability of its legal rights under the lease and the landlord’s interest in having a desirable and financially responsible occupant.
Click here to continue reading this article by Dave Melin.
Posted 11/10/16
U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers in America included Rayburn Cooper & Durham, P.A. in their “Best Law Firms®” list in the Charlotte metropolitan area for 2017. Following an annual evaluation, U.S. News Media Group awarded RCD rankings in the following practice areas.
– Corporate Law
– Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights /Insolvency and Reorganization Law
Also ranked in:
– Commercial Litigation
The U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in their field, and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process. To be eligible for a ranking in a particular practice area and metro region, a law firm must have at least one lawyer who is included in Best Lawyers in that particular practice area and metro. For more information, please visit bestlawfirms.usnews.com.
Posted 11/02/16
The Best Lawyers in America® recognized Rayburn Cooper & Durham attorneys in its 2017 edition.
Rick Rayburn is listed by Best Lawyers in the areas of: 
– Corporate Law,
– Bet-the-Company Litigation,
– Commercial Litigation, and
– Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law.
Rayburn has served as the managing shareholder of Rayburn Cooper & Durham for over 30 years. He represents business enterprises and individuals in a wide variety of financial transactions and commercial disputes including corporate and commercial litigation, financial restructurings, business reorganizations, workouts, executive employment contracts and disputes, shareholder disputes, business formations, venture capital infusions, private and public securities offerings, mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, divestitures, refinancings, and recapitalizations.
Al Durham is listed in the area of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law. 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.
Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation. Over 83,000 leading attorneys globally are eligible to vote, and Best Lawyers has received more than 13 million votes to date on the legal abilities of other lawyers based on their specific practice areas around the world. For the 2017 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©, 7.3 million votes were analyzed, which resulted in almost 55,000 leading lawyers being included in the new edition. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”
About Rayburn Cooper & Durham, P.A. (RCD)
For more than 35 years, Rayburn Cooper & Durham has served both businesses and individuals with bankruptcy and financial restructuring, business litigation and general corporate matters. The attorneys within the firm have extensive experience and provide creative solutions to help clients establish their enterprises, grow and prosper and also protect their rights, assets, and interests. Recognizing the unique needs of their clients, RCD does not represent large banks or financial institutions. RCD – The way forward. www.rcdlaw.net
Posted 08/23/16
For the tenth consecutive year, Chambers USA has recognized Rayburn Cooper & Durham and its attorneys. Chambers USA gives its top Band 1 rating in North Carolina to the firm’s bankruptcy practice, stating that RCD is “[w]idely regarded as a leading firm for debtor-side bankruptcy work, acting for companies in financial difficulties on recapitalizations, workouts and other insolvency work” and is “[r]egularly sighted on some of the most significant matters in North Carolina.”
“‘Rick Rayburn and his team are extraordinary.’”
Richard Rayburn, first ranked in Chambers USA 2007, “is a hugely experienced attorney who is described by sources as a ‘fantastic lawyer’ for bankruptcy work.”
Of counsel Albert Durham, first ranked in Chambers USA in 2009, is “a seasoned practitioner with a wealth of experience representing debtors in the gamut of bankruptcy and restructuring work.”
RCD is one of the smallest law firms in North Carolina to receive accolades from the independent research publisher Chambers and Partners, considered to be among the most prestigious of law firm rating organizations.
The Chambers USA directory is published annually by UK-based Chambers and Partners. The independent guide is compiled by a team of more than 140 researchers based on interviews with lawyers and clients throughout the United States.
Individual lawyers are ranked on the basis of their legal knowledge and experience, their ability, their effectiveness, and their client-service. In addition to these qualities, rankings of practices areas are based on the effectiveness and capability of the department as a whole – its strength and depth.
Posted 06/06/16
Practice in the bankruptcy arena for long enough and you will inevitably run across the following, vexing, situation: debtor files a plan; party in interest objects to a plan provision; Bankruptcy Court sustains the objection and denies confirmation; debtor refuses to go forward with a plan that conforms to the Bankruptcy Court’s ruling, fervently believing that the Bankruptcy Court “got it wrong,” and wants to seek appellate review on the issue. What should a debtor do in this situation?
Click here to continue reading this article by Jack Miller and Michelle Earp.
Posted 06/01/16
North Carolina Lawyer’s Weekly featured a North Carolina Business Court order in favor of RCD’s client involving an unusual question of law involving injunctions of foreign proceedings. This cover story for the May 9, 2016, edition is available here. A full copy of the Court’s opinion is available here.
Ross Fulton, a RCD shareholder, serves as lead counsel for TCG Consulting Partners. Fulton focuses his litigation practice on commercial and business disputes.
Posted 05/09/16
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, 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
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
On March 15, 2016, the North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of summary judgment to RCD’s client DWC3, Inc. on a fraudulent transfer claim (view the N.C. Court of Appeals order). RCD had previously obtained an arbitration award of more than $1 million against Diane Kissel, and here obtained a judgment against Kissel and her husband for fraudulently transferring the Kissel’s assets to her husband to avoid DWC3, Inc.’s original arbitration award. Ross Fulton served as lead counsel in the case.
Posted 03/31/16
Rayburn Cooper & Durham, P.A. is pleased to announce that the following attorneys from the firm have been selected for inclusion in 2016 North Carolina Super Lawyers® and 2016 North Carolina Rising Stars:
2016 North Carolina Super Lawyers
Albert Durham – Bankruptcy, Business
James Gatehouse – Business Litigation
G. Kirk Hardymon – Business Litigation
David Melin – Business Litigation
Jack Miller – Bankruptcy, Business
Rick Rayburn – Business / Corporate
2016 North Carolina Rising Stars
Shelley Abel – Bankruptcy, Business
Ross Fulton – Business Litigation
Super Lawyers is an annual listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.
The selections for this esteemed list are made by the research team at Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business. Each year, the research team at Super Lawyers undertakes a rigorous multi-phased process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, independent research evaluation of candidates, and peer reviews by practice area. Only 5% of North Carolina attorneys have been selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers.
The Rising Stars selection process is identical to the Super Lawyers process, with one exception: to be eligible, a candidate must be either age 40 years old or younger, or in practice for 10 years or less. Only 2.5% of North Carolina attorneys are selected for the Rising Stars list. Learn more about the selection process.
About Rayburn Cooper & Durham, P.A. (RCD)
For more than 35 years, Rayburn Cooper & Durham has served both businesses and individuals with bankruptcy and financial restructuring, business litigation and general corporate matters. The attorneys within the firm have extensive experience and provide creative solutions to help clients establish their enterprises, grow and prosper and also protect their rights, assets, and interests. Recognizing the unique needs of their clients, RCD does not represent large banks or financial institutions. RCD – The way forward. www.rcdlaw.net
Posted 02/26/16
Two Rayburn Cooper & Durham attorneys have been recognized by their peers as 2016 “Legal Elite” in Business North Carolina Magazine’s annual list.
2016 Legal Elite
Shelley Koon Abel – Bankruptcy
Jack Miller – Bankruptcy
In addition, Rick Rayburn previously received the distinction of being named to the “Legal Elite Hall of Fame” for Bankruptcy Law.
Legal Elite Methodology
Each year, Business North Carolina sends ballot notices to every member of the N.C. State Bar living in North Carolina — asking each a simple question: Of the Tar Heel lawyers whose work you have observed firsthand, whom would you rate among the current best in these categories? Voters are not allowed to vote for themselves. They may select members of their firms only if they pick out-of-firm lawyers in the same categories, with the latter votes weighted more heavily.
About Rayburn Cooper & Durham, P.A. (RCD)
For more than 35 years, Rayburn Cooper & Durham has served both businesses and individuals with bankruptcy and financial restructuring, business litigation and general corporate matters. The attorneys within the firm have extensive experience and provide creative solutions to help clients establish their enterprises, grow and prosper and also protect their rights, assets, and interests. Recognizing the unique needs of their clients, RCD does not represent large banks or financial institutions. RCD – The way forward. www.rcdlaw.net
Posted 02/13/16
RCD member Shelley Abel has been appointed to a three-year term on the Bankruptcy Section Council of the North Carolina Bar Association (NCBA).
The Bankruptcy Section provides a means by which members of the North Carolina Bar Association who have a special interest in bankruptcy can come together to discuss relevant issues, exchange information and ideas, and promote professional relationships among members. The Bankruptcy Section sponsors CLE programs including the annual NCBA Bankruptcy Institute and other continuing education services, provides members with a substantive newsletter, and makes recommendations concerning legislation touching on or affecting bankruptcy issues.
Posted 12/01/15
U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers in America included Rayburn Cooper & Durham, P.A. in their “Best Law Firms®” list in the Charlotte metropolitan area for 2016. Following an annual evaluation, U.S. News Media Group awarded RCD rankings in the following practice areas.
First Tier Rankings in:
– Corporate Law
– Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights /Insolvency and Reorganization Law
Also ranked in:
– Commercial Litigation
The U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in their field, and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process. To be eligible for a ranking in a particular practice area and metro region, a law firm must have at least one lawyer who is included in Best Lawyers in that particular practice area and metro. For more information, please visit bestlawfirms.usnews.com.
Posted 11/18/15
Jack Miller, a member of RCD’s Bankruptcy practice group, is scheduled to speak on November 6, 2015, at the North Carolina Bar Association’s 38th Annual Bankruptcy Institute, an annual continuing legal education program, held this year in Pinehurst, NC. Jack and his co-presenter, George Sanderson of Ellis & Winters, LLP, will deliver the topic “1111(b) Elections,” discussing the important, but often misunderstood, option for undersecured creditors. Get more information and register to attend at https://www.ncbar.org/media/564347/471abi.pdf.
Posted 10/30/15
Three attorneys from Rayburn Cooper & Durham were selected for inclusion in the 22nd edition of The Best Lawyers in America®.
Rick Rayburn was recognized in the areas of:
– Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law,
– Bet-the-Company Litigation,
– Commercial Litigation, and
– Corporate Law.
Both Al Durham and Paul Baynard were recognized in the area of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law.
Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as a definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation. Over 79,000 leading attorneys globally are eligible to vote, and Best Lawyers has received more than 12 million votes to date on the legal abilities of other lawyers based on their specific practice areas around the world. For the 2016 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©, 6.7 million votes were analyzed, which resulted in more than 55,000 leading lawyers being included in the new edition. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”
Posted 08/19/15
