John Farnum represents businesses including public companies, real estate developers, property owners, asset managers, financial institutions, nonprofits and closely-held companies in all aspects of their dealings.
John is an experienced commercial and real estate litigator at both the trial and appellate levels. He regularly represents clients in state and federal courts throughout the D.C. metropolitan region, including the Eastern District of Virginia’s “Rocket Docket;” the Circuit Court for Fairfax County, Virginia; the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland; and the Superior Court for the District of Columbia.
In his litigation practice, John regularly focuses on administrative appeals, real estate and zoning disputes. His practice also frequently involves representing businesses and their stakeholders in business disputes, including breaches of contract, breaches of fiduciary duty, commercial lease disputes, business torts, partnership disputes, construction claims, contractor defaults and fraud. John also counsels and represents lenders and other financial institutions in various disputes, including creditors’ rights matters, loan origination and servicing claims, and lender-liability claims.
John’s bankruptcy and creditors’ rights practice primarily involves representing lenders and other creditors in all phases of business restructurings, foreclosures, receiverships and out-of-court workouts. He has substantial experience representing clients on issues arising from bankruptcy proceedings, including adversary proceedings, preference actions, fraudulent transfer actions and lift-stay motions. He also has experience representing trustees, receivers and other fiduciaries in bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings.
Another component of John’s practice is representation of lenders, developers, commercial landlords and tenants, institutional investors, joint ventures and other parties to complex real estate transactions. He represents clients in structuring, negotiating, documenting and closing commercial real estate transactions, including mortgage-secured real estate financing, construction lending, mezzanine loans and intercreditor arrangements.
Earlier in his career, John was the judicial law clerk for the Honorable Ross W. Krumm, Chief Judge (ret'd) for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia.