Richard E. Lear practices primarily in the litigation area emphasizing insolvency, Chapter 11, and creditors’ rights and bankruptcy issues. For 25 years, Mr. Lear has served as counsel for institutional lenders, franchisors, leasing companies and landlords in connection with individual and business Chapter 11 cases and in workouts. He has also counseled clients regarding the effect of bankruptcy and insolvency on proposed bond refundings, conventional loan refinancings and other transactions. He also has substantial experience advising clients with respect to transactional insolvency issues, such as bankruptcy-remote structures, substantive consolidation, true sales, preference and fraudulent transfer analysis and with drafting and reviewing reasoned legal opinions on bankruptcy issues, including in connection with the securitization of financial assets.
Mr. Lear has lectured on several occasions on bankruptcy issues at various seminars sponsored by local, regional and state bar associations.
Since 2009, Mr. Lear has been an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies where he teaches a course in real estate bankruptcy in Georgetown's Master of Professional Studies in Real Estate Program.
Over the past 20 years, Mr. Lear has authored numerous articles and seminar outlines addressing bankruptcy issues. He also founded in 1998 and is the editor of, and a regular contributor to, the Holland & Knight national Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights newsletter.
Mr. Lear served as law clerk to the Honorable Martin V. B. Bostetter, Jr., Chief Judge, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia from 1983-1985.