areas of practice
Clay M. Taylor
PARTNERCLAY M. TAYLOR is experienced in a wide range of asset acquisitions, divestitures, financings and restructurings. He started his career specializing in bankruptcy and reorganizations largely representing secured creditors. As his practice evolved, Mr. Taylor began representing debtors, official committees of unsecured creditors, Chapter 11 Trustees, Liquidating Trustees, equity stake-holders and other parties-in-interest across the spectrum in both restructuring and bankruptcy.
In doing so, he developed extensive litigation and trial experience in both federal and state court in litigation and contests largely related to creditor/debtor disputes, financial services litigation and commercial litigation.
Concurrently with developing his dispute resolution skills as both a negotiator and an advocate, Mr. Taylor also helped clients restructure various financings and/or equity structures and selling off or acquiring various assets and business lines and/or businesses. He aided his clients in the evaluation of the alternatives, the due diligence required to further explore those alternatives and helped negotiate and document the transactions, financings, restructurings and asset, equity sales that each unique legal and business scenario necessitated.
Mr. Taylor’s restructuring work has exposed him to a variety of industries and sectors from retail, manufacturing, banking, real estate, aviation, construction and both passive oil and gas holding companies to active oil and gas energy production companies, pipeline companies and the associated oil and gas/pipeline servicing companies.
Admissions & Certifications
- State Bar of Texas, 2001
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas
Professional Affiliations & Memberships
- John C. Ford Inn of Court
- American Bankruptcy Institute
- Dallas Bankruptcy Bar Association
- Texas Bankruptcy Bar Section
- Tarrant County Bar Association
- Tarrant County Bar Association, Bankruptcy Section, Former President
Honors & Recognitions
- Recognized as a "Texas Rising Star" by Super Lawyers, 2008-2011
- Selected as a "Top Attorney" by Fort Worth, Texas magazine, 2008, 2012-present
- Recognized as a "Texas Super Lawyer" by Texas Monthly magazine, 2013-present
Education
- Pepperdine University School of Law, J.D., 2001
- Texas A&M University, B.B.A., Management, 1997
Experience and Highlights
- Representation of domestic airline in various restructuring, extensions, modifications of existing financing facilities and leasing transactions.
- Led multiple representations of acquisitions of oil and gas producers. Some were accomplished via Section 363 sales and some via the proposal of a plan of reorganization by an unsecured creditor and documented the acquisition upon confirmation.
- Handled nationwide representation of the two major credit card processing companies in large retail bankruptcy cases.
- Led representation of several different specialty retailers in the sale of or liquidation of substantially all of its assets via both out of court wind downs and via bankruptcy.
- Led the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditor’s representation in a national western wear retail case.
- Chapter 11 Trustee representation of a direct sales company which has over $300,000,000 in secured debt and successfully confirmed a liquidating Chapter 11 plan.
- Led representation of national rail freight carrier in one of the largest mining and smelting bankruptcies filed in recent memory. Defended claims of over $50,000,000 in multiple claim objection hearings and appeals resulting therefrom.
- Led representation of party-in-interest in formulating and implementing a plan of reorganization that led to the client’s acquisition of over $9 million of assets (primarily real estate) out of a bankruptcy estate that has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy for over 2 and a half years.
- Lead attorney of a case appealed to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals after winning at both the trial level and on appeal to the district court. The 5th Circuit affirmed in all respects.