Concentration

Corporate finance, bank regulation and corporate reorganization

Summary

Bill Stutts focuses on corporate reorganization, bank regulation, corporate finance, equipment finance and derivatives. In reorganizations, he has handled licensor and licensee issues, biotechnology, information technology and electronic commerce and has worked extensively with cross-border insolvency issues.

Mr. Stutts' regulatory experience involves both structural regulation for financial institutions (affecting mergers, acquisitions, formations and regulatory status of foreign bank operations), as well as operational regulation (including money laundering and related sanctions). In other areas, he represents end users and nondealer counterparties in a wide variety of derivatives and he regularly represents aircraft owners and lessors in various kinds of financing structures.

Following graduation from law school, Mr. Stutts served as a law clerk to The Honorable Homer Thornberry of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Since 1998, he has been an adjunct professor at The University of Texas School of Law, where he currently teaches a class on the regulation of financial markets and has previously taught a class on the regulation of money transfers, money laundering and terrorist financing. In 1998, he conducted a course on Bankruptcy Judicial Training in Mongolia for the International Law Institute.

Representative Engagements

• Several industrial and commercial enterprises and specialty lenders – receivables securitization using both commercial paper conduits and direct purchases of securitization interests 
• J.P. Morgan Leasing Inc. and other institutional lenders and aircraft owners and operators (U.S. and non-U.S.) – lease financings and loans for aircraft and other equipment, totaling more than $1 billion
• Reliant Energy, CenterPoint Houston Electric and Cleco Power in utility legislative securitizations (including stranded costs and storm damage recovery bonds), issued in difference circumstances over a period of 12 years involving issuances in excess of $3 billion
• United States Federal Railroad Administration in lease and loan financing of Amtrak for the acquisition of new locomotives and for infrastructure upgrades.
• Office building owners, including National Office Partners and Hines, and shopping center owners – lease-based and mortgage-based securitized financing of office buildings in several locations, including California, the District of Columbia, New York and Texas
• State pension funds – representation of investors in renegotiation of debt on several office buildings and representation in bankruptcies of building owners
• Affiliates of a global power company – structured financing of power generation facilities in Hawaii and Oklahoma 
• Privately held purchaser – purchase of a division of American Pad & Paper Company from the bankruptcy estate, involving a contested auction, contested lease assignments and extensive HSR antitrust review
• Bank lender to Schlotzsky's, Inc. – chapter 11 proceedings of Schlotzsky's and state court receivership of an affiliate
• Privately held bank holding companies and privately held banks – acquisition of independent banks, including regulatory analysis (a matter of first impression) of deposit concentration analysis in the banks' market areas
• Ralph S. Janvey, court-appointed receiver for R. Allen Stanford and others – represented Receiver in receivership recognition, addressing issues of powers, asset recovery, insolvency of non-U.S. financial institutions and dealings related to foreign banks and foreign assets
• Equistar Chemicals – synthetic lease financing totaling $250 million for Equistar's railcar fleet, including mechanisms for adding rolling stock as it comes online
• Seismic data licensor – multi-jurisdictional securitization of seismic data and license revenues
• Several foreign banks and financial services companies and domestic trust companies – advice and representation in connection with U.S. operations and U.S. regulations

Publications, Speeches and Presentations

Publications

• "Of Herring and Sausage: Nordic Responses to Banking Crises as Examples for the United States", Texas International Law Journal, 2009, (Wesley C. Watts, co-author)
• "Bankruptcy Basics: Intellectual Property Licenses in Bankruptcy," The Licensing Journal, March 2005 (Ed Korompai, co-author)
• "Bankruptcy Basics: Patent Licenses in Bankruptcy," The AIPPI-Japan Journal, published by the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property, Japanese Section, October 2004
• "The Derivative as Fiend: Killer Bunny or Trojan Rabbit?" Texas International Law Journal, 2001
• "The Use of Generic Rulemaking to Resolve Environmental Issues in Nuclear Power Plant Licensing," Virginia Law Review, 1975, cited in cases decided by the 4th Circuit and Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals

Speeches and Presentations

• "Bank Insolvency:  Protection for Public Funds," National Association of State Treasurers, New York December 2011
• Cross Border Insolvencies and a Recent Chapter 15 Case (with Judith W. Ross), 29th Annual Advanced Business Bankruptcy Course, State Bar of Texas, Houston September 2011
• "Receiverships," 29th Annual Jay L. Westbrook Bankruptcy Conference, University of Texas, November 2010
• "Impact of Financial & Derivatives Reform on the Energy Industry/Changes in Derivatives Regulation: June 24, 2010," sponsored by Protiviti, June 2010 "Impact of Financial & Derivatives Reform on the Energy Industry/Changes in Derivatives Regulation: June 24, 2010," sponsored by Protiviti, June 2010
• "Impact of Financial & Derivatives Reform on the Energy Industry/Changes in Derivatives Regulation: June 24, 2010," sponsored by Protiviti, June 2010
• "Receiverships" (with Ralph S. Janvey), 27^th Annual Advanced Business Bankruptcy Conference, State Bar of Texas, Houston, October 2009
• "International Insolvency and Workouts" (with Robin Phelan and Francesco Gianni), 2009 Symposium on Global Markets, The Center for American and International Law, Plano, June 2009
• "Remedies under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code: Litigation Issues" (with Sue Collins), Texas Center for the Judiciary, April 2009
• "Anti-Money Laundering (and its cousin Counter-Terrorism(ist) Financing)", Houston Real Estate Lawyers' Council, February 2009
• "Developments in Legal Aspects of Credit Support for LNG Sale and Purchase Agreements", Law of LNG Conference, Institute for Energy Law, September 2008
• "Subprime", testimony to the Financial Institutions Committee of the Texas House of Representatives, January 2008 (presented by Judith Ross) and June 2008
• "Significant Developments in Derivatives, 2005-2006," American Bar Association Annual Meeting, Honolulu, August 2006
• "Developments in Derivatives Products, Bankruptcy Treatment of Derivatives, and Related Opinion Issues," American Bar Association, Business Law Section, Nashville, April 2005
• "How Financing Affects Lease Negotiations: Suggestions for Avoiding Traps," 5th Annual Negotiating Leases Conference, CLE International, Austin, January 2005
• "Developments in Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Funding Assurances," American College of Investment Counsel, New York, October 2004
• "A Quantum Leap in IP Securitization," Standard & Poors Business Leadership Seminar, Houston, August 2004
• "Legal Challenges for Directors in Recapitalizations of Troubled Enterprises, or, 'Uh-Oh, They Want HOW Much of the Company?'" Venture Capital Financing, The Seminar Group, Dallas, May 2004
• "Executory Contracts: Compelling Performance, or You Plan to Do What???!!" The University of Texas School of Law, 21st Annual Bankruptcy Conference, Austin, November 2002
• "Corporate Directors' Fiduciary Duties to Creditors" and "Bankruptcy and the Technology Sector: A Guide for Transactional Lawyers," The University of Texas School of Law, Computer and Technology Law Institute, Austin, May 2002 (with Charles Szalkowski)
• "Dealing With Distressed Portfolios, Turnaround Investments, and Insolvency," Venture Capital Financing Conference, Houston, June 2001