Thomas Tillman McClendon - Atlanta, GA

Tom focuses his practice on representing all parties in Chapter 11 reorganizations, other bankruptcy cases, and corporate workouts. Tom also represents clients in the buying and selling of businesses and business assets, commercial real estate transactions, and lease negotiations.

Tom represents small businesses and individuals in their Chapter 11 and Subchapter V reorganizations. He has obtained confirmed plans of reorganization on behalf of businesses in many different industries such as construction, trucking, retail, and real estate, as well as for individuals with debt related to such businesses.

Tom is proud to have obtained for his client what appears to be the first confirmed Subchapter V plan of reorganization in Georgia shortly after Congress added Subchapter V to the Bankruptcy Code in 2020.

Tom also represents creditors in Chapter 7 and 11 bankruptcy cases, ranging from secured creditors, such as banks and other lenders, to trade creditors holding unsecured claims, to landlords and others needing relief from the automatic stay. He has represented creditors in the largest cases with thousands of creditors and millions in debt down to the smallest cases with a handful of creditors and limited debt. In each case, Tom advises his clients on their opportunities for recovery and risks, and navigates the case's progression in a cost-effective way while effectively advocating the client's interest.

Tom has no shortage of experience litigating interesting and complex issues under bankruptcy law and negotiating out-of-court workouts. Some of the successful results Tom has obtained for his clients are:

• Tom represented the unsecured creditors' committee in In re Teri G. Galardi, 22-5035 (Bankr. M.D. Ga. 2022). After mediation with the committee, the debtor agreed to pay $10 million to a liquidating trust for the benefit of unsecured creditors. Tom currently is the liquidating trustee for the creditors' trust.
• Gordon v. Webster, 629 B.R. 654 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. 2021), where the trustee asserted the ability to avoid transfers up to ten years old under the "golden creditor" rule and asserted claims of reverse veil piercing. After the debtor's motion to dismiss was partially granted, the trustee voluntarily dismissed the case with prejudice.
• Tom advised a physicians' practice through an out-of-court workout for nearly two years, including negotiating consensual settlements in four substantial creditor or shareholder disputes.
• In re Cristian Liquors, Case No. 20-40499-bem, first confirmed Subchapter V Plan of Reorganization in Georgia.

Prior to joining Jones & Walden, Tom clerked for the Hon. Robert G. Mayer of the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He also worked for a business boutique firm in Macon, Georgia and an AmLaw 100 firm in Atlanta.

Tom graduated magna cum laude from Washington and Lee School of Law in 2013. During law school, Tom was on the Washington and Lee Law Review, where he worked as lead articles editor, and received the American Bankruptcy Institute Medal of Excellence. Prior to law school, Tom attended Auburn University, where he graduated in 2010 summa cum laude with a degree in history while attending (almost) every football game at JordanHare.