Kell C. Mercer - Austin, TX

Overview

I focus my practice on bankruptcy and commercial litigation matters. I represent debtors, creditors' committees, chapter 11 trustees, plan trustees, purchasers, chapter 7 trustees, receivers, secured and unsecured creditors in commercial bankruptcy and reorganization cases. I prepare and defend disclosure statements, reorganization and liquidation plans, and motions to sell all or substantially all assets of bankruptcy estates.

I am experienced in maintaining and defending preference and fraudulent transfer litigation. I handle all types of business litigation cases involving situations of financial difficulty, including fraud, breach of contract, and business tort ligation. I handle construction and telecommunication litigation, property owners' association claims, bond and lien claims, and collection actions.

I was previously a partner at Husch Blackwell, LLP and Brown McCarroll, LLP, and began my career at Sheinfeld, Maley & Kay, P.C.

Representative engagements
- Served as counsel to successful purchaser of health-care business through confirmed Chapter 11 plan of liquidation.
- Served as counsel to creditors' committee in oil and gas Chapter 11, confirming Committee Plan of Liquidation and overseeing sale of substantially all of business assets.
- Successfully reorganized E&P company in chapter 11 oil and gas case.
- Served as Debtor's counsel in Chapter 11 Reorganization of single-asset hospital building.
- Represented corporations in workouts and Chapters 7, 9 and 11 of bankruptcy code in numerous industries, including manufacturing, agriculture, finance, healthcare, high-tech, telecommunication, energy, real estate, restaurant and construction.
- Represented winning purchaser of hospital in contested 363 Chapter 11 sales process.
- Served as counsel to Chapter 7 Trustee in liquidation of complex oil and gas venture involving contested asset sales and contested compromise of litigation.
- Served as counsel to Chapter 11 Plan Trustee in prosecuting claims against former directors and officers of failed Oil and Gas company.
- Represented creditors' committees organized under Chapter 11 bankruptcy across wide range of industries, including oil and gas manufacturing and telecommunications.
- Advised secured lenders in workouts and Chapters 7 and 11 of bankruptcy code, including litigating and negotiating debtor-in-possession financing and cash collateral use and adequate protection issues.
- Experienced in litigation involving executory contract issues, particularly concerning telecommunication, technology agreements, commodity trading, intellectual property, real estate, construction and other industries.
- Developed experience concerning interrelated boundaries of administrative, state and federal jurisdictions and litigated favorable outcomes before the Public Utility Commission of Texas, Railroad Commission of Texas, Texas Consumer Credit Commission, Texas Board of Professional Engineers and other regulatory agencies.
- Served as counsel to DIP Lender and successful purchaser of point-of-sale, inventory management software through confirmed chapter 11 plan of liquidation.
- Served as counsel to Chapter 7 Trustee in complex, multi-jurisdictional and multi-national fraudulent transfer litigation to unwind scheme to hinder, delay and defraud creditors by transferring assets to out-of-state and offshore entities.
- Served as counsel to Chapter 7 trustee in fraudulent transfer litigation involving scheme to convert non-exempt assets to alleged exempt homestead.
- Served as counsel to Chapter 7 Trustee in fraudulent transfer litigation involving software and trade-secrets in complex, multi-tiered transaction to conceal transfers from creditors.
- Served as counsel to combined group of preference defendants in defending claims brought by Chapter 11 Liquidating Trustee.
- Served as counsel to Chapter 11 Plan Trustee in prosecuting preference and fraudulent transfer claims.
- Served as counsel to Chapter 11 Plan Trustee in prosecuting D&O Claims.