Robin has spent the majority of her career guiding business clients through stressful financial distress situations. She has substantial experience representing business debtors, creditors, and committees in Chapter 11 business bankruptcy cases. Robin often assists businesses with out-of-court restructurings, including negotiating forbearance agreements, asset sales and debt refinancing. Robin knows that a lawyer can create and implement a plan of action aimed at achieving her client’s goals, but that ultimately the best outcomes often come from solutions crafted by the parties to the dispute themselves. For that reason, Robin became certified as a civil mediator and draws from her years of representing businesses and business owners to mediate all types of business disputes.

Robin is certified as a Business Bankruptcy Specialist by the American Board of Certification and is approved as a Rule 31 Mediator by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission. She has been included in The Best Lawyers in America® 2010-2019 editions, and named to Best of the Bar in Business Bankruptcy by the Nashville Business Journal. She was also included in Mid-South Super Lawyers® list for 2013-2018 and the Rising Stars list for 2008-2012. She is also a Fellow of the Nashville Bar Foundation.

• Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D., 1998
• Vanderbilt University, B.A., 1995

BAR MEMBERSHIPS

• Tennessee, 1999

COURTS

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee

• The Best Lawyers in America® (2010-2020)
• Mid-South Super Lawyers® (2013-2019)
• Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Star® (2008-2012)
• Named “Best of the Bar” in Business Bankruptcy by the Nashville Business Journal (2008-2009)

• Mid-South Commercial Law Institute, Board of Directors (2011-Present) and President (2015)
• American Board of Certification, Board Certified Business Bankruptcy Specialist
• Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission, Approved Rule 31 Mediator
• Nashville Bar Foundation, Fellow
• Nashville Bar Association, Bankruptcy Court Committee Former Chair
• Turnaround Management Association (Tennessee Chapter), Member of the Board of Directors (2014-2015) and Programs Coordinator (2013-2014)
• Nashville Conflict Resolution Center, Member of Board of Directors (2015)
• Tennessee Bar Association, Member, Bankruptcy Committee
• American Bar Association, Member, Business Bankruptcy Section
• American Bankruptcy Institute, Member, Business Reorganization Committee

Debtor’s Counsel:

• In re River Terrace Estates, Inc. – Represent continuing care retirement community in Chapter 11 reorganization.
• In re DPNY, Inc. – Represent restaurant franchisee as debtor’s counsel in Chapter 11 proceeding in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York with special issues related to collective action claims and franchisor negotiations.
• In re Sumner Regional Health Systems – Represent Sumner Regional Health Systems and affiliates as debtors’ counsel in Chapter 11 proceedings involving 4 acute care hospitals, home care facility, physician practice, and related clinics, involving debts of more than $180 million.
• In re Ascend Healthcare, Inc. – Represented senior living/nursing home facility in Chapter 11 reorganization.
• In re Gray Dental Care, LLC – Represented dental practice and owners in successful Chapter 11 reorganizations preserving assets, jobs and business opportunities.
• In re Stanley Jones Corporation and Stanley Jones Realty, Inc. – Represented debtors in Chapter 11 proceedings.
• In re A & F Electric Company – Represented electrical repair company in connection with successful Chapter 11 reorganization and contested confirmation hearing. The company was able to shed unsecured debt, retain employees and remain in business.
• In re The Mattress Store, Inc. – Represented retail mattress sales company in successful Chapter 11 reorganization.
• In re United Partners, LLC – Represented hotel management company and its principal in separate Chapter 11 cases. The principal successfully restructured several million dollars in debt.
• In re The Tack Room Company, Inc. – Represented restaurant management company with 3 locations in the Birmingham, Alabama area that resulted in the sale of substantially all assets as a going concern.
• In re Maran Group, Inc. – Represented real estate and warehouse company and its principal in separate Chapter 11 cases. Both cases were successfully reorganized.

Preference Actions:

• In re DBMC, et al. – Represent plaintiff in over 25 preference lawsuits in the Santa Fe Holding Company bankruptcy case.
• In re James River Coal Company, et al. – Represented more than 40 defendants in preference lawsuits brought by the Trustee for the Unsecured Creditor Liquidating Trust.
• In re Phoenix Restaurant Group, Inc. et al. – Represented 23 defendants in preference lawsuits brought by Debtors.
• In re Pen Holdings, Inc. et al. – Represented 6 defendants in preference lawsuits brought by Debtor affiliate,The Elk Horn Coal Company, LLC.
• In re Fleming Companies, Inc. et al. – Represented 6 defendants in preference lawsuits in Delaware.

Multiple other representations of defendants in preference actions.

Creditor Representation:

• In re Oreck Corporation, et al. – Represent multiple landlord entities in connection with Debtors’ Chapter 11 case and asset sale.
• In re Eastman Kodak Company – Represent creditor holding priority and general unsecured claims in connection with Debtors’ Chapter 11 Proceedings.
• In re David Darnell Brown – Represent major music business entity in connection with individual bankruptcy of recording artist.
• In re Blue Ridge Oncology, Inc. – Represent the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Chapter 11 proceedings.
• In re Barnhills Buffet – Represent the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Chapter 11 proceedings.
• In re Cosmolab, Inc. – Represented potential buyer headquartered in the European Union in connection with Debtor’s sale of substantially all of its assets in its Delaware Chapter 11 case.
• In re Adelphia Communications Corporateion, et al. – Represented creditor owed more than $60,000 by two debtor entities.
• In re Santa Fe Holding Company – Represented buyer of certain business assets in connection with 363 sale.
• In re Cripps-Franche Pharmacy, Inc. – Represent first position secured creditor in Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.

Multiple creditor representations related to loan defaults and foreclosure as well as distressed automotive supplier situations.

Publications:

• Getting a Seat at the Table: Recent Sixth Circuit Cases Regarding Standing in Bankruptcy Proceedings and Appeals
• Going, Going, Gone: Increased Use of Chapter 11 to Quickly Sell Business Assets
• It’s In the Contract: Allowance of Post-petition Claims for Attorneys’ Fees by Unsecured Creditors
• Retaining Preference Actions in Plans of Reorganization – How Much Disclosure is Enough?
• The New Value Exception to the Absolute Priority Rule Is Alive and Well after 203 North LaSalle
• Title Versus Possession: Calculating the Date of Receipt of Goods for Purposes of §503(B)(9) of the Bankruptcy Code
• Do You Have a License for That? Rejection of Trademark Licenses in Bankruptcy, Tennessee Bankruptcy Newsletter

Speaking Engagements:

• Off the Clock Legal Savvy for Entrepreneurs, Start-ups and Small Business Owners, October 25, 2012
• Bankruptcy Practice: Stern v. Marshall — Who is it good for? Nashville Bar Association, September 11, 2012.
• Preference Defenses: New Value, Ordinary Course and Contemporaneous Exchange.
• Leveraging Preference Defenses Regarding Loan Workouts, Corporate Insiders, Credit Bidding and More,” Speaker, Strafford Publications, Inc., December 2011.
• Ethics Issues for Bankruptcy Lawyers. Mid-South Commercial Law Institute Seminar Panel Discussion, December 2009.
• Bankruptcy In Tennessee. Lorman Education Services, March 2009.
• Hey What Just Happened?: The Impact of the Financial Crisis on Insolvency Practice in Middle Tennessee. Turnaround Management Association – Tennessee Chapter, January 2009.
• Family Friendly Policies in the Workforce. Lawyers’ Association for Women – Nashville Chapter, January 2007.
• Ethics Issues for Bankruptcy Lawyers. Mid-South Commercial Law Institute Seminar Panel Discussion, November 2007.
• Business Insolvency in Tennessee: Exploring Bankruptcy Issues. Lorman Education Services, February 2006.