Jonathan Hawkins

Overview Focus Areas Experience Publications Presentations Distinctions Professional and Civic Credentials Recent Insights Email PDFJon assists his business clients to manage and capitalize on situations involving financial distress, insolvency and bankruptcy inside and outside the courtroom. Whether the clients objective is the strategic acquisition of valuable assets from a bankruptcy estate, the defense of fraudulent transfer or preference litigation resulting from pre-bankruptcy transactions, or the documentation of customer-backed financial accommodations to a critical supplier in a distressed supply chain, Jon brings his client-focused and results-oriented approach to finding cost effective and creative solutions to achieve client objectives. In particular, Jon has extensive experience in representing lenders, unsecured creditors and asset purchasers in all phases of state and federal receivership proceedings. Jon works closely with the Transatlantic Restructuring and Insolvency Group (TARIG), a referral network of cross-border restructuring attorneys located throughout Europe and North and South America, to assist U. S.-based clients identify legal solutions for their foreign restructuring needs and to assist foreign clients address challenges faced by insolvency proceedings in the U. S. (main and ancillary). A 2017 Dayton Business Journal Forty Under 40 winner Focus Areas Business Restructuring, Creditors Rights & Bankruptcy>Experience Plus icon Represented borrower in successful work-out and settlement of disputed receivers credit bid sale to lender of 76-acre Tri-County Mall property in Cincinnati suburbs, allowing borrower affiliates to retain the property for re-investment and redevelopment with reduced payoff on $28M debt and release of personal guarantors Represented borrower in successful restructuring of debt for multi-use property known as The Greene in lenders foreclosure proceedings Represented lender in successful receivership, work-out, and sale of distressed HUD-subsidized multi-family housing project in Memphis, Tennessee through use of complex combined $13M note sale and bridge financing model, allowing for transfer of the property through foreclosure auction Represented HEI Hotels & Resorts in its $42 million acquisition of the Westin Cleveland Downtown in a contested receivership sale Represented purchaser of mixed-use Brooklyn real estate in the In re Evergreen Holdings bankruptcy case for $506 million, including the negotiation and documentation of over $20 million in bid protections with U. S. and Israeli-based creditor groups Successfully resolved disputes over $15 million in secured claims in In re Brooks Brothers Group, Inc. bankruptcy cases related to mortgage perfection, Italian value-added tax guarantees and related letters of credit Represented indenture trustee of $103 million of bonds in successful prepackaged chapter 11 proceeding of In re Maxcom Telecomunicaciones, S. A. B. de C. V. Represented private equity lender in obtaining $39 million judgment and imposition of receivership for the disposition of collateral, including 500+ residential units Represented security agent bank in U. S.-based subsidiary proceedings, In re Smar TV Company, LLC and In re Exceptional Innovation, Inc., of related reorganization proceedings of English and Dutch affiliates in obtaining estate abandonment of collateral Successfully defended efforts to impose chapter 11 plan injunction (including related appeal) brought by section 363 asset buyer against counterparties to assumed executory contracts seeking indemnification for post-assumption liabilities for pre-assumption events in In re Armstrong Energy Inc. On behalf of secured lender, favorably settled extraterritorial dispute involving competing state court receivers and thereafter assisted lender with credit bid acquisition of $13 million shopping center from the local receiver Represented manufacturers in automotive and aerospace industries with distressed suppliers through creative subordinate financing, access agreements, and similar accommodation mechanisms Represented secured lender in the Chapter 11 proceedings of a hospital to obtain complete pay off of balances due under letters of credit issued by lender Reached successful resolution and pay-off of bank debt for two distressed golf clubs As first chair, obtained dismissal of landlords Chapter 11 cases on behalf of tenant municipality at contested trial Obtained successful settlements in numerous preference and fraudulent transfer cases in various jurisdictions with minimal litigation costs Utilized foreclosure process to assist charitable organization acquire land to expand facilities Represented lending institutions and trade creditors in contested receivership, foreclosure, and bankruptcy proceedings Assisted trade vendor clients obtain critical vendor status in customers Chapter 11 cases Successfully utilized various judgment-creditor remedies, such as garnishment, creditor bills, debtor exams, foreclosure, and other remedies Negotiated forbearance and other work-out solutions in various distressed commercial contexts Negotiated and documented numerous instruments in lending, consignment, factoring and other financial and real estate transactions Publications Plus icon Delaware Bankruptcy Court Limits Issuers Reimbursement Duty to Indenture Trustee, Thompson Hine Business Restructuring, Creditors Rights & Bankruptcy Update, August 2021 Trigild Deskbook: Guide to Receivership and Foreclosure, (5th, 6th and 7th eds. 2013, 2017 and 2021), contributing author for Ohio Chapter Changes to the Bankruptcy Code Will Favor Small Businesses, Thompson Hine Business Law Update, Winter 2020 Co-author, New Bankruptcy Amendments Lower the Burdens of Preference Actions on Defendants, Pratts Journal of Bankruptcy Law, January 2020 New Bankruptcy Amendments Lower the Burdens of Preference Actions on Defendants, Thompson Hine Business Restructuring, Creditors Rights & Bankruptcy Update, September 2019 Does Conversion From S Corp to C Corp Invite Creditor Risks? Thompson Hine Business Law Update, Winter 2018 Co-author, The Rise of International Standards in the Sale of Goods, American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, April 2017 Foreign Borrowers Rights in Indenture Ruled Sufficient to Meet Second Circuits Controversial Chapter 15 Eligibility Requirement, Thompson Hine Business Restructuring, Creditors Rights & Bankruptcy Update, November 2015 NY Court Clarifies Foreign Representative for Chapter 15 Recognition, AIRA Journal, Vol. 29. No. 3 (2015); co-authored with William Schrag Ohio Adopts New Receivership Statute, Thompson Hine Business Restructuring, Creditors Rights & Bankruptcy Update, January 2015 Settling the Municipal Landscape: How Pre-Plan Settlements in Chapter 9 May Sidestep the Traditional Claims-Resolution Process, American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, May 2013; co-authored with Andrew L. Turscak, Jr. and Curtis L. Tuggle, Re-published in Turnaround Management Association News, July 2013 Short Circuited: Section 502(a) May Be Applied to Section 503(b)(9) Administrative Claims, American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, June 2010; co-authored with Jeremy Campana Presentations Plus icon Supply Chain Solutions: Customer Accommodation, Dayton Region Manufacturing Association, May 4, 2022 Current Dynamics in Supply Chain Restructuring in the United States and Germany, co-presenter with Holger Leichtle, Görg, TARIG annual meeting, April 28, 2022 Bankruptcy Basics for Litigators, Dayton Bar Association Inn of Court, April 13, 2021 Amended Section 547(b): New Requirements, New Defenses, Strafford Live CLE Webinars, September 1, 2020 to the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019, Thomas F. Waldron American Bankruptcy Law Forum, November 19, 2019 Non-Consensual Third-Party Releases in Chapter 11 Plans - Practical and Constitutional Questions, Thomas F. Waldron American Bankruptcy Law Forum, November 2018 Franchise Terminations and Franchisor Adequate Protection in Chapter 11, Thomas F. Waldron American Bankruptcy Law Forum, November 2018 Intellectual Property Licenses in Bankruptcy - the Balancing (of) Act(s): Bankruptcy Code vs. Patent Act, Copyright Act & Lanham Act, Thomas F. Waldron American Bankruptcy Law Forum, November 17, 2015 Ohios Revised Receivership Laws, Thompson Hine Client Learning Event, April 2015 Distinctions Plus icon Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2025 for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law Selected for inclusion in IFLR 1000, 2020-2024 Selected to the Ohio Rising Stars list, 2015-2020 Selected as a Dayton Business Journal Forty Under 40 honoree, 2017 Professional and Civic Plus icon Professional Activities Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Attorney Advisory Committee (Chapter 11 Subcommittee), 2022 Thomas F. Waldron American Bankruptcy Law Forum, member, 2007 to present; At-Large Trustee, 2017-2019 American Bankruptcy Institute, member, 2010 to present Community Activities Dayton Society of Natural History, Boonshoft Museum of Discovery; former Associate Board Member; 2015-2019 Bike Miami Valley, Board Member and Secretary, 2011 to present Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project - volunteer lawyer Credentials Plus icon Education Northwestern University School of Law, J. D., 2007Miami University, B. A., 2002, in History and Philosophy Bar Admissions Ohio New York Court Admissions U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio U. S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Recent Insights Plus icon Select a filter Chevron down icon Publications & News Events IFLR1000 2024 Recognizes Thompson Hine Lawyers and Practices, Thompson Hine LLP, September 17, 2024IFLR1000 2023 Recognizes Thompson Hine Lawyers and Practices, Five Practices and Ten Partners Receive Acclaim, September 19, 2023IFLR1000 2022 Recognizes Thompson Hine Lawyers and Practices, Five Practices and Ten Lawyers Receive Acclaim, October 17, 2022IFLR1000 2021 Recognizes Thompson Hine Lawyers and Practices, January 18, 2022Delaware Bankruptcy Court Limits Issuers Reimbursement Duty to Indenture Trustee, Business Restructuring, Creditors Rights & Bankruptcy Update, August 13, 2021IFLR1000 2020 Recognizes Thompson Hine Lawyers and Practices, Four Practices and Nine Lawyers Receive National Acclaim, January 27, 2021Business Law Update - Winter 2020, Thompson Hine Newsletter, January 27, 2020New Bankruptcy Amendments Lower the Burdens of Preference Actions on Defendant, Pratts Journal of Bankruptcy Law, January 21, 2020New Bankruptcy Amendments Lower Burdens of Preference Action on Defendants, Business Restructuring, Creditors Rights & Bankruptcy Update, September 20, 2019