Our Practice Areas

 Dahl & Dahl focuses its practice in the following five areas:

Here are details on each section.

Commercial Law

Bankruptcy

 Since 1981, we have dealt with hundreds of cases representing debtors, creditors, and creditor committees, under Chapters 7, 11, 12, and 13.  In our bankruptcy practice, we handle contested matters and litigation in areas including, among other matters: We represent both creditor and debtor clients. Our practice includes not only formal appearances in active bankruptcy cases, but also assistance with pre-bankruptcy negotiations and workouts.  The firm also accepts selective engagements from bankruptcy trustees.

Creditors:  Our representation of creditors spans all aspects of bankruptcy, including offensive efforts to recover monies or preserve collateral, and defensive responses to adversary proceedings or other litigation.  We have extensive experience defending creditors sued for recovery of alleged “preferential transfers”, and realize there are sometimes inequitable consequences of this section of the Bankruptcy Code.

Debtors:  The firm’s representation of debtor clients is generally limited to select individuals, and businesses such as corporations, partnerships or limited liability companies (LLCs).  Our expertise is in providing our clients with the best possible representation for their often-complex individual or business situations.  We often assist consumer debtor clients facing particularly difficult or unusual issues.  However, our firm’s fee structure is generally not cost-competitive with other bankruptcy attorneys focusing on more basic Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy representation.

Attorneys:  We welcome referrals from other attorneys on bankruptcy and commercial law matters.  Our firm often acts as co-counsel in complicated bankruptcy litigation, such as defense of preferential transfers and fraudulent conveyances.  We are frequently engaged to develop strategy for pending matters, or to evaluate the opposition’s stated position or threatened actions.

Business Reorganization

 Chapter 11:  Our firm represents both debtors and creditors in all facets of Chapter 11 reorganization.

The hallmarks of our Chapter 11 practice are creativity and integrity, which we believe operate to the benefit of both our debtor as well as our creditor clients.  We believe in the Chapter 11 process and its goals since few economic enterprises are worth more liquidated than reorganized.  However, we also understand that the process must be diligently prosecuted within the rules to be affordable and to be fair to the participants. In representing creditors, we aggressively monitor cases to protect our clients’ interests.

Workouts:  We often assist debtor clients with out-of-court workout arrangements with their creditors.  Candy Dahl Goldman calls upon her extensive retail and wholesale merchandising background to facilitate these situations.  We frequently find that debtors and creditors have had prior — and sometimes frustrating — experiences with the delay and expense of the Chapter 11 process; in selected circumstances, an informal workout may be more advantageous.

This course of action works particularly well with orderly liquidations of retail businesses, as long as the debtor has not completely tarnished its reputation with its creditor constituents.  The experience and reputation of our firm play a valuable role in soliciting acceptances from creditors and preventing the continuation or initiation of litigation that would short-circuit the workout process.

Secured Transactions

 The Secured Transactions portion of our practice overlaps with both Commercial Law and Real Estate.

Walter Dahl has significant expertise with secured transactions under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. In fact, as an Adjunct Professor at Pacific/McGeorge School of Law, he teaches both Personal Property Secured Transactions and Sales & Leases of Goods.

We provide comprehensive loan negotiation, documentation, modification and enforcement services of secured loans for financial institutions and other creditor clients.

We have special expertise in documenting, perfecting and collecting personal property secured transactions (Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code), and in the unique interplay of California law applicable in loans secured by mixed collateral (both real and personal property collateral).

When enforcement action is required, we develop and implement effective strategies for restructuring or collecting commercial credit transactions.  Our bankruptcy practice allows us to provide uninterrupted service to our clients should a petition be filed.

Real Estate

 Our Real Estate practice is part of our practice’s Commercial Law, Secured Transactions and Business Reorganization work.

We assist both creditor and debtor clients with negotiation, documentation, modification and enforcement of obligations secured by real property.

We have extensive experience representing both buyers and sellers in the documentation and effectuation of sales of real property either within a bankruptcy case, or as part of an out-of-court restructuring.

In addition, we regularly assist secured creditors in the development and execution of strategies for foreclosure of real property, as well as the subsequent disposition of real property acquired by credit bidding.

We also have special experience in dealing with the unique challenges in California faced by lenders secured by both real and personal property collateral.

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