BOUTIQUE
LAW FIRM
Focusing in Commercial Litigation and Bankruptcy Litigation
PRACTICE
AREAS
CHAPTER 7 TRUSTEE
Mr. Leavers has been appointed to serve on the private panel of Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustees in the District of Maryland, Baltimore Division. If you are a debtor or an attorney representing a debtor in a case for which Mr. Leavers has been appointed the Chapter 7 Trustee, visit the Trustee tab on this website for details about preparing for your Meeting of Creditors and other related information.
CREDITORS' RIGHTS & BANKRUPTCY
Mr. Leavers represents national, regional and local financial institutions in creditors’ rights litigation and Chapter 7, 11, and 13 bankruptcy proceedings. In bankruptcy court proceedings, Mr. Leavers, among other things, litigates the use of cash collateral, objects to disclosure statements and plans of reorganization, prosecutes dischargeability actions, defends preference and fraudulent conveyance actions, defends objections to proofs of claim, and obtains relief from the automatic stay. In state court proceedings, Mr. Leavers, among other things, defends lender liability actions, prosecutes fraudulent conveyance actions, and prosecutes commercial collection/foreclosure actions.
COMMERCIAL LITIGATION
Mr. Leavers represents a wide variety of businesses in various areas of commercial law including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, shareholder and partnership disputes, receivership proceedings, non-compete controversies, fraud and misrepresentation, and collections.
REPRESENTATIVE WORK
● State Court Litigation Matters
○ served as court-appointed receiver for pizza and subs business, liquidating the business and successfully prosecuting negligence, conversion and breach of fiduciary duty claims against the officers of the company;
○ represented local bank in lien priority dispute, successfully reinstating lien as a first priority lien that bank unintentionally released;
○ represented national bank in lawsuit filed by court-appointed guardian, wherein the guardian sought to avoid/rescind a home equity loan obtained by the guardian’s ward, as well as the deed of trust securing that loan, based on allegations that the guardian’s ward did not have the mental capacity to contract;
○ represented seller of a full-service restaurant and wholesale bagel and bakery business in a lawsuit brought by buyer alleging breaches of the parties’ Real Property and Assets Purchase Agreement;
○ represented Pontiac, GMC, Subaru service dealer in lawsuit wherein limousine service sought damages for loss of business due to alleged negligent repairs;
○ represented hazmat packaging and crating company, successfully defending administrative proceeding brought by former employee alleging wrongful termination;
○ represented commercial heating and air conditioning company in lawsuit against new owner of commercial building and its property management company for wrongful termination of and money due and owing under service/repair contract entered into with prior owner of building;
● Bankruptcy Litigation Matters
○ represented Chapter 7 trustee of smart home technology companies, obtaining judgments in favor of trustee and against officers of debtors for fraudulent conveyances, conversion, and breach of fiduciary duty;
○ represented local bank in Chapter 11 proceeding, converting the case to one under Chapter 7 and obtaining relief from the automatic stay where Chapter 11 debtor misappropriated bank's cash collateral in violation of court order;
○ represented local bank in adversary proceeding, successfully objecting to the discharge of Chapter 7 debtor, who owed local bank $1.6 million, for omitting assets and misrepresenting income on bankruptcy schedules;
○ represented local bank in adversary proceeding, successfully defending bank in lender liability lawsuit removed from Baltimore City Circuit Court to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland wherein the corporate debtor and individual guarantors sought $4 million in damages against bank;
○ represented seller of a boat brokerage company in adversary proceeding, successfully objecting to the dischargeability of debt owed to seller by Chapter 13 debtor/buyer of the company on the grounds of defalcation, fraud, embezzlement, and breach of fiduciary duty;
○ represented local bank in Chapter 11 proceeding of holding company that owned residential rental properties, successfully obtaining order excusing bank’s pre-petition, court-appointed receiver from the turnover requirement
of 11 U.S.C. § 543(a) and (b);
○ represented local bank in Chapter 13 proceeding, successfully defending objection to proof of claim and obtaining equitable servitude where debtor alleged, among other things, that she did not sign the loan documents underlying bank’s secured claim;
● Appellate Matters
○ represented Chapter 7 trustee in an appeal before the United States District Court for the District of Maryland and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, obtaining affirmation of the Bankruptcy Court’s judgments in favor of the trustee in a fraudulent conveyance case;
○ represented secured lender in an appeal before the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, obtaining affirmation of the Bankruptcy Court’s order terminating the automatic stay and converting Chapter 11 bankruptcy case to one under Chapter 7;
○ represented judgment creditor in an appeal before the United States District Court for the District of Maryland and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, challenging the Bankruptcy Court’s finding as to the value of an avoided and preserved lien under 11 U.S.C. § 551;
○ represented national bank/substitute trustees, presenting oral argument before the Maryland Court of Special Appeals and obtaining affirmation of the Circuit Court’s denial of a request for injunction of a foreclosure sale and the denial of an objection to the ratification of that sale based on alleged violations of the Home Affordable Modification Program;
○ represented national bank/substitute trustees, presenting oral argument before the Maryland Court of Special Appeals in seeking affirmation of Circuit Court’s order forfeiting deposit tendered by defaulting purchaser of property at foreclosure sale.
OUR ATTORNEYS
CRAIG B. LEAVERS
PARTNER
ATTORNEY PROFILE
Mr. Leavers is an experienced commercial and bankruptcy litigator, representing commercial organizations and financial institutions as plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of disputes in state, federal district, and bankruptcy courts. Mr. Leavers’ representation of his clients also includes appellate work in state and federal appellate courts.
Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Leavers served as a law clerk for the Honorable Peter B. Krauser on the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. Before then, prior to attending law school at the University of Baltimore where he earned his J.D., he served as an investigator for the Office of the Attorney General for the State of Texas for ten years while earning his Bachelor of Science in Law Enforcement from Texas State University.
EDUCATION & ADMISSIONS
• Texas State University
(B.S. Criminal Justice, 1994)
• University of Baltimore School of Law
(J.D., 2001)
• Law Review
• State of Texas
• State of Maryland
• U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court
Tel: (443) 318-4526