wednesday, june 10, 2020

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MercerLawLaunches

torepresentCreditors,NonbankParties

Meredith hobbs

mhobbs@alm.com

somewhat uniquely, Mercer,

who most recently practiced

After 20 yeArs at larg- at schulten Ward turner &

er firms, robert Mercer has Weiss, does not represent banks

started his own bankruptcy and in bankruptcies. Instead, he

insolvency firm, Mercer Law.

focuses on advising fiduciaries,

Mercer’s career change comes creditors, borrowers and other

as bankruptcy and restructur- parties. More recently, he has

ing practices are expected to see started advising plaintiffs firms

higher demand this year amid in high-stakes class and collec-

the pandemic. Court closures tive action claims against cor-

have put somewhat of a damp- porations to protect plaintiffs’

atlanta attorney robert mercer has gone

solo to avoid any bank client conflicts.

er on bankruptcy filings so far, interests in the event of a judg- ruptcy Court for the Northern

Mercer said, but he expects to ment.

District of Georgia, then contin-

see more middle-market compa-

Going solo at Mercer Law ued as a partner at Bryan Cave

nies filing in Georgia by the fall. allows Mercer to avoid any larg- Leighton Paisner after that firm

“the collective wisdom is er-firm bank conflicts, he said— acquired Powell Goldstein in

that, come August or septem- and at 49, he was ready to run 2009. for the past five years,

ber, those type of filings for his own firm. “I really enjoy the he’s been a partner at schulten

the middle market will pick practice of law. I felt like—life Ward, which he joined to avoid

up,” he said, noting the wave is short and this would be fun to bank client conflicts at Bryan

of national retail bankrupt- do,” he said.

Cave, which has a large banking

cies so far, such as J.C. Penney,

Mercer started out at Powell practice.

J. Crew, Neiman Marcus— Goldstein, where an early men-

Mercer, who is financing his

and, last week, glassmaker tor was Wendy Hagenau, now firm’s launch through savings,

Libbey.

the chief judge of the U.s. Bank- said he’d already made the

daily RepoRt wednesday, june 10, 2020

Court for the Northern District

of Georgia, is made up of almost

2,000 plaintiffs’ claims being

settled for about $340 million,

according to Pope McGlamry.

Mercer said he is working

with Mike McGlamry and Kurt

Pope to make sure the money is

there for all of the injured plain-

tiffs. Neither Wright Medical or

stryker is in bankruptcy, Mercer

noted, explaining that stryker’s

tender offer is part of a compli-

cated transaction, so his job is to

assess it from a creditor stand-

point. “We want to make sure

decision to open Mercer Law companies to preserve the plain-

before the coronavirus pandem- tiffs’ interests as potential credi-

ic hit. “I’d been thinking about tors. “We want to make sure the

this for a long time,” he said.

plaintiffs’ rights are protected—

He and tasheba fulcher, his and there is money for a poten-

assistant from schulten Ward, tial judgment,” he explained.

moved into Mercer Law’s new

digs at the Promenade Build-

somewhat

ing at 1230 Peachtree st. N.e.

uniquely, Mercer does

in May. Mercer said the office

not represent banks in

move was complicated by

bankruptcies. instead,

“wearing gloves and hand-san-

he focuses on advising

itizing and not wanting to touch

fiduciaries, creditors,

borrowers and other

parties. More recently,

anything.”

for his traditional bankruptcy

practice representing significant

parties other than banks, such as

fiduciaries, boards of directors,

asset purchasers and the like in

insolvency cases, Mercer said his

hourly rate is similar to that of a

bankruptcy partner at his level

at a large firm.

he has started advising that at the end of the day there is

plaintiffs firms in high-

stakes class and

money for the plaintiffs and they

don’t get left out in the cold,” he

collective action claims said.

against corporations to

protect plaintiffs’

interests in the event of

a judgment.

But, he added, “Now I have

the luxury of taking cases that

would be more difficult to take

at a large law firm.”

for instance, plaintiffs firm

Pope McGlamry brought Mer-

In some bankruptcy cases, he cer in to represent plaintiffs’

might represent parties—often interests against Wright Medical

on contingency—to challenge a Group after stryker in Novem-

leveraged buyout or other lev- ber announced that it would

eraged transaction of the bank- acquire Wright Medical for $4

rupt company as a fraudulent billion.

transfer in an effort to maximize

Pope McGlamry is lead plain-

its recovery.

tiffs counsel in multidistrict liti-

He also advises plaintiffs gation against Wright Medical

lawyers in high-stakes class over defective hip implants. the

and collective actions against MDL, filed in the U.s. District

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