Mike is head of the firm's capital finance and real estate team and its marketing and business development team. His practice focuses on the purchase, sale and trading of loans, securities, claims, derivatives and other interests in domestic and international companies in, near, or emerging from financial distress. Mike has extensive experience representing commercial banks, investment banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds in corporate finance, structured finance and derivative transactions, with an emphasis on investments in and secondary market trading of loans, securities, claims, derivatives and other interests in domestic and international companies in, near or emerging from financial distress, using LSTA, LMA, ISDA and bespoke documentation.Mike advises clients throughout the life of the financial asset, from primary asset origination through pre-trade diligence, confirmation negotiation, trading and settlement, through restructuring (whether through bankruptcy or private transactions) or maturity. Areas of substantive counsel include due diligence, internal compliance, regulatory, bankruptcy, and corporate and securities, with an emphasis on public side/private side, confidential information flow issues and Securities Act registration exemption analysis.Mike is a frequent panelist at LSTA events, and author and draftsman of various LSTA-published documents, articles, user's guides and market advisories on a broad range of topics affecting the secondary loan market, including forms of LSTA standard documentation, user's guides, domestic trading advisories and cross-border trading literature.

Bar Admissions
North Carolina

Education
JD, University of Virginia School of Law, 1996

BA, Classics, University of Virginia, with distinction, Phi Beta Kappa, Raven Society, 1993

'Dustoff' Crews Deserve Recognition, The Wall Street Journal

'The Democracy of the Dead'

'The Hound of Heaven' in Slow Pursuit, The Wall Street Journal

'The Hunt for Red October' has this timeless message for Americans today, Fox News

A Blessing for the Sole

A Boy, His Dog and His Dad: A Heavenly Tale

A Canonized Saint Who Began as an Everyday One, The Wall Street Journal

A car-sized asteroid? Don't beat yourself up if you missed it, Opinion, The Charlotte Observer

A Life Hack, if You Can Keep It, The Wall Street Journal

A man, a worm and a squirrel meet in an NC park. Then genius strikes

A nearly perfect dinner in Door County, Wisconsin

A Priest Finds Serenity in Humor, The Wall Street Journal

A scrum with my dog over cat food put football injuries into perspective

A Spa Day, and the Price Is Right, The Wall Street Journal

A Sweet Lesson in Changing My Opinions, The Wall Street Journal

A Thousand Silent Farewells, The Wall Street Journal

A Touch of Heaven at the Dino Stop, The Wall Street Journal

Action item! Let's move the needle on mindless corporate jargon

Advice for golf champ Scottie Scheffler from this father of five as he joins the dad club

After A Perfect Week Of Sports, Can The Universe Deliver Another Gift To American Soccer Fans?, The Federalist

An Anti-Cat Study Gives Me Cause for Paws, The Wall Street Journal

An update on some proverbs for Generation Z, Charlotte Observer

As Coronavirus keeps us at home, we need laughter to get us through a tough time, Fox News

Blockchain, Cybersecurity and Global Finance

Brooks Brothers Is a Brand Out of Time, The Wall Street Journal

C-120 Cassettes Taught Me Econ 101, Wall Street Journal

C.S. Lewis and the Pain Scale

Can 2020 get any more squirrelly? Pro-tip -- it can always get worse, Fox News

Character Counts at the Super Bowl, The Wall Street Journal

Christmas memory I'll always treasure - you won't believe this woman's act of generosity, Fox News

Christmas presence: The true gift we must offer each other, Fox News

Clichés Set Off Alarm Bells, The Wall Street Journal

Commentary: A birthday salute to PG Wodehouse, Blaze Media

Confidence, College and How to Beat COVID-19, The Charlotte Observer

Coronavirus lesson - what I learned about worship services while social isolating, Fox News

Could Virgil Write a Good College Essay?, The Wall Street Journal

Courage under fire and grace after it. What Americans learned from a firefighter and a first lady

Courage? Civility? I'm your guy, Mr. Bezos, The Charlotte Observer

COVID-19 and the value of letting things go, Charlotte Observer

Dating Woes, Men? At Least You're Not a Green and Gold Bell Frog

Did My Prayer Solve a Fictional Murder?, The Wall Street Journal

DJ Burns Jr.'s Slam-Dunk Smile, The Wall Street Journal

Do Men Think Too Much About Rome?

During the Coronavirus shutdown, the waitress who tipped me - and other Easter miracles, Fox News

Easy Listening = Alternative Music + Time, The Wall Street Journal

Eternity and the Grateful Dead, The Wall Street Journal

Fifty Years After Edmund Fitzgerald Claimed 29 Lives, Gordon Lightfoot's Musical Memorial Endures

Follow These Simple Rules For A Perfect Father's Day

For Lent, I'm Reading Up on the Christian Saints, The Wall Street Journal

Friendship, Fitness and French Press: Wellness in the COVID Era, The Charlotte Observer

From March Madness To The Masters, It Must Be Nice To Be Jim Nantz, The Federalist

Gary Greene, Amateur Muse

Generation X Did Summer Vacation Right, Wall Street Journal

George Costanza's Guide to Better Living, The Wall Street Journal

God and Math at Dinner, The Wall Street Journal

God and Rainbow Man at the Goal Post

God Is in the Punch Line, WSJ

God Is My Global Positioning System, The Wall Street Journal

God's Jigsaw Puzzle Needs Every Piece, The Wall Street Journal

God's Mercy and the Atari I Never Got, The Wall Street Journal

Good Friends, a Good Laugh, and a Visit From the Police

Grateful for a mom who gave me space to figure things out in my own peculiar way

Halloween? Not scary. But this one night sure was., The Charlotte Observer

Happy Birthday, P.G. Wodehouse!, American Greatness

Here's to the workers who build our roads, bridges and more

Hit Your Walk-Up Song Out of the Park, The Wall Street Journal

Homesick In Heaven, American Greatness

Hope in the Shape of Man

Houston, We Have A Tiger Problem, American Greatness

How to be a boss on National Talk in an Elevator Day

Humor Begins to Clear My Family's Covid Brain Fog, Wall Street Journal

Humor Disarms an Angry Brother

I Can Live Without a Living Room, The Wall Street Journal

I Finished Second in the Cheapskate Sweepstakes, The Wall Street Journal

I narrowly avoided tragedy on a Colorado highway. Meet the two hero cops who put their lives on the line, Fox News

I'll have a Bojangles biscuit and a sweet tea with that COVID shot, The Charlotte Observer

If Dylan and Springsteen can cash in on their songbooks, maybe I can?, The Charlotte Observer

In devastated North Carolina, I witnessed a master class in the most powerful force in the universe

In Praise of Toby Keith, Carl Weathers, and Every Other Wild American, National Review

Inspired by Sports Movies

Instead of talking up herself at UNC, Mia Hamm spoke about selflessness

It's Called 'Summer Reading' for a Reason

It's not you, it's me - A Netflix breakup, The Charlotte Observer

Jack Makes it Rain, American Greatness

Jerome Powell and the Grateful Dead, The Wall Street Journal

Late Bloomer Learns to Forgive, Wall Street Journal

Lessons From the School of Classic Rock, The Wall Street Journal

Let Beauty Nourish and Move You, The Wall Street Journal

Let's Shake On It, The Wall Street Journal

Life Lessons From 'Airplane!'

Like Tim McGraw, I miss 'back when' - but not all of it, The Charlotte Observer

LMA and LSTA Standard Documentation (Distressed) A Comparative Study for Users

Loretta Lynn and My Sister-in-Law, The Wall Street Journal

Love in a McDonald's Glass

Love, Duty and a Friend's Death, The Wall Street Journal

Man Bites What? No, Rye Is a Dog, The Wall Street Journal

Marcus Aurelius in the Middle Seat, The Wall Street Journal

Muppet Mentorship

My 'Sweater Theory' in Practice, The Wall Street Journal

My Dog, My Car and G.K. Chesterton

My First Lesson in Beauty, The Wall Street Journal

My Free-Range Parents Kept Me Healthy, The Wall Street Journal

My Life Story, Told in Bumper Stickers

My Mom's Christian Lesson: 'Offer It Up', The Wall Street Journal

My Old Truck Spoke Louder Than Words, The Wall Street Journal

No more similes? That's like trying to eat soup with a fork!

Nobody Knows I'm a Bad Chess Player, Wall Street Journal

On Memorial Day mattress ads and why I'll never sleep on a 'smart bed' | Opinion

Our Dog, Who Art in Heaven, The Wall Street Journal

Our nation owes a debt to these heroes of Vietnam. Let's pay it off

Parenting based on a Rocky movie maybe was a bad idea. But a tradition was born | Opinion

Peer Pressure Can Be Good, The Wall Street Journal

Running Jump-Started My Prayer Life, The Wall Street Journal

Season of Change: New Editions of LSTA Form Documents, LSTA Loan Market Chronicle

Seizing joy at the airport: An invaluable lesson from my 11-year-old, The Charlotte Observer

Sing to forget your least favorite things, The Charlotte Observer

Someday We'll All Look Back and Laugh, Wall Street Journal

Sports Movies That Continue to Inspire, The Wall Street Journal

St. Bernard on the Hertz Shuttle

Standing Back to See More Clearly, American Greatness

Summer Showdown at the Pants Corral

Support International Mother Language Day. Use A Simile, American Greatness

T-Rex to Modern Science: Don't Give Me Any Lip, American Greatness

Teddy Roosevelt's Advice for Those Who Get College Rejections, The Wall Street Journal

The Best $14 I Ever Spent, American Greatness

The Blessing of a Mother's Love, The Wall Street Journal

The Constitution Makes Beautiful Music, Wall Street Journal

The Dude Digs Mozart

The Fernando Mendoza Line

The Fog of Worship With Facemasks, Wall Street Journal

The Future of the Global Distressed Loan Market, LSTA Loan Market Chronicle

The Hunt for Red October at the Breakfast Table, The Wall Street Journal

The Intercession of the Grateful Dead, Wall Street Journal

The Lost Wisdom of the Busy Signal, The Wall Street Journal

The man doesn't find the nickname. The nickname finds the man., The News & Observer

The pandemic's jarring soundtrack: the vroom-vroom of leaf blowers, The Charlotte Observer

The Right Attitude at Altitude

The simple lesson it took me a half century to understand

The Sixth-Best Feeling, The Wall Street Journal

The story of my first Charlotte crush, Charlotte Observer

The Super Bowl made it official: I'm turning into my dad. | Opinion, The Charlotte Observer

The Transformative 'Tollbooth'

The True Colors Of A Southern Fall Face Off This Saturday, The Federalist

There's No Suspense Left in Snow Days

This Summer, Bring Back Adult Swim

Toward a More Integrated World: The Future of the Global Distressed Loan Market, The Handbook of Loan Syndications & Trading

True Love Is the 'Stuff That Works'

U.S. Hockey's Pair of Jacks

User's Guide for LSTA Distressed Trading Documentation

User's Guide for LSTA Distressed Trading Documentation

We Can All Learn From Travis Hunter, The Wall Street Journal

We Don't Need Any Education, Wall Street Journal

What a Grateful Dead song and a dog named after one of their songs taught me about living my faith

What a rollicking band of Billboard charting bluegrass-loving friars taught me about a life of faith

What dads want - and don't want - for Father's Day, Fox News

What Football Can Teach Us About Losing A Loved One, The Federalist

What I Learned From My Father About The Prodigal Son, The Federalist

What I want for Father's Day? Absolution. For the tenderloin incident., The Charlotte Observer

What Notre Dame Cathedral can teach us about faith in the season of Epiphany

Where Does Hope Rank? I Take the Fifth

Why Are There Two Temperatures?

Why you won't catch me in madras pants at the office any more - not even on a Friday, The News & Observer

Wodehouse, Similes, and Summer, American Greatness

Would I make it on the Dutton Ranch in 'Yellowstone'?, The Charlotte Observer

You Know I'm Gonna Be Like You, Dad