Morris James represents a broad range of financial institutions. In one context or another, we have counseled nearly every major financial institution based in Delaware, as well as many others, domestic and foreign. These include commercial and merchant banks, savings and loan institutions, finance companies, trust companies, insurance companies and credit union organizations.
The range of business and commercial matters we handle is as broad as the kinds of institutions we represent. Our attorneys advise clients on all aspects of asset-based lending and other commercial financing, including unsecured commercial loans, real estate loans (both construction and permanent financing) and letters of credit. We also represent institutions in debt restructurings and workouts for financially distressed companies, and we provide strategic advice to clients in the rapidly evolving areas of lender liability, including environmental liability.
We represent nearly every major Delaware financial institution that regularly serves as indenture trustee or owner trustee of a Delaware trust in significant corporate trust transactions. We frequently are involved in structuring special purpose vehicles, including Delaware statutory trusts, used in complex financial transactions, including asset securitizations, "synthetic" and leveraged leases, project finance, and other structured finance transactions.
For example, our attorneys provided advice on the structure and use of a Delaware trust in the country's first major municipal tax lien securitizations, and recently have advised clients involved in cross-border leases and in innovative interest rate, currency exchange, debt and equity swap transactions. Robert L. Symonds, Jr., Michael M. Ledyard, Nicholas J. Caggiano, Jr., Lewis C. Ledyard III, and Matthew J. O'Toole frequently represent trustees and other parties in these matters. Robert Symonds and Michael Ledyard also serve on the drafting committee for the Delaware Statutory Trust Act, and Mr. Symonds is a former chair of the Delaware State Bar Association's Commercial Law Section, which monitors and recommends amendments and additions to Delaware's business and commercial laws, including its banking, trust and insurance laws and the Uniform Commercial Code. Daniel P. McCollom also has substantial expertise in the corporate trust area, especially in matters of taxation.
Major financial institutions and law firms, both within and outside of Delaware, regularly consult with our attorneys on critical matters of Delaware and United States federal law that affect their business transactions. We frequently render legal opinions on these and other matters in domestic and international transactions.