Jayna Partain Lamar

​Jayna is a Shareholder and Co-Chair of the Bankruptcy and Restructuring Practice at Maynard. She represents banks, financial institutions, and other lenders as secured or unsecured creditors in commercial bankruptcy or reorganization proceedings and in loan workouts and debt restructuring efforts. She also provides representation for the committee of unsecured creditors in Chapter 11 cases, and she represents indenture trustees and bondholders on defaulted issues. As part of her creditors’ rights practice, Jayna assists with commercial foreclosure proceedings and the exercise of Article 9 remedies. Additionally, Jayna has advised commercial borrowers and other obligors regarding insolvency, default, and restructuring issues.

Jayna also handles commercial litigation matters arising in bankruptcy proceedings or in other federal or state courts, ranging from the collection of sizable debts and obligations, to the defense of lender liability allegations, to contract disputes.

Her skills and accomplishments have earned her numerous accolades, including a top Band 1 ranking as a Leading Practitioner in Bankruptcy/Restructuring by Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business. Jayna has also been tapped as a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. She is consistently included in The Best Lawyers in America© and Alabama and Mid-South Super Lawyers. Best Lawyers® tapped her as the 2020 "Lawyer of the Year" for the region in the area of Litigation - Bankruptcy, and she was selected as a "Top 25 Women Lawyers" and "Top 50 Lawyers" by Alabama Super Lawyers for numerous years. She holds an AV Preeminent Rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

Jayna earned her J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law and her B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Alabama.

"Jayna is as good as anyone in the state from a creditor perspective . She is smart, prepared, and keeps her wits about her…thinks about ‘how do we get this project finished’…very analytical and capable. "

“She offers a wealth of expertise across the full spectrum of issues in the bankruptcy space, including debt restructurings, distressed asset acquisitions and Chapter 11 proceedings. She is highly experienced in advising both creditors and debtors.” - Chambers USA

Representative Transactions

• Represented liquidity provider to County in connection with bond indebtedness totaling $3.2 billion incurred for the construction, operation and maintenance of a sewer system, including pre-filing negotiations related to, and representation in, largest Chapter 9 proceeding to date, including eventual negotiation and sale of warrants held by client.
• Served as counsel to numerous lenders on multi-million dollar defaulted residential and condominium construction projects, including negotiating sales of completed and partially-constructed units and raw land in an effort to obtain debt repayment.
• Served as special counsel to the debtor holding company and 22 affiliated debtors in chapter 11 proceedings of leading metallurgical coal producer/exporter, including litigation of key contract rejection related to overriding royalties paid on sale of coalbed methane gas.
• Served as co-counsel to Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in chapter 11 proceedings filed by parent corporation and 23 subsidiaries with plants in seven states engaged in the design, development and manufacture of cast, forged and machined components. Successfully negotiated consensual plan of reorganization with debtors and lending group to allow confirmation only eight months after petition date.
• Represented Indenture Trustee on defaulted rural hospital bonds held by more than 200 predominantly non-institutional holders. Obtained immediate appointment of chapter 11 trustee for day-to-day management of hospital and financial control, negotiated post-petition financing, then worked with trustee through operating issues including threatened loss of insurance and licensure, to enable sale of hospital as going concern.
• Represented secured lender to operator of national space exploration and aeronautics camps and related facilities in Florida and California. Engineered judicial foreclosure of facilities and exercise of Article 9 remedies to take title to all real and personal property, including intellectual property.
• Represents banks and other lenders in the purchase and sale of loans and other credit facilities, both as individual transactions and as transfers of entire loan portfolios.
• Represented lender in resolving multiple lawsuits filed by borrowers and swap counterparties challenging the structure of their respective loans and swaps and alleging misrepresentation and suppression. For all existing borrowers, resolution included restructuring the facilities to provide a mutually acceptable structure on a go-forward basis.

Affiliations

• American Bar Association, Business Law and Litigation Sections
• American Bankruptcy Institute
• Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute, Board of Directors
• Turnaround Management Association, Alabama Chapter, Past Board Member
• Alabama State Bar Association, Bankruptcy and Commercial Law Section
• Birmingham Bar Association, Bankruptcy and Commercial Law Section, Former Chair
• International Women's Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation

Civic Involvement

• Kiwanis Club of Birmingham
• United Way of Central Alabama – Visiting Allocation Team