Practice Areas

Platt Richmond represents creditors, lenders, financial institutions, landlords, trade vendors, trustees, investors, and other stakeholders in bankruptcy, insolvency, and creditor’s rights matters.

Our practice is focused on protecting claims, enforcing remedies, maximizing recoveries, and preserving leverage when counterparties face financial distress or payment defaults.

We provide practical, business-minded counsel in both in-court and out-of-court matters, with strategies tailored to each client’s economic objectives and risk tolerance.

When a bankruptcy case is filed, creditors need counsel who can move quickly and understand the interplay between litigation, leverage, and recovery. We represent parties in Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and other insolvency proceedings involving cash collateral disputes, stay litigation, claims objections, plan negotiations and confirmation issues, asset sales, discharge and dischargeability litigation, and disputes involving the assumption, assignment, and rejection of executory contracts and leases. We also advise clients on protecting contractual rights and navigating ongoing business relationships during insolvency proceedings.

Outside of bankruptcy, Platt Richmond aggressively pursues creditor remedies under state and federal law. Our attorneys handle loan enforcement, guaranty litigation, foreclosure-related disputes, receiverships, turnover actions, post-judgment collections, UCC remedies, and other enforcement proceedings designed to recover collateral and collect outstanding obligations. We also counsel clients in workouts, restructurings, and negotiated resolutions when a consensual path offers the best business outcome.

Platt Richmond’s representative experience includes:

• Representation of secured and unsecured creditors in Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 cases
• Claims prosecution and defense, including objections, allowance disputes, and recovery strategy
• Cash collateral, adequate protection, and relief from stay litigation
• Preference, fraudulent transfer, turnover, and other avoidance-related litigation
• Foreclosure, receivership, replevin, and other state-law enforcement remedies
• Guaranty, lender liability, and commercial loan enforcement disputes
• Judgment enforcement, asset recovery, and post-judgment collection strategy
• Distressed asset sales and acquisitions, including transactions under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code
• Disputes involving executory contracts, leases, and related business arrangements
• Loan workouts, forbearance negotiations, and out-of-court restructurings

Whether a client focuses on real estate deals or corporate transactions, the tax considerations are critical yet ever-changing from a regulatory and legal standpoint. Unique among firms of our size and value, Platt Richmond provides national quality tax planning and structuring counsel for business transactions of all types.

Platt Richmond’s representative tax experience includes:

• Business structure and succession planning, including choice of entity (partnership, limited liability companies, S corporations, and C corporations), joint venture ownership and waterfall structuring, and reorganizations with an eye to tax optimization
• Transaction tax planning and structuring, including sale of assets or equity, tax deferred like-kind exchanges, rollover equity, and the availability of special tax regimes or benefits such as Section 1202
• Section 1031 transactions
• Executive compensation and employee incentive equity benefit plans and related issues, including applicability of Sections 280G and 409A, options, profits interests, phantom equity, and deferred compensation plans
• Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund organization and transaction structuring
• Cross-border, state, and local tax planning and restructuring
• Cryptocurrency and DeFi taxation
• Federal and state tax controversy matters, including examinations and appeals

Platt Richmond represents corporate clients in a variety of complex commercial and intellectual property disputes. Our clients, including Fortune 100 companies, trust Platt Richmond with resolving matters involving contractual, statutory, and business tort cases, including:

• Business disputes and fraud, including litigation regarding contracts with vendors, competitors, and employees
• Real estate litigation, including disputes regarding leases, acquisitions, financing, and easements
• Partnership, corporation, LLC, and other entity disputes between owners
• Legal proceedings and lawsuits over trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets
• Class action defense
• Cryptocurrency litigation

Platt Richmond’s team of litigators and trial lawyers practice in state and federal courts across the country, and are experienced in all aspects of dispute resolution. Whether mediation, arbitration, jury trials or appeals, Platt Richmond offers our commercial clients efficient and effective representation in their most critical controversies.

Platt Richmond offers robust services on commercial real estate transactions representing developers, sponsors, investors, lenders, landlords, tenants, and Fortune 500 companies. Core deals handled by Platt Richmond’s real estate section include leasing, acquisitions, sales, and loan transactions as well as corporate and tax considerations in deal structuring, entity formation, and joint ventures.

Platt Richmond’s attorneys have experience with a variety of types and asset classes including hospitality, restaurants, industrial, office, multi-family, residential developments, mixed use, distressed assets, oil and gas real estate, raw land, and farm and ranch.

Platt Richmond partners with employers to be a front-line guard in risk mitigation and strategic employment law planning. This collaborative consultation includes counseling on and preparing company policies, handbooks, and employment agreements to help mitigate risk, reduce potential litigation exposure, and ultimately reduce costs and internal employee dissatisfaction.

For employers in the midst of conflict, we bring a diverse litigation team to bear as your zealous advocate. We are trial-tested, experienced litigators that have represented companies of all sizes in employment law claims, arising from:

• The Texas Labor Code (including Chapters 21 and 451)
• The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
• The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Title VII
• Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)
• The Texas Whistleblower Act
• The Texas Citizens Participation Act (“Anti-SLAPP”)
• The Equal Pay Act
• The Pregnancy Discrimination Act

We also represent clients litigating disputes involving restrictive covenants such as non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, as well as conflicts over use of trade secrets and other confidential information. Translating this expertise, we also counsel executives and physicians in the negotiation of their employment agreements, compensation and incentive plans and strategic planning of legacy and exit strategies.

Platt Richmond represents both lenders and borrowers in connection with commercial loans of various kinds, including senior, mezzanine, royalty-based, and receivables purchasing. Our lender clients include banks, debt-focused investment funds, and other non-bank lenders. Our borrower clients include operating businesses, real estate sponsors and investors, investment funds and their affiliates, and non-profits. We have extensive experience with matters involving collateral, guarantees, and other credit support.

Platt Richmond’s representative experience includes:

• Senior secured loans by banks and non-bank lenders
• Mezzanine loans (often with warrants or minority equity investments) by investment funds
• Mortgage-based financing of complex commercial real estate transactions
• Preferred equity real estate investment
• Royalty-based loans by investment funds
• Intercreditor agreements
• LBOs and MBOs
• Factoring and other receivables purchasing
• Merchant cash advances and other distressed lending
• Leveraged buyout transactions, management buyouts, and growth capital loans

Platt Richmond’s Independent Sponsor & Entrepreneurial Private Equity practice focuses on business transactions, corporate finance and capital formation. We guide a diverse range of clients, from emerging sponsors or fund managers to established sponsors and capital providers, through the process of closing deals or investments, obtaining credit facilities, and raising capital.

Our deep knowledge in this area includes representing independent sponsors and investors in connection with the structure and capital formation of various private investment vehicles, including new platforms, holding company structures, or private funds.

Our representative experience covers the full spectrum of entrepreneurial private equity:

• Corporate Transactions: Advising on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and bolt-on transactions.
• Capital Raising & Securities: Handling state and federal private and crowdfunded securities issuances, and other corporate finance transactions.
• Finance: advise sponsors or capital providers on credit agreements for acquisition finance, leveraged buy-outs and management buy-outs, mezzanine loans (including with warrants or minority equity investments).
• Investment & Fund Structures: Establishing and managing complex investment vehicles, including independent sponsor, search fund, pledge fund, family office, and joint venture arrangements.
• Ongoing Counsel: Providing comprehensive legal advice on governance, risk management, and contractual matters.

Platt Richmond’s Land Use and Zoning practice focuses on helping clients navigate legal issues around permitting, construction, entitlements, zoning, and other real estate development matters.

From government approvals/incentives to public/private partnerships, Platt Richmond is experienced in the full development life cycle of “earth to exit” development including issues particular to construction companies, general contractors, and related development stakeholders.

Platt Richmond is also uniquely situated to handle Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) disputes.

Platt Richmond’s Intellectual Property practice provides comprehensive legal services to protect and monetize your creative and business assets. We work with individuals and businesses across a wide range of industries, helping them identify, secure, and defend their intellectual property rights.

Our attorneys have extensive experience in all aspects of IP law, including:

• Trademarks & Copyrights: We assist with obtaining protection and registration, as well as prosecuting and defending before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), including Federal TTAB Appeals.
• Civil Disputes: We handle civil disputes regarding trademark and copyright infringement, including enforcement and defense.
• Trade Secrets: We advise on strategies to protect confidential business information and handle trade secret litigation.
• Licensing & Transactions: We negotiate and draft licensing agreements to help you leverage your IP assets for business growth.

We understand that your intellectual property is a critical asset. Our goal is to provide strategic counsel that aligns with your business objectives, helping you build and maintain a strong and valuable IP portfolio.

Platt Richmond represents businesses, investors, and entrepreneurs in connection with corporate deals, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, securities offerings, and private equity or venture capital financing. Platt Richmond also assists in the formation and organization of startups with a variety of growth models, including venture capital, real estate sponsor, professional service businesses, and traditional family-owned small business, and all of it in a variety of industries including in the real estate, health care, insurance and software/technology sectors.

Platt Richmond’s representative experience includes:

• Acquisition or sale of operating businesses through asset, stock, or merger transactions
• Formation and organization of startup businesses with a venture capital growth model or a sole proprietor or family business
• Outside general counsel—governance, risk management, and contractual matters

Platt Richmond represents non-profit organizations, social entrepreneurs, social investors and other changemakers in connection with non-profit formations, tax exempt applications, social enterprise structuring, governance, impact investing, fiscal sponsorships, loans, non-profit mergers and acquisitions, and other transactions. We also represent clients in this sector in connection with disputes with vendors and other third parties, leases and other real estate matters, issues relating to intellectual property and licensing, and employment matters.

Platt Richmond’s representative experience includes:

• Tax exemption applications
• Formation and organization of non-profits
• Outside general counsel representation of non-profits—governance, risk management, employment, real estate, IP and contractual matters
• Structuring social businesses and enterprises
• Structuring impact investments
• Establishing fiscal sponsorships
• Mergers and acquisitions involving non-profits
• Loans to non-profits
• Litigation and other dispute resolution

Platt Richmond advises established operating companies, investment vehicles, and earlier-stage businesses on capital formation and exempt securities offerings.  Our experience in this area includes representing sponsors on the formation and capital structure of private investment funds, including real estate funds, as well as independent sponsors, special purpose investment vehicles, and joint ventures.

• Private securities issuances and capital raising;
• Independent sponsor, search fund, pledge fund and similar structures;
• Family office, private investment funds transactions, and joint ventures and other investments;
• Seed, venture capital, and other earlier-stage financings, such as SAFEs, convertible notes, and preferred stock

Platt Richmond’s Sports, Entertainment, Art, and Media Practice Group offers comprehensive legal services to a diverse clientele in these dynamic and evolving industries. With deep-rooted personal and professional experience in the fields they serve, our attorneys act as strategic partners who truly understand the unique business and creative challenges our clients face.

We represent a wide range of individuals and organizations, including professional athletes, teams, media personalities, artists, and corporations. Our expertise spans transactional matters, intellectual property, contract negotiation, and complex litigation, with a specific focus on emerging legal areas like NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) rights. We pride ourselves on providing creative, business-oriented solutions that help our clients navigate their most critical legal and business challenges.

Our representative experience includes:

Sports Law

• Drafting and negotiating NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) agreements.
• Advising on athlete agency, coaching, venue, and player contracts.
• Handling operational disputes and litigation for sports teams and organizations.

Entertainment, Art, and Media Law

• Managing intellectual property for artists and content creators, including trademarks and copyrights.
• Negotiating and drafting contracts for media personalities, artists, and production companies.
• Negotiating and drafting film development, financing, production, and distribution agreements.
• Providing legal counsel for business formation within the creative industries.

Litigation & Dispute Resolution

• Defending clients in defamation cases, with expertise in anti-SLAPP motions.
• Defending theft of NIL and associated claims related to branding and employment agreements.
• Handling complex litigation, including allegations of fraud and financial misconduct.
• Representing clients in disputes related to youth athletics, commercial real estate, and professional services.

Transactional Law

• Negotiating and drafting sponsorship and vendor agreements.
• Advising on business formation and the legal aspects of commercial transactions.
• Structuring agreements for intellectual property licensing and product development.