David E. Lemke
+1.615.850.8655
Overview
David Lemke is a restructuring, workout and bankruptcy attorney in Holland & Knight's Nashville office. Mr. Lemke provides sophisticated, practical advice and counsel to companies, lenders, indenture trustees and other clients requiring assistance with debt restructurings, enforcement of financial instruments, including loan agreements and indentures, debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing and purchases of assets out of bankruptcy cases.
For more than 37 years, Mr. Lemke has designed creative solutions for clients inside and outside of formal proceedings. Whether a workout or restructuring is undertaken in or out of a formal court setting, a receivership is necessary to enforce the remedies of a trustee or lender, the client is providing financing into a distressed situation, or the client requires assistance navigating the intricacies of a "363 sale," clients can be assured that Mr. Lemke has the experience and judgment to craft a resolution. He enjoys the competitive nature of his work and thrives on finding leverage within a matter to achieve the client's goals.
Mr. Lemke has become a trusted advisor to boards, management, lenders, indenture trustees and distressed investors in a wide array of industries, including healthcare, commercial real estate, manufacturing, oil and gas, and financial services. He is regularly selected as counsel by independent boards to help them navigate and fulfill their fiduciary duties, by indenture trustee's and investors in connection with defaulted bonds, and by bank and nonbank lenders to help them maximize recoveries in distressed situations.
Representative Experience
- Co-debtors' counsel for MTPC LLC, The Proton Therapy Center LLC and PCPT Hamlin LLC, providers of proton cancer therapy, in their jointly administered Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee; all three debtors confirmed plans of reorganization
- Represented an e-commerce company with approximately 25 separate operating subsidiaries generating $90 million in annual revenues and with $50 million in funded debt in connection with the company's efforts to restructure its debt or sell the company's operations through an out-of-court or formal court-supervised proceeding
- Represented the independent sole board member of a manufacturer of movable partitions and foldable wall systems in connection with the liquidation of the company's operations, including liquidation proceedings in Australia, New Zealand and a Wisconsin Chapter 128 receivership; the company had operations in the U.S., Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the United Kingdom and Asia
- Represented independent board members of a sterile solutions provider in connection with the company's efforts to restructure its debt and the ultimate sale of the company through a consensual Article 9 sale
- Represented the independent board members of a manufacturer and distributor of after-market auto parts with operations in the U.S. and Canada in connection with the company's efforts to restructure its debt and the sale of one of its divisions
- Represented an agent and lender in connection with the successful restructuring and refinancing of a syndicated loan to a physician practice management company
- Represented the secured lender in the successful restructuring and payoff of revolving and term loan credit facilities to a healthcare revenue cycle management company
- Represented the asset-based lending (ABL) lender in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington by PNW Healthcare Holdings LLC and its affiliates, which operated 14 skilled nursing facilities in Washington, Oregon and Idaho
- Represented the ABL agent and lender in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas by Pipeline Health System LLC and its affiliates, which operated seven large safety net hospitals in Illinois, Texas and California
- Represented the ABL pre-petition and debtor-in-possession (DIP) lender in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee by Curae Health Inc., a nonprofit operator of three hospitals in Mississippi
- Represented the DIP lender in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases filed by Verity Health System and its affiliates in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- Represents indenture trustees in connection with defaulted tax-exempt bonds that were issued to finance a multitude of types of projects, including hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs), hotels, convention centers, manufacturers, retailers, multifamily housing projects, charter schools and higher education institutions
- Represents the indenture trustee in a receivership case in New Jersey arising out of defaulted tax-exempt bonds issued to finance two U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-subsidized multifamily housing projects
- Represented the indenture trustee for more than $934.7 million second-lien senior secured notes in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas by Cobalt International Energy Inc., and its affiliates, which was an oil and gas exploration and production company operating in the Gulf of Mexico
- Represented the indenture trustee for second-lien notes in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas by Energy XXI Ltd., and its affiliates, which was an oil and gas production company operating in Texas, Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico
- Represented the indenture trustee for $6 billion of water and sewer bonds in the city of Detroit, Michigan, Chapter 9 bankruptcy case, the largest municipal bankruptcy case ever filed
- Represented indenture trustee for $3 billion of defaulted sewer bonds in the Jefferson County, Alabama, Chapter 9 bankruptcy case, the second largest municipal bankruptcy case ever filed
- Represented the indenture trustee in the city of Chester, Pennsylvania, Chapter 9 bankruptcy case
- Represented the successful stalking horse purchaser of 15 facilities in Mississippi and North Carolina out of the bankruptcy case of United Furniture Inc., and its affiliates, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi
- Represented the successful stalking horse purchaser of a behavioral health hospital in West Virginia out of the bankruptcy case of MBH Highland LLC and its affiliates, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
Credentials
Education
- University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law, J.D.
- Central Methodist College, B.S.
Bar Admissions/Licenses
- Tennessee
Court Admissions
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan
- U.S. Supreme Court
Memberships
- Nashville Bar Association
- American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), ABI Healthcare Program, Advisory Committee, 2022-2023
- American Bankruptcy Institute
- Mid-South Commercial Law Institute, Former Board Member and Past President
- Nashville Bar Association, Bankruptcy Court Committee, Past Chair; Bankruptcy Court Committee, CLE Subcommittee and the Local Rules Subcommittee, Former Chair
- Turnaround Management Association, Middle Tennessee Chapter, Former Board Member
- Central Methodist University, Board of Trustees
- Harpeth Conservancy Advisory Board of Directors
Honors & Awards
- Chambers USA – America's Leading Lawyers for Business guide, Bankruptcy/Restructuring (Tennessee), 2015-2024
- The Best Lawyers in America guide, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, 2006-2025
- The Best Lawyers in America guide, Nashville Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law Lawyer of the Year, 2022
- Mid-South Super Lawyers magazine, Creditor Debtor Rights, 2006-2018, 2023