Wendi Alper-Pressman

Ms. Alper-Pressman’s principal focus is on the representation of banks, thrifts and other financial institutions in connection with lending and other financing transactions, loan workouts and restructurings, forbearance agreements, foreclosures, bankruptcy proceedings, enforcement actions, lender liability and other litigation.  She also represents purchasers of distressed assets both in and outside of bankruptcy proceedings.

Ms. Alper-Pressman’s bankruptcy expertise ranges from the preparation of routine filings on behalf of unsecured creditors to the development and implementation of sophisticated strategies on behalf of secured creditors, equipment lessors, landlords and official unsecured creditors’ committees, including retiree committees.  She has also litigated dischargeability complaints, preferences and fraudulent conveyance actions, issues in connection with the allowance of claims, validity of liens and executory contracts.

She has also represented borrowers in structuring, negotiating and documenting loan modifications, restructures, deeds in lieu and voluntary surrender agreements.  Additionally, she has represented borrower and guarantors in defense of loan enforcement proceedings, workouts, reorganizations and bankruptcies.

Court Memberships

• Illinois
• Missouri
• U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri
• U.S. Supreme Court

Honors

• Martindale-Hubbell® “AV” Rating
• Associate Editor, Journal of Urban and Contemporary Law

Reported Decisions

• Hartford Underwriters Ins. Co. v. Union Planters Bank, N.A., (In re: Hen House Interstate), 530 U.S. 1 (2000) (Associate counsel). Counsel to Hartford Underwriters Insurance Company in its effort to surcharge lenders collateral pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 506(c) for unpaid workers compensation premiums in Chapter 11 proceeding, later converted to Chapter 7.
• Lee v. N.F. Investments, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20712 (2000). Co-Counsel to mortgage broker in defense of class action litigation alleging an illegal yield-spread premium under RESPA. The District Court denied class certification and granted summary judgment in favor of the broker. This was the first court decision which distinguished between fees permitted for subprime and conforming loans. 

Publications

• Contributing Author, Missouri Creditors Remedies, Sixth Edition, Missouri Bar Publications, Fall 2009
• Contributing Author, Missouri Bankruptcy Practice, Second Edition, Missouri Bar Publications, Fall 2007
• Contributing Author and Faculty Member, Bankruptcy in Missouri – Lorman Education Services, Spring 2001
• Contributing Author, Missouri Creditors Remedies, Fifth Edition, Missouri Bar Publications, Spring 1999
• Co-author, Eighth Circuit Schedules Rare En Banc Double Header on Jurisdiction and Collateral Surcharge Issues, Norton Bankruptcy Law Advisor, West Group, October 1998 

Presentations

• Speaker, Receiverships as Alternatives to Liquidation or Chapter 11, Issues, Trends & Perspectives in Commercial Law, MoBarCLE, August, 2010
• Speaker, Your Customer Files or Is About to File Chapter 11 Bankruptcy: What Do You Do and What Will Happen?, ACC - St. Louis Chapter, March 26, 2009
• Faculty Member, Missouri Bar, Annual Bankruptcy Institute, Spring 2000
• Faculty Member and Contributing Author, Bankruptcy for Non-Bankruptcy Lawyers, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, 1998
• Faculty Member and Contributing Author, Collecting Judgments in Missouri, National Business Institute, 1992
• Faculty Member and Contributing Author, Problem Collections, National Business Institute, 1990