Gretchen Santamour

Co-Chair Bankruptcy, Workouts & Creditors’ Rights

gsantamour@stradley.com

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Gretchen Santamour

Overview

Gretchen Santamour is a member of Stradley Ronon’s Finance Practice Group and the Business Reorganization and Bankruptcy Practice Group. Gretchen focuses her practice on business restructurings, loan workout, loan documentation, bankruptcy, collection and foreclosure litigation.

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Results

Representative Matters

Gretchen has represented:

  • a mid-market debtor $40 million per annum revenue in Chapter 11 bankruptcy that resulted in an auction sale of the business and a confirmed and consummated plan of liquidation
  • a national bank in a workout within a women’s college in Pennsylvania that resulted in the bank facility being repaid in full
  • a holding company whose primary asset was a subsidiary, successfully fought off a hostile takeover, payment in full to creditors and a significant distribution to equity
  • a prepetition lender in $65 million of DIP financing to a large hospital group, with the lender ultimately recovering 100% of its prepetition and post-petition claims
  • Hyperion Bank in a significant title dispute decision for the banking industry (Lomax v. Hyperion Bank, 282 A.3d 790 Pa. Super. 2022)
  • a national financial institution in connection with its interest as a prepetition lender and postpetition DIP financing lender in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of a Philadelphia-area hospital system that resulted in payment in full of both the prepetition and postpetition loans
  • a national financial institution in a receivership of 34 skilled nursing homes and assisted living facilities
  • a regional lender in a $10.5 million commercial real estate acquisition and renovation loan to a private equity real estate fund
  • a national lender in a $29 million construction loan for a 172 unit multifamily building 
  • a national lender in the successful restructure of a $40 million aggregate loan facility secured by commercial real estate and Medicare/Medicaid receivables
  • a national lender in the bankruptcy of a Delaware real estate developer indebted to lender for $25 million, including obtaining relief from stay, preventing confirmation of debtor’s Plan of Reorganization and, ultimately, obtaining dismissal of the bankruptcy case
  • a community bank in the successful collection of several multimillion-dollar loans secured by residential real estate developments in various stages of approval and improvement
  • a national lender in the documentation and closing of a multimillion-dollar working capital line of credit and term loan and involving an equity sponsor, two series of sub-debt and the acquisition of a Chinese subsidiary by the borrower
  • a national lender in the recovery of $21 million in loans to 18 assisted living and skilled nursing facilities and a subsequent assignment for the benefit of creditors 
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Credentials

Bar Admissions
  • Pennsylvania
  • New York
Court Admissions
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
  • Pennsylvania Supreme Court
Education
  • J.D., The College of William and Mary School of Law
  • B.A., cum laude, Villanova University
Memberships

  • Board of Directors, Hyperion Bank
  • American Bankruptcy Institute
  • Former Director and President of the Board, Education Law Center
  • Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference
  • Turnaround Management Association
  • Pennsylvania Bar Association
  • Stradley Ronon Diversity Committee

Speaking Engagements

  • Presenter, 21st Annual Bankruptcy Institute, “Smaller Chapter 11s and Closely-Held Businesses,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute
  • Presenter, “Lender Liability: Dana Transportation, Inc. v. PNC et al,” Risk Management Association
  • Presenter, “Confessions of Judgment and Deficiency Judgments in Pennsylvania,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute
  • Presenter, 14th Annual Bankruptcy Institute, “Valuation Methods and Approaches in a Changing Economy, What the Consumer and the Commercial Practitioners Need to Know,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute
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Recognitions

  • Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for Bankruptcy/Restructuring in Pennsylvania
  • Pennsylvania Super Lawyers
  • Philadelphia Business Journal, “Best of the Bar: Philadelphia's Top Lawyers”
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In The Community

Gretchen formally served on the executive committee and board of directors of the Consumer Bankruptcy Assistance Project. She continues to represent pro bono clients in Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases on behalf of CBAP. She served as the President of the board of directors of the Education Law Center, a not-for-profit law center that advocates for the rights of public school students.

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