Firm Resume

Firm Profile

Kamberg, Berman, P.C. is a nationally recognized commercial law firm located in Springfield, Massachusetts, that has provided legal representation to corporate and individual clients since 1920. The firm's practice areas include commercial law, bankruptcy, creditors' rights, business law, litigation, real estate, antitrust, banking and finance, commercial collections, and hospitality law. Kamberg, Berman, P.C. holds an "AV" rating from Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, and is listed in the prestigious Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers in the areas of bankruptcy, commercial law, and commercial litigation. The firm enjoys many close working relationships with individuals and organizations that provide specialized skills upon which the firm calls upon as needed to meet the special needs of its clients.

Included under the umbrella of "commercial law" are a variety of specialty areas that include the Uniform Commercial Code, the Bankruptcy Code, as well as that body of law relating to banks and banking, corporate governance and business transactions.

Within the interdisciplinary practice, major areas of the firm's practice include:

Antitrust. The firm represents both national and local credit groups as general counsel and polices their activities within the context of the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Clayton Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, and the Robinson-Patman Act. Members of the firm have represented clients in antitrust actions before the Federal courts.

Bankruptcy/Creditor's Rights. Representation of creditors' interests in bankruptcy proceedings, loan workouts, and liquidations. The firm has served as counsel to various Creditors' Committees, and as a Trustee or fiduciary in Trust Mortgages and Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors.

Business and Commercial Law. The totality of the skills of the members of the firm are focused in the representation of business clients generally and the representation of businesses in various transactions. The strength of the firm is the breadth of experience in the various aspects of commercial and related transactions.

Collections. The firm maintains a Commercial Collection Department which avails itself of all of the skills of the members of the firm in the utilization of both pre-judgment and post-judgment remedies to effect the collection of a claim.

Education Law. The firm represents private secondary schools as general counsel with respect to general business law and that special area of law related to the relationships between the school and their students.

Finance and Banking. The firm has a long history of representing banks and other lenders in loan and financing transactions.

Hospitality Law. Representation of restaurants and hotels with respect to alcoholic beverages licensing, the sale and transfer of businesses and licenses, appearing before local licensing boards and disciplinary boards, employment matters, contracts, and general business law.

Litigation. The firm specializes in general civil litigation with an emphasis on commercial litigation. Members of the firm practice before Federal and Massachusetts Courts, the United States Bankruptcy Court, the Federal Court of Appeals, and the Massachusetts Court of Appeals.

Real Estate. The commercial focus of the real estate practice includes loan and mortgage documentation, foreclosures, and the real estate aspects of bankruptcy.

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Attorneys

Eugene B. Berman has been practicing commercial law for more than 40 years. He has been included in every edition of the prestigious "The Best Lawyers in America." His expertise is primarily in workout situations representing secured creditors and serving as counsel for unsecured creditors' committees. He appears frequently in Bankruptcy Courts in Massachusetts and throughout the United States. He has extensive experience in secured lending and the structuring and documentation of sophisticated transactions.

He is a past President of the Commercial Law League of America, a national organization of lawyers and others interested in commercial law. He has written extensively and has served as Contributing Editor of "Massachusetts Variations of Commercial Law" in the Digest of Commercial Laws of the World (Oceans Publications, Inc.), Contributing Editor of the Commercial Law Bulletin, and a member of the Board of Associate Editors of the Commercial Law Journal. He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. He is the original author of "How to Collect a Debt" published by Butterworth.

Mr. Berman served as the Court-appointed Trustee in the nationally prominent case of The GHR Companies administered before the Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Massachusetts and the Southern District of Texas. He served as counsel to the Unsecured Creditors' Committee in the landmark cases of In re SPM Manufacturing Corp. and represented the proponents in the successful Chapter 11 reorganization of Westmass Area Development Corporation. He frequently serves as counsel to creditors' committees and to bankruptcy trustees. He is counsel to the North American Paper and Plastics Credit Group of the National Association of Credit Management.

Email: eberman@kamberg.com

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Kerry D. Strayer has been a practicing lawyer since 1987. He has substantial experience and expertise in corporate and administrative law and has extensive knowledge and experience in commercial litigation and collections. Attorney Strayer practices in Federal and Massachusetts state courts and has trial experience in Massachusetts Superior and District Courts and in the United States Bankruptcy Court. He has argued before the First Circuit

Court of Appeals and the Massachusetts Appeals Court. He has represented clients in a wide variety of cases, including contracts and commercial litigation, business disputes, employment law, construction law, antitrust, and real estate matters.

Attorney Strayer handles business acquisitions and sales and advises business clients on various operational matters, including those related to contracts, commercial matters, secured transactions, corporate governance, employment issues, antitrust, and administrative law. He also His real estate practice encompasses the representation of clients in the purchase and sale of commercial and residential real estate, drafting of loan and mortgage documentation, and foreclosures. He has represented numerous national and local clients in the hotel, restaurant, and hospitality industry for whom he has sold and acquired a variety of businesses.

Attorney Strayer has made numerous legal presentations before various business groups, including the National Association of Credit Management, Inc. and the New England Business Brokers Association. He has lectured at Lasell College and has served as an instructor for the American Hotel and Motel Association. He has published articles in national legal journals and local business publications. In 1995, he was invited by the American Bar Association's Central and Eastern European Law Initiative to present a training workshop in franchise law in Vilnius and Kaunus, Lithuania.

Email: kstrayer@kamberg.com

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