Practice Areas
Bankruptcy/Creditors Rights
From 1983-1987 Mr. Farnell, as a partner in the Chicago law firm of Isham, Lincoln & Beale, worked extensively with Richard B. Ogilvie, former Governor of the State of Illinois and Trustee of Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad in the successful reorganization and sale of that property.
Upon Mr. Ogilvie being appointed Trustee of the Chicago , Missouri and Western Railway, he retained Mr. Farnell to be General Counsel of that railroad. Mr. Farnell was responsible for the daily legal affairs of the railroad until it was sold.
Mr. Farnell since the sale of the Chicago , Missouri and Western Railway, has been in the private practice of law with an emphasis on bankruptcy litigation.
As local counsel for General Motors Acceptance Corporation and Daimler Chrysler Services North America, L.L.C. and CarMax Auto Financing, Mr. Farnell appears in bankruptcy court over one hundred (100) times a month. These appearances include motions to modify automatic stay, disputed claim valuations and objections to reorganization plans. He also regularly handles adversary complaints, preference actions and other bankruptcy issues.
Mr. Farnell also has represented debtors-in-possession in Chapter 11 proceedings. He has recently, on behalf of the debtor, completed a Section 363 sale of the over one million square feet of office space that comprised the former world headquarters of Sears Roebuck.
Large Chapter 7 and 11 Bankruptcies
Chapter 7 & 11 bankruptcies frequently spawn preference complaints in which the debtor seeks to recover money it has paid to an entity or individual, adversary complaints to collect money or enforce other rights of the debtor, claim objections and a wide variety of other forms of litigation. The following is a list of some of the large bankruptcies in the Chicago Bankruptcy Court that have generated substantial litigation:
- Comdisco
- Venture Lighting International
- National Equipment Services
- Outboard Marine
- National Steel Corporation
- Clark Retail Enterprises
- RHC Spacemaster
- Eagle Food Center
Mr. Farnell is available for inquires concerning the possible need for representation in those cases or any other bankruptcy case. He appears on a daily basis before the judges handling these cases.
Civil Litigation
Mr. Farnell's practice has brought him literally all over the world from Penang, Malaysia for In Re: Natural Latex Rubber Gloves Multi-District Litigation,
to Anchorage , Alaska for the British Petroleum (BP)/Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) merger.
He has litigated a broad array of civil actions, including breach of contract cases, product liability cases, covenants not to compete and antitrust issues, as well as business interruption claims.
He successfully defended Wisconsin Central, Ltd. in a case brought by Brunswick Leasing. That case is captioned Brunswick Leasing Corporation vs. Wisconsin Central, Ltd. 136 F.2d 521 (7th Cir. 1998) and is the only case cited by the West Federal Civil Rules Handbook to define what qualifies as an affirmative defense.
Local Counsel Assignments
Mr. Farnell frequently associates with law firms from other states that need local counsel for litigation. Among those whom Alan Farnell has served as local counsel are:
Riezman & Berger
St. Louis, Missouri
Berchem, Moses & Devlin, P.C.
Milford, Connecticut
Beck, Own & Murray
Griffin, Georgia
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McNamee, Lochner, Titus & Williams, P.C.
Albany, New York
Middlebrooks & Shapiro
Roseland, New Jersey
Wollmuth, Maher & Deutsch, L.L.C.
New York, New York
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Wilson, Bave, Conboy, Cozza & Couzeas, P.C.
White Plains, New York
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