Tamalyn E. "Tami" Lewis

Tamalyn (Tami) Lewis brings her clients more than 30 years of legal experience and a deep appreciation of our Arizona business culture. A true Arizona native through-and-through, Tami was born in Globe, raised in Safford, and attended Arizona State University. Her experience as a Bankruptcy Extern in the United States Bankruptcy Court in 1982 and 1983 piqued her interest and desire to advocate for the rights of creditors. Over the years, she developed extensive experience representing financial institutions, landlords, creditors, and individuals in commercial bankruptcies, foreclosures, loan workouts, agricultural matters, real-estate matters, and settlement negotiations throughout Arizona, Texas and New York.

Advocating for and counseling clients to achieve cost-effective resolution of difficult business issues and legal challenges.

CLIENTS

• Banks
• Financial Institutions
• Agricultural Lenders
• Landlords
• Receivers
• Business Owners
• Farmers
• Non-Profit Organizations

INDUSTRIES

• Agriculture Law
• Business Transactions and Disputes
• Commercial Bankruptcy
• Commercial and Consumer Negotiations and Workouts
• Receiverships
• Real Estate Transactions and Disputes

PROFESSIONAL

• Master Alumni – Arizona Bankruptcy American Inn of Court former membership chair
• Turnaround Management Association
• American Bankruptcy Institute
• Member – State Bar of Arizona
• Member – State Bar of Texas
• Federal Bar Association
• Maricopa County Bar Association
• Former Alumni Board Member of Sandra Day O’Conner College of Law- ASU

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• Represented agricultural lenders in connection with complex loan workouts and negotiated restructured agreements, including the consensual reorganization in Chapter 11 of one of the state’s largest producers of lemons and the orderly liquidation of an operating farm spanning 5200 acres.
• Represented a governmental agency in achieving regulatory compliance and negotiated payment of $20 Million violation penalties of a sand and gravel operator in a Chapter 11 case.
• Represented the Arizona State Retirement System in regard to protecting loan assets, including the WorldCom bankruptcy case.
• Represented landlords in bankruptcy proceedings to protect their interests of maintaining income stream and, if necessary, the early rejection of leases.
• Represented a Texas corporation protecting its interests in a Chapter 11 filing by a franchisor owning 20+ franchised stores in Arizona.
• Represented Chapter 7 Trustee in the liquidation of a multi-million dollar development project and a Chapter 11 Trustee in the liquidation of a high-end automobile dealership.
• Represented a church trying to preserve its sanctuary and office building in cases involving a Ponzi scheme fraud that implicated hundreds of non-profit organizations in multiple proceedings pending in the Bankruptcy and State Courts in Florida and Minnesota.
• Represented owner of assisted care facility and the associated equipment in connection with the bankruptcy filing of its operator/lessee to attain an expedited approved of a sale to another operator.
• Represented largest secured lender in the American Continental Bankruptcy case.

PUBLISHED OPINIONS

• In re American Continental Corporation, 105 B.R. 564 (Bankr. D. Ariz. 1989)
• In re PMI – DVW Real Estate Holdings, L.L.P., 240 B.R. 24 (Bankr. D. Ariz. 1999)

RECOGNITION

• Best Lawyers in America for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, 2015 – Present
• AV-Rated by Martindale Hubbell®

SEMINARS

Speaker at Farm Credit Services, 2012 Loan Officer Training Conference

COMMUNITY SERVICE

• Arizona Commission on the Arts, State Arts Commissioner
• Center Dance Ensemble (Resident Modern Dance Company at Herberger Theater), President, Board Member
• Boys Hope Girls Hope of Arizona, Women’s Board Member
• Conventual Church of Our Lady of the Angels at the Franciscan Renewal Center, Parishioner (The Casa)