Sonnenschein excels in offering cross-practice expertise on the complex challenges that face business, association, non-profit, governmental and individual clients in the current economic climate. Beginning with the 2008 government interventions at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and extending through both the implementation of the Troubled Assets Relief Program and the recent enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Sonnenschein's Financial Crisis Special Situations Group provided our clients across industry sectors with analysis and counsel to assist them in navigating through unprecedented federal intervention. The continued uncertainty and turmoil in the nation’s financial markets and the federal government's continuing massive responses to the crisis have drastically altered the shape of the nation's economic landscape. In a period of a few months, we have seen drastic declines in the value of debt and residential and commercial real estate, growing unreliability of securitized transactions, a severe contraction in the credit markets, the evaporation of credit for many, and unrelenting volatility in the stock market. State budgets remain imperiled, job losses remain significant, and infrastructure investments have slowed considerably.
In this environment, the federal responses to this crisis have been substantial and unprecedented, with deployment of extraordinary federal stabilization efforts including the Treasury's Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), and vast new Federal Reserve lending facilities. Congress has enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which offers nearly $800 billion in program funding and tax cuts to the economy and is targeted to key sectors such as renewable energy, state, local, and tribal governments, broadband deployment, health care, transportation and infrastructure. In addition, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has announced the Obama Administration's plan for sweeping interventions to continue to revitalize the capital markets. Though a final plan has not been presented, it is clear that its scope will reach far beyond that of the original TARP concept. Despite the investment of more than $3 trillion in federal lending facilities and direct investment, we nevertheless remain in the early stages of a long and dynamic process that will create ongoing business, legal, and public policy issues.
As business and government have responded, the Sonnenschein Financial Crisis Special Situations Group stands at the forefront of the crisis, aggressively assisting clients in navigating this new world:
- providing strategic counsel on its impact in both the short and long term,
- offering up to the minute analysis of federal interventions, and
- identifying both opportunities and threats in a constantly changing reality.
Our powerhouse team of attorneys and policy professionals are highly knowledgeable on today’s mission-critical topics, including governmental intervention and regulatory developments, transacting business, bankruptcy, insolvency and receivership and risk management. Our team stands ready to deliver the full breadth of the firm’s experience and expertise to address your needs in these challenging times.
