Otterbourg Names James Cretella Chair of Alternative and Specialty Finance Practice Group
March 11, 2021
Otterbourg P.C. announced today that James M. Cretella has been named Chair of the firm’s Alternative and Specialty Finance Practice Group.
A member of the firm’s Finance Department, Mr. Cretella represents lenders, factoring companies and prominent financial institutions, as well as borrowers, in a variety of lending, factoring and corporate transactions.
“Jim has earned an outstanding reputation among both clients and peers for skillfully advising on complex financial transactions. Jim is an out-of-the-box thinker, and the firm’s clients regularly seek his advice on many of their most difficult situations,” said Richard L. Stehl, Otterbourg’s chairman. “His leadership qualities are equally impressive, and we are pleased that he will chair this expanding practice area.”
Mr. Cretella has practiced at Otterbourg for his entire career and his experience encompasses financial transactions across a broad range of industries, including staffing, technology, transportation, oil and gas, and government contracting. His areas of focus include asset-based lending, supply chain finance, trade finance and specialty finance. He often acts as “outside in-house counsel” to finance companies and specialty lenders.
Mr. Cretella is co-author of the “What Would You Do” column, which appears regularly in The Secured Lender, and he is a 2016 winner of the Commercial Finance Association 40 under 40 Awards.
Otterbourg’s alternative and specialty finance lawyers, all of whom are also members of the firm’s Finance Department, represent bank and non-bank lenders, factors and specialty finance companies in creating, negotiating and documenting diverse alternative and specialty finance products. They have considerable expertise with monthly recurring revenue (MRR) based lines of credit to software as a service (SAAS) companies and with a broad spectrum of trade finance and supply chain finance transactions, including factoring, purchase order finance and channel finance. In addition to being well versed in structuring “true sale” receivables purchase facilities with or without the use of special purpose vehicles, the practice group also regularly represents clients with inventory loans and other asset-based credit facilities to companies that do not qualify for traditional commercial loans. Otterbourg attorneys have a deep understanding of both the traditional commercial lending market as well as the alternative and specialty finance market.
About Otterbourg P.C.
Otterbourg P.C. offers clients a unique combination of legal insight and practical solutions and is known for its integrity, legal expertise, stability and business knowledge. The firm, established more than 100 years ago, regularly represents clients in matters of national and international scope, including banks, finance companies, hedge funds, private equity firms, real estate investment firms, corporate clients and high net-worth individuals. The firm’s practice areas include domestic and cross-border financings, litigation and alternative dispute resolutions, real estate, restructuring and bankruptcy proceedings, mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions, and trusts and estates.