Gary F. Torrell

A respected litigation and business attorney with over three decades of diverse experience, Gary Torrell counsels and advocates for health care providers facing a wide range of complex financial, legal, and operational challenges. As a transactional attorney, litigator, and mediator who has facilitated numerous deals and handled all manner of disputes, Gary has the holistic perspectives and knowledge needed to protect and prepare his clients for any circumstance.  

While Gary counsels and represents clients on a broad spectrum of health care-related business, finance, and real estate issues, he is particularly recognized for his work in creditors’ rights, bankruptcy, and insolvency matters. Representing both distressed debtors and creditors that need their rights and interests vigorously protected, he handles insolvency-related litigation in state and federal court, including bankruptcy cases across the country.

Gary develops creative approaches and strategies that are born of extensive experience and sustained success. Whether advancing his clients’ positions in negotiations or contested proceedings, Gary recognizes that the best resolutions are not always found in a judge’s ruling or jury’s verdict. But when litigation is the only viable or advisable option, Gary’s advocacy positions his clients for favorable outcomes.

Gary spent the first half of his legal career working at large national law firms, where he handled creditors’ rights and bankruptcy cases along with real estate and lending transactions. He has appeared in bankruptcy courts across the country and participated in other matters, including loan workouts, new loans, and all types of real estate transactions. He also brings extensive in-house experience to his practice, having served as chief legal officer at Downey Savings, a $16 billion publicly held, 2,500-employee, 200-branch bank, and general counsel to a privately held $1 billion national real estate company and senior counsel at City National Bank. 

Before joining Hooper, Lundy & Bookman, he was head of the Business and Finance, Real Estate, and Creditors’ Rights practice groups at his previous law firm. He has five published bankruptcy decisions, four representing secured and unsecured creditors and one representing a famous entertainer in bankruptcy.

Representative Matters

• Represented group of shareholders/creditors in connection with chapter 11 bankruptcy of waterpark facility; major law firm represented the debtor. Defeated claim objections filed by another creditor and facilitated debtor’s successful plan confirmation.
• Represented major shareholder and CEO of home improvement retailer in connection with retailer’s chapter 11 case.
• Represented buyer of two operating hospitals in Los Angeles in a Section 363 bankruptcy sale as part of the Promise Healthcare chapter 11 case in Wilmington, Delaware.
• Successfully defended payroll service company against preference recovery complaint filed in chapter 11 case in Delaware. Creditors’ committee sought over $300,000; negotiated a settlement to pay less than 6% of the amount demanded.
• Successfully defended preference and fraudulent conveyance claims made by creditors’ committee and recovered on secured claims of former hospital management company in chapter 11 case of a hospital, filed in California.  The matters were settled on favorable terms including full payment of client’s reduced secured claim and no liability for preference or fraudulent conveyance claims.
• Successfully challenged liquidating trustee’s attempt to obtain post-confirmation royalty payments due to reorganized debtor, from being used to pay creditor claims in chapter 11 case filed in New York. Resulted in published decision.
• $84M joint venture acquisition and financing of 2 hospital facility system out of bankruptcy
• $17.9M acquisition and financing of 2 skilled nursing facilities
• For 10+ years, handled all medical office building leasing and construction contracts for six hospital medical system
• Develop medical office building form leases to aid hospital property management