Pivoting From Real Estate Transactions to Distressed Workouts

Troy Doll, Partner | Pierson Ferdinand LLP

Troy Doll is a partner in the Corporate Department of Pierson Ferdinand LLP, practicing from the firm’s Princeton and New York offices. His practice centers on securitization and structured finance, principally commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), and the workout and restructuring of securitized and other financial assets. He also represents lenders in the structuring, negotiation, and documentation of first mortgage loans, mezzanine loans, and subordinate debt. His clients include real estate lenders originating commercial mortgage loans nationwide; institutional investors; primary, master, and special servicers; operating advisors; loan sellers; and lenders active in CMBS, CLOs, and other structured finance products.

• Education & Credentials

Troy earned his J.D. from Columbia University in 1997 and his B.S. from New York University in 1994. He is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey.

• Recognition & Leadership

Pierson Ferdinand announced Troy’s appointment in February 2025, describing him as a leading real estate finance and securitization attorney. His command of CMBS and CRE CLO transactions draws on earlier work developing underwriting and structural criteria for CRE CDOs and nontraditional asset classes, and on credit-rating agency roles developing underwriting standards, managing surveillance, and conducting servicer evaluations — a background he uses to guide clients through the ratings process from initial loan structuring through post-securitization servicing.

• Professional Involvement

Troy serves as an adjunct professor at the Fordham University Real Estate Institute.

• Experience

Before joining Pierson Ferdinand, Troy practiced at Alston & Bird LLP and Carlton Fields, P.A., and held corporate roles at Kroll Bond Rating Agency and Realpoint LLC, a Morningstar Company. His representative matters include negotiating CLO and CMBS securitization documents for servicers, operating advisors, and originators; drafting and negotiating loan documents for securitizations and balance sheets; managing servicing matters, including loan modifications, extensions, and leasing; drafting and negotiating intercreditor and co-lender agreements for complex pari passu and A/B structured loans; representing lenders on B-note documents; and representing a hotel investor developing a mezzanine loan program. He is also well-versed in the distinct issues raised by hotel financings, leased-fee loans, and fractional interest securitizations.

Edward Zughaib, Partner | Pierson Ferdinand LLP

Edward Elia Zughaib is a partner in the Corporate Department of Pierson Ferdinand LLP, practicing from the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. His practice spans real estate and real estate finance, including loans, workouts, foreclosures, the purchase and sale of real property, and the leasing of office, retail, and industrial space. He has represented regional and national lenders and borrowers in loans secured by real estate and other collateral, and has counseled owners, developers, and investors in acquiring and developing land for retail, commercial, industrial, and residential projects and in buying and selling operating retail, office, multi-family, and industrial properties.

• Education & Credentials

Edward earned his J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law and his B.A. from Colgate University. He is admitted to practice in Virginia, New York, and the District of Columbia.

• Recognition & Leadership

Edward is named among The Best Lawyers in America for Real Estate Law (2010–2026) and is rated AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell. Pierson Ferdinand announced his arrival in November 2024, describing him as a veteran real estate partner in Washington, D.C.

• Experience

Before joining Pierson Ferdinand, Edward practiced at FisherBroyles, LLP; Locke Lord LLP; Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP; and McGuire Woods LLP. His experience includes creating and administering complex reciprocal covenant and easement agreements for large office parks and mixed-use developments, and representing both landlords and tenants on office, retail, and industrial properties internationally. On the lending side, he has represented master and special servicers of REMIC pools in numerous matters, including assumptions, loan modifications, and consents, and has handled foreclosure and workout matters for lenders and commercial borrowers involving real estate in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.

Mette H. Kurth, Partner | Pierson Ferdinand LLP

Mette H. Kurth is a partner in the Corporate Department of Pierson Ferdinand LLP, practicing from the firm’s Wilmington and Los Angeles offices. Ranked by Chambers USA among the leading bankruptcy and restructuring attorneys in both California and Delaware, she represents clients in sophisticated workouts, restructurings, distressed M&A transactions, and bankruptcy matters. Her clients span retail, restaurant, fitness, manufacturing, import and distribution, agriculture, financial services, health care, real estate, and media and entertainment, and have ranged from debtors and investors to creditors, creditors’ committees, and parties to bankruptcyrelated litigation. She has built a reputation for steady handling of confrontational negotiations and difficult situations, and clients quoted by the firm have described her as “a pit bull in heels” and a “rockhard…negotiator.”

• Education & Credentials

Mette earned her J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles and her B.A. from Trinity University. She is admitted to practice in California and Delaware. She completed the American Bankruptcy Institute/St. John’s University School of Law Bankruptcy Mediation Training Program in 2018 and also serves as a mediator.

• Recognition & Leadership

Mette has been ranked by Chambers USA among the leading Bankruptcy/Restructuring attorneys in California (2013, 2015–2018) and in Delaware (2019–2021 and 2024–2025). She has been named among The Best Lawyers in America for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law (2009–2019, 2026) and to the Super Lawyers list for Bankruptcy: Business in Southern California (2009–2019), including its Southern California “Top Female Attorneys” list (2015–2017) and the Southern California Women’s Edition (2017–2018). Her additional honors include an honorable mention for the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Asset Sale of the Year Award (2019); the Turnaround Management Association’s “Transaction of the Year: Mid-Sized Company” award for her representation of the Contessa creditors’ committee (2012); the M&A Advisor’s “Turnaround Award of the Year – Lower Middle Market” for her representation of The Walking Company; recognition by The Daily Journal as one of the Top Women Lawyers in California (2011, 2012, and 2013); and a Los Angeles Business Journal Women Making a Difference Award nomination (2015).

• Professional Involvement

Mette is a member of the Turnaround Management Association and the American Bankruptcy Institute. Her community work has focused on organizations and causes that promote women: she assisted the Jubilee Campaign in securing U.S. scholarships for Nigerian students who escaped Boko Haram, served on the resource board of the Sojourn Shelter for battered women, and helped raise more than $25,000 for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in 2008. In 2003, her family was recognized by the City of Los Angeles as the North Hollywood YMCA’s “Family of the Year” for helping prevent the closure of the facility’s preschool.

• Experience

Before practicing law, Mette was a Bank Liquidation Specialist with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. She practiced at CM Law PLLC, Fox Rothschild LLP, Arent Fox LLP, Klee Tuchin Bogdanoff & Stern, Stutman Treister & Glatt, and Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton before joining Pierson Ferdinand. Her family also owned and operated an Irish pub in Delaware, giving her a distinctive perspective on the restaurant industry.

SESSION 1 – CMBS Workout Negotiations | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

This session equips transactional real estate attorneys to pivot into distressed workout practice during the 2025–2026 CMBS maturity wave, covering the full arc of pre-bankruptcy, out-of-court tools: forbearance agreements with cash management and lockbox provisions, CMBS PSA constraints on special servicer authority, loan modifications and discounted payoff negotiations, deed in lieu structuring with merger doctrine and environmental liability analysis, intercreditor agreement navigation, and nonrecourse carveout guaranty exposure triggered by workout decisions. Attorneys will learn to map existing transactional skills — title review, loan documentation, entity compliance, and due diligence coordination — directly onto distressed-asset workflows. Competencies gained include reading PSA appointment triggers, structuring forbearance milestone covenants, analyzing intercreditor waterfall provisions, negotiating discounted payoff terms, identifying bad boy carve-out tripwires before workout negotiations begin, and recognizing the boundaries of negotiated resolution versus formal proceedings.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

SESSION 2 – The CRE Lawyer’s Distress Playbook: From Default Notices to Chapter 11 Confirmation | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

This session prepares transactional real estate attorneys to handle the full distressed-asset lifecycle, from the first forbearance call through Chapter 11 plan confirmation, by translating existing loan documentation and due diligence skills into workout, litigation, and bankruptcy practice. Attendees will gain practical competency in distressed negotiations, drafting forbearance agreements, navigating pooling and servicing agreement constraints on CMBS special servicer authority, identifying nonrecourse guaranty exposure before it is triggered, and managing single asset real estate debtor strategy under the Bankruptcy Code’s compressed timelines. The program will provide practical frameworks and decisiontree playbooks covering pre-bankruptcy workouts, section 363 asset sales, cash collateral disputes, and cramdown plan confirmation.