Adam Bass is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Buchalter. Mr. Bass joined the Firm in 1993 and after 20 years with the Firm became President and Chief Executive Officer in January of 2013. Under his leadership, Buchalter has experienced substantial growth having tripled in size growing to almost 400 lawyers, and opening seven new office locations in Napa Valley, Sacramento, Seattle, San Diego, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Denver. Mr. Bass and the firm have also received a number of prestigious awards including his recognition 5 consecutive times in the “LA500” – Most Influential People in Los Angeles, as a Leader in the Law nominee and a Top 100 Lawyer by the Los Angeles Business Journal. Earlier in his career, Mr. Bass was recognized as a member of the Top 40 Under 40 by the Daily Journal. The firm has been recognized on American Lawyer‘s Am Law 200 list and named consecutively as a Best Places to Work. In addition, Buchalter has consistently received numerous recognitions for diversity, equity, and inclusion, including one of the 100 Best Law Firms for minority attorneys in Law360’s Minority Report. Law360 has also recognized Buchalter as one of the Top Firms with the Most Diverse Equity Partnership, as one of the 50 Best Law Firms for Minority Partners, and a Top Firm for Minority Attorneys. The Firm is also the recipient of the California Lawyer Association’s Excellence in Diversity Award, and recognized in the AmLaw 200’s annual ranking of the A-List Female Equity Partner Scorecard. Further, Buchalter received a score of 100 out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2022 Corporate Equality Index, the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality.

As Chair of the Family Office & Wealth Management Practice Group and Co-Chair of the Social Media Influencers Industry Group, Mr. Bass’ practice includes the representation of companies of all sizes and financial institutions in both transactional and litigation matters. He is often called upon to handle general business matters for his corporate clients. Further, his areas of expertise include regulatory matters at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as government procurement. His experience includes corporate, loan workouts, creditors’ rights, real property, labor relations, public contracting and regulatory compliance.

Mr. Bass has served as an arbitrator for the Los Angeles Superior Court and worked with the Dispute Resolution Section of the Bar Association. In addition, he was a member of the committee advising the Los Angeles Superior Court on issues concerning receiverships, and has extensive experience in all aspects of real estate including purchase and sale agreements, receiverships, and judicial foreclosures.

Mr. Bass serves as a member of the University of San Diego School of Law Board of Visitors and is a former Board Member and Advisor to the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice. Mr. Bass was appointed to the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce’s CEO Council in 2021 and World Services Group’s Regional Council in 2021 & 2022. He also serves on a number of private company Boards of Directors. He is active in the Real Property Law Section of the State Bar of California, the Provisional Remedies Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and the California Receivers Forum. Mr. Bass is a former member of the Board of Directors of the California Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Directors of the California Mortgage Bankers Association, the American Financial Services Association, the Civil Justice Association of California, and the Residential Board of Governors of the National Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mr. Bass is a member of the American, California, and Los Angeles County Bar Associations.

He is also an active member of his community, and contributes significant time and effort to civic and philanthropic causes.

Bar Admissions

• California

Education

• University of San Diego School of Law
• University of San Diego Graduate School
• University of San Diego

• Represented senior secured ABL lender in connection with its $80 million pre-petition ABL facility and $80 million DIP ABL facility in the pre-packaged chapter 11 case of iQor.
• Represented senior secured lender and asset purchaser of Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes, and represented asset purchaser of Hot Dog on a Stick.
• Represented as debtor’s counsel six different publicly traded and privately owned national retailers, a developer of a high-end residential resort community with nearly $1 billion in liabilities, and a publicly traded manufacturer of “Class A” motor homes.
• Represented trustee of a commercial real estate developer, including in litigation with the co-owners of the real estate holding companies and in the sale of the commercial real estate.
• Represented defendants in two different multi-billion dollar fraudulent transfer cases.
• Represented in approximately fifty appeals a debtor in mass asbestos bankruptcy case.
• Represented 420-bed acute care hospital debtor in appeals from its chapter 11 plan confirmation order, and represented purchaser of assets of aerospace and defense company debtor in appeal from bankruptcy court sale approval order.
• Represented hedge fund in connection with $1.6 billion note in the Lehman Brothers case.

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