Richard M. Kohn

Overview

Richard M. Kohn is a founder of Goldberg Kohn and a Principal in the firm’s Commercial Finance Group. He regularly represents banks and other financial institutions in structuring and documenting credit facilities, with a focus on cross-border lending transactions, an area in which he is widely recognized as a pioneer and leading expert. Richard is also a Lecturer in Law at The University of Chicago Law School, where he teaches cross-border lending, and served from 2001 to 2020 as Co-General Counsel of the Secured Finance Network (SFNet), the principal U.S. trade association for asset-based lenders.

For more than 20 years, Richard has been active in the reform of secured transactions law. He was a member of the Expert Group for the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) in connection with the drafting of its Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions (2007), the related Supplement on Security Rights in Intellectual Property (2010), Guide on the Implementation of a Security Rights Registry (2014), Model Law on Secured Transactions (2016) and the related Guide to Enactment (2017) and Practice Guide to the Model Law on Secured Transactions (2019). He also served as a consultant to the United Nations to co-edit UNCITRAL's Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions (2007). Richard is currently working on a best practices guide on enforcement for the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT).

In addition, Richard has participated in initiatives to promote secured credit in other countries. For example, in the People's Republic of China he taught asset-based lending to more than 150 bankers at the invitation of the People's Bank of China and the World Bank. In Mexico, he co-organized a roundtable discussion on the Mexican judicial system with the Mexican and U.S. governments.

Credentials

Education

University of Michigan Law School, J.D., 1969
– cum laude
University of Michigan, B.A., 1966
– with distinction

Admissions

Illinois (1969)

United States Supreme Court
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Professional Activities

Fellow of American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers
Secured Finance Network International Finance & Development Committee, Member
International Bar Association, Member
American Bankruptcy Institute, Member

Publications

“The Role of Innovation in Cross-Border Lending,” Chapter 13 of The Future of Commercial Law: Ways Forward for Change and Reform, Ed. O. Akseli and J. Linarelli (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2020)
“Current Issues in Cross-Border Asset-Based Lending: Lessons From the Field on the Need for Secured Transactions Reform,” Chapter 7 of International and Comparative Secured Transactions Law: Essays in Honour of Roderick A. Macdonald, Esq., Ed. S. V. Bazinas and O. Akseli (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2017)
“Facilitating a Cost-Free Path to Economic Recovery: Implementing a Global Uniform International Receivables Financing Law,” Uniform Commercial Code Law Journal, 44 UCC L. J. 277 (2012) (with S.V. Bazinas and Louis F. Del Duca)
“The Case for Including Directly Held Securities Within the Scope of the UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions,” 15 Uniform L. Rev. 413 (2010)
“Convention to Bolster Exports and Jobs,” Wash. Times, March 6, 2012