
Randy Klein is a Principal at Goldberg Kohn and Co-Chair of the firm’s Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights Group. He concentrates his practice on the protection and enforcement of creditors’ rights.
Mr. Klein is nationally recognized as a leader in his field, and for his experience in the drafting and enforcement of intercreditor agreements and unitranche agreements. He participated extensively in the drafting of the Loan Syndications and Trading Association's (LSTA) "Form of Agreement Among Lenders," published in 2019, and has been a frequent lecturer on the topic. He also served as Vice Chair of the ABA's Committee on Commercial Finance's Model Intercreditor Agreement Task Force, and was a contributing author of the Report and Model Form.
At the invitation of his peers, Mr. Klein was named a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy. In addition, every year since 2005 he has been individually ranked in Chambers USA for his work in Bankruptcy/Restructuring Law. In 2020 and 2022 he was selected to the "Lawdragon 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers" list. Since 2004, Mr. Klein has been recognized annually as a Leading Lawyer in Commercial Bankruptcy & Workout Law by Illinois Leading Lawyers. He has been named an Illinois Super Lawyer annually since 2006. The Bankruptcy Lawyers named him as the recommended attorney, or exclusive advisor, for the state of Illinois for 2023.
Publications and Presentations
Mr. Klein has written extensively on creditors’ rights issues, including:
- Author, "Lender Liability Management: Contractual Traps for Minority Lenders or Fraudulent Transfer Risk for the Majority?," a Goldberg Kohn Alert, Nov. 14, 2022.
- Author, "Lender Liability Management: Restoration of the Duty of Good Faith," a Goldberg Kohn Alert, April 22, 2022.
- Co-Author, "Opposition to PEB Commentary No. [ ], Injunction Against a Noncomplying Disposition Under Section 9-610 of the Uniform Commercial Code," The Secured Lender, Nov. 2021.
- Co-Author, "ABI Bankruptcy Reform: Will It Destroy Cash Flow Lending," The Bankruptcy Strategist, April 2015.
- Co-Author of the First Report of the Commercial Finance Association to the ABI Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11, Nov. 15, 2012.
- Co-Author, “Majority Rules: Non-Cash Bids and the Reorganization Sale,” American Bankruptcy Law Journal, September 2010. (The article resulted from Mr. Klein's novel structuring and implementation of the acquisition of Ames Taping & Tooling by a subset of junior secured lenders for non-cash consideration, including debt and equity securities issued by the acquisition entity.)
- Co-Author, “The Pre-Petition Right to Post-Petition Income Streams and the Misinterpretation of Section 552," American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, December 2010.
- Co-Author, "Report of the Model First Lien/Second Lien Intercreditor Agreement Task Force," Committee on Commercial Finance, ABA Section of Business Law, July 2010.
His presentations have included:
- "Creditors’ Committees: Why They Work; Why They Don't; Are They Obsolete?," 42nd Annual Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute Seminar, April 1, 2016.
- "DIP Financing: What's New; What's Not; And What's Coming," 42nd Annual Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute Seminar, March 31, 2016.
- "Unitranche and Bank Loans," The American College of Investment Counsel-Spring Investment Forum, April 30, 2015.
- "An Analysis of the Final Report of the ABI Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11," a joint webinar for The Loan Syndications and Trading Association and the Secured Finance Network, Dec. 11, 2014.
- "Discussion of the Bankruptcy Reform Commission’s Recommendations to Reform Chapter 11," at the Secured Finance Network's Annual Convention, 2014.
- "Undersecured Creditor's Dilemma: Defining the Limits on Credit Bids and Lien Stripping," at the Fifth Annual American College of Bankruptcy's Seventh Circuit Education Committee Seminar, Sept. 5, 2014.
- "Structure War - ABL vs. Cash Flow vs. Unitranche," at the Secured Finance Network's Asset-Based Capital Conference, Feb. 5, 2014.
- "The New ABA Model Intercreditor Agreement," an American Bar Association's Section of Business Law's Commercial Finance Committee teleconference, March 25, 2010.
- "Dealing with Intercreditor Issues in Today's Loan Markets – The Role of the ABA Model Intercreditor Agreement," at the Secured Finance Network's 65th Annual Convention, Nov. 6, 2009.
Mr. Klein joined Goldberg Kohn in September 1993. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in 1990, and his B.A. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1987.
News
- February 17, 2023
- November 21, 2022
- November 17, 2022
- November 14, 2022
- November 1, 2022
- June 21, 2022
- May 9, 2022
- April 24, 2022
- November 16, 2021
- September 8, 2021
- August 19, 2021
- May 24, 2021
- February 3, 2021
- August 20, 2020
- September 30, 2019
- May 26, 2019
- March 12, 2019
- January 28, 2019
- August 21, 2018
- Randall Klein Authors "How the New UST Fee Schedule Is a Ticking Tax-Bomb for Middle Market Debtors"May 4, 2018
- January 25, 2018
- August 15, 2017
- May 26, 2017
- January 13, 2017
- August 15, 2016
- May 27, 2016
- January 8, 2016
- August 17, 2015
- June 11, 2015
- May 19, 2015
- January 5, 2015
- August 21, 2014
- May 23, 2014
- January 13, 2014
- August 19, 2013
- May 28, 2013
- November 15, 2012
- August 29, 2012
- June 8, 2012
- May 29, 2012
- March 9, 2012
- December 13, 2011
- February 10, 2011
- March 24, 2010
Publications
- November 14, 2022
- April 22, 2022
- May 4, 2018The Bankruptcy Strategist
- April 6, 2015The Bankruptcy Strategist
- October 18, 2011Journal of Corporate Renewal
- September 8, 2011
- December 1, 2010American Bankruptcy Institute Journal
- September 21, 2010American Bankruptcy Law Journal
- August 30, 2010The Secured Lender
- July 13, 2010
- July 1, 2002Reproduced with permission from The Secured Lender, published by the Commercial Finance Association
Seminars & Speaking Engagements
- September 15, 2017
- January 15, 2016
- October 9, 2015
- April 15, 2015
- December 1, 2014
- August 15, 2014
- January 15, 2014
- June 16 - 17, 2011
Practice areas
Industry Focus
Education
- Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 1990
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, B.A., 1987
Bar Admissions
- Illinois
Professional Activities
- Vice Chair, ABA Model Intercreditor Agreement Task Force
- Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy
- American Bankruptcy Institute, Member
- Turnaround Management Association, Member
- American Bar Association, Member
- Chicago Bar Association, Bankruptcy & Reorganization Committee, Member
- The Secured Finance Foundation, Advisory Board Member