Schliem, Joan R.

M. Jonathan Hayes concentrates his practice in bankruptcy and corporate - business litigation.  He has represented many Chapter 11 debtors, businesses and individuals, and effected many successful reorganization plans.  Mr. Hayes has prosecuted and defended complaints to declare debts non-dischargeable, to deny the discharge and other bankruptcy related litigation matters.  He has defended several fraudulent conveyance actions brought by trustees in so-called Ponzi schemes.  He has filed many Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 petitions for clients and has handled many bankruptcies that are commenced because of tax problems of the debtors.
 
From 2009 through 2012, Mr. Hayes has filed or otherwise taken dozens of Chapter 11 cases for individuals primarily trying to save their homes and other real property.  In the past, he has represented three franchisees in the Econo-Lube bankruptcy filing adversary proceedings, demanding more than $10 million in total and settling each successfully.  He represented the Creditor’s Committee in the Lucy’s Laundry Mart and SBB Roofing Chapter 11 cases.  He was lead counsel for the Creditor's Committee in the Breath Asure, Inc. Chapter 11 and the B.C. Oil, Inc. Chapter 11.
 
Mr. Hayes’ recent Chapter 11 cases include representing a 66-room hotel in Laguna Beach; a small trucking company; a medical clinic; a company that owned two Baskin Robbins stores; a former major league baseball player with $40 million in assets; a company which had 27 lawsuits pending against it on the date of filing being defended by the debtor’s insurance company; a company which owns 20 oil wells; a company which owned a large hotel in Culver City which was sold during the case for $25 million, a “dot com” company; a condominium Homeowners Association fending off a $9 million judgment creditor; a furniture manufacturing company ($4 million annual sales); a chain of carpet stores ($10 million annual sales); an employment company ($30 million in annual sales); a wireless entertainment equipment sales company; a litigation attorney; a sunglass wholesaling company; a bait tank and machine shop; and a small commercial center. 

Mr. Hayes has prosecuted and defended several bankruptcy appeals to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel and to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.  He successfully represented an attorney against the Securities and Exchange Commission in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals case of In re Sherman, 658 F.3d 1009 (9th Cir 2011).  He was “on the brief” for the NACBA Amicus brief in the Kagenveama case in 2007 and for a group of professors in the Penrod case in 2010.
  
Mr. Hayes is been a member of the panel of mediators of the Bankruptcy Mediation Program for the Central District of California.
 
Mr. Hayes has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of West Los Angeles (previously University of LaVerne School of Law) for the past 22 years where he has taught Bankruptcy, Business Organizations, Contracts, Advanced Bankruptcy Issues, Commercial Law, and Taxation.  Before that he was on the faculty of Whittier School of Law for four years.

Mr. Hayes previously wrote a monthly column, “Judicial Profiles” for the San Fernando Valley Bar Association magazine, “Bar Notes,” on judges in the San Fernando Valley.  He maintains a blog at www.centraldistrictinsider.com

Mr. Hayes is married and has four children and has lived in the San Fernando Valley since 1985.