Your Pacific Northwest Law Firm®
Attorneys
Parise, Michael

Practices & Industries

Michael Parise

Shareholder | Anchorage | 907.264.3322 | parisem@lanepowell.com

Areas of Practice

Michael Parise concentrates his practice in commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, complex loan transactions, real estate, bankruptcy, loan restructuring, maritime vessel financing, business litigation, foreclosures and litigation under the Uniform Commercial Code.  He also represents parties in negotiations and litigation concerning oil and gas exploration financing, mining lease and royalty agreements, and timber sale and logging contracts.

Michael has been named as an “Alaska Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyers magazine in the areas of bankruptcy, business litigation and banking. He has an AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 rating in Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™. Michael has also been recommended by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the categories of corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, and bankruptcy 2007-2011.

Professional Experience

  • Shareholder, Birch, Horton, Bittner and Cherot (1991-2009)
  • Attorney, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region I, Boston, Mass. (1979-1981)
    • Recipient of EPA Special Achievement Award in hazardous waste litigation cases

Admitted to Practice

  • Alaska
  • Massachusetts

Academics

  • Boston University School of Law (J.D., 1978)
  • Williams College (B.A., cum laude, 1975)
    • Phi Beta Kappa

Practice Group and Specialty Team Memberships

  • Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights
  • Business Crisis Management and Emergency Remedies
  • Canada Practice
  • Financial Institutions
  • Litigation

Representative Matters and Clients

  • Counsel for national banks, including Wells Fargo Bank, KeyBank, and Union Bank, with respect to  complex commercial loans, revolving credit lines, and real estate finance transactions.
  • Representation of lenders on projects such as the third-party financed Over the Horizon Backscatter Radar Project for the Department of the Air Force, the waterfront development project in Dutch Harbor, the wood chip loading facilities in Homer, and the Mount Roberts Tramway and tourism facilities in Juneau.
  • Counsel for lender in documentation of multiple revolving master line of credit agreements and sub-notes secured by equipment leases.
  • Counsel for lender in documentation of credit facilities with multiple interest rate options to a transportation and tourism business, secured by real estate and rolling stock.
  • Representation of Gruma International Foods, S.L., an international company based in Madrid, Spain, on Alaska law issues with respect to its purchase of the entire capital stock in Solnste Mexico Closed Joint-Stock Company, a leading food manufacturer in Russia organized under the laws of the Russian Federation.
  • Counsel for Canadian firm financing an Alaska oil and gas exploration company,  secured by mineral leases, as well as by collateral assignment of the State of Alaska Department of Revenue Oil and Gas Production Tax Credit Certificates issued under the 2007 state oil and gas tax legislation.
  • Counsel for Renaissance Minerals, Ltd., an Australian mineral exploration company, with respect to its acquisition and financing of an Alaska mining company.
  • Counsel for Canadian and Alaskan mining companies with respect to their acquisition out of bankruptcy of patented claims and state mining leases in the historic Willow Creek mining district.
  • Representation of a Canadian company in its purchase of the assets of an Alaska fuel distribution business.
  • Defense of banks and financial institutions in lender liability cases brought in state and federal court, including litigation alleging misrepresentation, breach of contract or breach of fiduciary duty, or cases brought under Alaska’s Unfair Trade Practices Act, the Truth in Lending Act, or the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
  • Counsel to Alaska Boat Brokers Inc., with respect to vessel sale agreements.
  • Counsel to A-1 Timber Consultants Inc., with respect to timber sale agreements.
  • In re Duke Investments (counsel for Brinker International, Inc. in the bankruptcy reorganization of an Alaska restaurant franchisee).
  • In re Forcenergy (counsel for creditor oil service company in the bankrupty reorganization of an oil and gas company).
  • In re Stewart Petroleum Company (counsel for creditor secured by oil and gas leases)
  • In re Kake Tribal Corporation (secured lender’s counsel in Chapter 11 of an Alaska Native corporation)
  • In re Wave Wholesale (secured lender’s counsel in Chapter 11 of food wholesale distributor in rural Alaska)
  • In re Pacific Forest Products (debtor’s counsel for Chapter 11 of sawmill)
  • In re Southeast Timber (creditor counsel in logging company reorganization)
  • In re Glacier Bay Airways (counsel for creditor aircraft lender in air taxi Chapter 11 case)
  • In re Rocky Mountain Helicopters (counsel for timber owner in Chapter 11 of logging company)
  • In re MarkAir (counsel for flight attendants union)
  • In re Inlet Fisheries, Inc. (bankruptcy counsel for seafood processor in reorganization under Chapter 11)

Awards and Honors

  • Peer Review Rated “AV” in Martindale-Hubbell
  • Recommended by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Corporate/M&A (2007-2011)
  • Named an “Alaska Super Lawyer,” Super Lawyers magazine, Bankruptcy, Business Litigation, Banking (2009, 2011)