Attorneys

Madeline Kauffman is Chair of the Banking and Financial Services Practice Group, Co-Chair of the Business Restructuring, Creditors’ Rights & Bankruptcy Practice Group, and a partner in the Business, Corporate and Commercial Practice Group. 

Ms. Kauffman has more than 30 years of extensive experience representing national banking associations, state-chartered banks and credit unions in the areas of banking and financial services law, including creditors’ rights, commercial loan workouts, cash management and depository services, commercial lending (including commercial and industrial, commercial real estate and asset based financing transactions), large-scale enforcement actions, Uniform Commercial Code controversies, and complex commercial litigation, including lender liability litigation. Ms. Kauffman has extensive experience in the preparation of deposit account and cash management documentation and in the negotiation of private and public sector banking and merchant services contracts. 

Ms. Kauffman previously served as outside general counsel to an international manufacturer of engineered glass systems and aftermarket supplies for the global industrial, recreational marine and power sports industries. In this role, she negotiated and drafted a multitude of supplier, distribution, license and royalty agreements, as well as non-disclosure agreements and non-compete agreements.

Ms. Kauffman also serves as a member of the American Arbitration Association Roster of Neutrals, addressing commercial and employment law-related disputes. 

• Representation of administrative agents and other senior secured lenders in out-of-court workout transactions involving manufacturers, real estate developers, construction companies, sustainable energy and other service providers, professional services firms, and other entities.
• Representation of secured lenders in commercial loan forbearance and workout transactions involving healthcare facilities, including hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities throughout New York State and beyond.
• Representation of administrative agents and bondholders in restructuring transactions involving tax exempt bond issuances.
• Representation of a secured lender in the negotiation and documentation of commercial loan workouts in the aggregate more than $80,000,000.00, involving residential (condominium) construction projects in New York State.
• Representation of a secured lender in the negotiation and documentation of multiple loan workouts totaling involving numerous regional shopping centers and shopping malls located throughout New York.
• Representation of financial institutions in the preparation, issuance, implementation, and modification of cash management documentation.
• Representation of depository institutions in Deposit Account Control Agreement transactions.
• Representation of a national banking association in the negotiation and documentation of private and public sector banking and merchant services contracts.
• Defense of secured lenders in lender liability litigation.

Ms. Kauffman serves as counsel to the Albany County Business Development Corporation.

Ms. Kauffman serves on the Board of Directors of the Upstate New York Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association, and on the Board of Directors of the Upstate New York Chapter of Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF). She is a member of the New York State and Albany County Bar Associations.

Ms. Kauffman is admitted to practice in New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, and before the United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of New York and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. Kauffman was co-managing partner of Nolan Heller Kauffman LLP, a business law firm in Albany, New York.  

Ms. Kauffman received her J.D. from Albany Law School, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Union College, graduating magna cum laude.   Following her graduation from Albany Law School, Ms. Kauffman served as judicial law clerk for the Honorable Louis G. Hill, Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Ms. Kauffman holds an AV rating from the Martindale-Hubbell Directory of Attorneys and has been recognized every year since 2012 in Super Lawyers – Upstate Edition.