Cleveland partner Kelly Burgan was interviewed for the June 16, 2010, story, "The Fair Finance Bankruptcy Trustee Says the Case is Making Progress," which is posted on the website of NPR affiliate WKSU. The focus of the interview is the bankruptcy of Fair Finance Company, a 76-year-old Akron, Ohio, based investment company which ceased doing business after an FBI raid in November 2009 with over $200 million owed on investment certificates. Burgan is legal counsel for Fair Finance's court-appointed trustee, Baker Hostetler lawyer Brian Bash.
According to story, the owners of Fair Finance's corporate parents have agreed to sign over all assets of those companies. Burgan said they didn't put up much of a fight. "Somebody makes a loan to you and you don't pay it, and they sue you for it, you're going to ask yourself whether or not you're going to spend dollars defending the lawsuit when you know that you owe the money."
Burgan said Bash also wants the judge to okay getting appraisals of artwork recovered from Fair Finance's owners and to approve the auction of items with clear title. "Getting an order like that will allow the auctioneer to sell the artwork and it also protects buyers [by] facilitating sales that otherwise might not happen if people were squeamish."
Click here to listen to the full interview from the WKSU website.