Is it me, or is this obvious?

Holland & Knight has some really good real estate lawyers. They do. And they give good advice to their clients.

Here's some they gave recently:

Banks are willing to work with commercial real estate developers on projects before trouble arises, and bankruptcy should not be part of the equation for either side. That’s the opinion of lawyers with Holland & Knight LLP, which discussed options for a down market with both groups during breakfast Thursday at the firm’s local headquarters.
Don't get me wrong: I absolutely agree with this advice. I just find it utterly unfathomable that any troubled developer would file an 11 or a 7 without trying to negotiate a workout with the bank. And I'll bet a nickel that this is what the lawyers said or at least implied.

The story, at least to me, just came off as overstating the obvious, and I'm confident that was not the complete thrust of what was going on at these meetings. Maybe I'm just not getting it -- it's Friday, after all. I don't have a single client that wouldn't talk workouts, nor do I know a lender that doesn't do the same. So maybe my clients are sophisticated enough to plan ahead for contingencies, both good and bad.

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