Formerly a partner at White & Case LLP until 2007, Maria K. Pum brings over 20 years of legal experience to Henderson, Caverly & Pum LLP. While at White & Case, Ms. Pum specialized in the areas of corporate restructuring, business bankruptcy, bankruptcy litigation, and real estate workouts and financing. Before joining White & Case, Ms. Pum was a partner in the Financial Services and Restructuring Department in the San Diego office of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP, where she focused on bankruptcy, commercial litigation, commercial law, workouts and business transactions.
Ms. Pum represents financial institutions, Fortune 100 companies, high net-worth individuals, creditors, trustees, receivers, lenders, borrowers, landlords, real estate developers, technology companies, venture capital companies and private equity funds in many contexts, including buying assets and intellectual property in bankruptcy, litigating contract disputes and fraudulent conveyance claims, completing real estate acquisitions and financing, negotiating and drafting loan transactions, structuring and documenting workouts and restructurings, and litigating commercial and trust disputes.
Ms. Pum received her law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley in 1985. At Boalt, Ms. Pum was honored to be an associate editor of the California Law Review. Before enrolling in law school, Ms. Pum attended the University of California, Los Angeles where she received her bachelor’s degree in Economics, magna cum laude, in 1982. Ms. Pum is a member of the California Lawyers Association (Business Law and Real Property Law Sections) and the San Diego County Bar Association (Bankruptcy Law Section).
During her legal career, Ms. Pum has represented the trustee appointed in the liquidation of The Greater San Diego Health Plan, the debtor in North Coast Village, Ltd., various banks in multi-million dollar bankruptcies and workouts, including the representation of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. in the bankruptcy of the international construction company Guy F. Atkinson, Inc. and its affiliated companies. Ms. Pum also represented the committee of municipalities located outside Orange County in the highly-publicized Chapter 9 case of Orange County and has participated on several creditors’ committees on behalf of McKesson Corporation and Blue Cross of California. She also has represented venture capital companies in acquiring businesses and assets from debtors in bankruptcy.
In addition to her insolvency-related experience, Ms. Pum has substantial experience in commercial and real property transactions. She assisted Canadian-based Amacon Land Corporation in its multimillion-dollar acquisition of real property in the City of Los Angeles near the Staples Center. She has represented both lenders and borrowers in real property-secured and unsecured financings and workouts.
Ms. Pum has written various articles, including an article published in The Banking Law Journal entitled “Seventh Circuit Rules Borrower is Third Party Beneficiary of Trust Agreement to Whom Indenture Trustee Owes a Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing,” and in Pratt’s Journal of Bankruptcy Law entitled “Court Explores Obligations of Non-Debtor Counter-Party Under Unassumed Executory Contract,” and has spoken to many groups, including the California Bankers’ Association where she spoke about “Bankruptcy Issues Raised by Cash Management Services.”
Ms. Pum is proud to have been named one of the “Top Southern California Lawyers” by Los Angeles Magazine and as a Southern California “Super Lawyer.” Since 2017, Ms. Pum has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® for work in Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Commercial Transactions / UCC Law, and Litigation – Bankruptcy. Ms. Pum was selected as a 2024 Women of Influence in Law by the San Diego Business Journal.
