PRACTICE AREAS
ASSET RESEARCH AND RECOVERY
Our experience has given us specialized knowledge about identifying, locating, and recovering assets, including assets that a debtor has made efforts to hide, transfer, or otherwise protect from creditors.
BANKRUPTCY
We represent creditors and trustees in contested bankruptcy matters, including suits to challenge discharge or dischargeability, avoidance and preference actions, and fraudulent transfer litigation. Among the creditors we represent in bankruptcy are banks and other lenders, landlords, material suppliers, design professionals, contractors, and construction trades.
COMMERCIAL COLLECTIONS AND WORKOUTS
We represent banks and other lenders, construction suppliers, subcontractors, contractors, and other businesses in collecting money owed, negotiating workouts, and recovering or liquidating collateral, including real estate and equipment.
CONSTRUCTION LIENS AND BOND CLAIMS
We represent design professionals, suppliers, equipment companies, and building trades in getting paid, including by exercise of lien rights. We have not only filed dozens of liens but actually sold property to collect.
FRAUD RECOVERY
We have substantial experience with recovering for the victims of fraud, embezzlement, and employee theft, both through insurance and pursuit of the perpetrator and other beneficiaries.
JUDGMENT ENFORCEMENT
Modern technology has drastically improved the odds of collecting judgments against individuals and small companies. In particular, electronic public records make it much easier to locate debtors and identify potential assets. Mr. Mays has made six-figure recoveries on judgments in many cases, and has done that by pursuing a wide range of assets types – often outside of North Carolina.
RECEIVERSHIPS
Where appropriate and economical, we have the knowledge and experience to put a debtor or property into receivership, or to serve as receiver.
VOIDABLE AND FRAUDULENT TRANSFER LITIGATION
Often, the key to bringing a debtor to the table is catching a voidable transfer of a valuable asset. Modern electronic records make it much easier to find those transfers. We have collected money for clients by pursuing assets transferred to family members, trusts, and foreign companies.
Robert A. Mays
Experience
Before founding The Mays Law Firm in 2018, Rob Mays was a shareholder at the largest law firm headquartered in Asheville. Prior to returning to North Carolina in 2010, he practiced for five years in the Washington, D.C. office of an international law firm. He started his career as a law clerk for the Honorable Gerald B. Tjoflat, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Mr. Mays has litigated a wide range of matters in federal and state courts. He has briefed cases for the U.S. Supreme Court and both state and federal appellate courts. In 2017, he briefed and argued a case to the North Carolina Supreme Court and obtained a decision that should benefit North Carolina’s banks and credit unions for decades to come.
In addition to his private practice, Rob serves as a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee. Rob serves on the Bankruptcy Council of the North Carolina Bar Association, and on the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Creditors Bar Association. He was named to Business North Carolina’s “Legal Elite” for Bankruptcy in 2018 and 2020, and named as a “Super Lawyer” for Creditor-Debtor Rights in 2019 and 2020.
Education
Rob graduated with honors from Duke University School of Law, where he was Editor-In-Chief of Duke’s oldest law journal, and simultaneously earned a graduate degree in public policy.
Admissions
Rob is admitted to practice before all state and federal courts in North Carolina, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He maintains his membership in the District of Columbia Bar and has been admitted pro hac vice to federal courts in several states.
PRINCIPLES
PRINCIPLES
Attorneys are fiduciaries for their clients, and we take that role very seriously.
WE WILL:
- Look for the most efficient, practical solution to every problem.
- Give individual attention to every file.
- Put our clients’ interests above our own bottom line.
- Strive to be absolutely transparent, accurate, and fair in billing, with an emphasis on avoiding surprises.
WE WILL NEVER:
- Do work that we know to be unnecessary or uneconomical.
- Charge for unnecessarily duplicated effort.
- Portray a simple matter as complex to justify delays or large fees.
- Take on more work than we can competently handle.
DEBT COLLECTION POLICY
The Mays Law Firm collects debts voluntarily incurred by competent adults – mostly sophisticated businesspeople. As a policy, we do not collect “payday” loans, high-interest auto loans, private educational loans, or debts arising from non-elective medical procedures. We are happy to make a referral if you hold one of these types of debts.
We are a boutique firm focusing on commercial debts; difficult, high-value consumer and private debts; fraud recovery; contested bankruptcy matters; and the enforcement of substantial judgments. We are not a high-volume “collection” firm. Large debts owed by more sophisticated, strategic debtors require a more sophisticated, strategic approach. This is our area of focus. Think of us as collectors of “white collar” debt.
We provide sophisticated representation for high-stakes matters, without the extraordinary rates charged by large firms.
Our work sometimes requires us to pursue assets located outside of North Carolina. We often employ specialized procedures many attorneys never encounter – pre-judgment attachment and levy, charging orders, receiverships, orders restricting the transfer of assets, and others. At times, we have to pursue third-parties – for example, a trust or a family member who has benefited from voidable transfers. These types of procedures require substantial direct attention from a competent attorney, and are unfamiliar to many attorneys who market themselves as “collection” attorneys.
Some creditors will send routine collection matters to smaller law firms, and send large troubled assets to large firms in major cities. We provide a third option: sophisticated representation for high-stakes matters, without the extraordinary rates charged by large firms.
HOW WE ARE DIFFERENT
FOR REFERRING ATTORNEYS
If you are an attorney who has a substantial judgment that you lack either the time or experience to collect, call for a consultation. If you are looking to hand the matter over so you can get back to your regular practice, we may be able to oblige. On the other hand, if you want to continue to be involved and to interface directly with the client, we will accommodate and respect those wishes.
Some clients are unwilling or unable to pursue what may be a dead end. Alternative fee arrangements are available in appropriate cases. Fee-splitting arrangements are available when consistent with the Rules of Professional Conduct.