Danial D. Pharris
Principal
Practice Emphasis
For 38 years Dan Pharris has been a business attorney with Lasher’s Commercial Litigation Group and Trusts and Estates Litigation Group. He chairs the Creditors’ Rights and Bankruptcy Practice Group. He regularly represents businesses, creditors, debtors, and receivers and also serves as a receiver.
Dan acts as general counsel for clients that range from national and regional businesses and financial institutions but are also often business investors, closely held corporations, LLCs, owners and co-owners, including family members in trust and probate cases and divorces involving disputed businesses and assets.
Business Disputes And Trial Work
Dan has represented clients in thousands of lawsuits, mediations, arbitrations and negotiated settlements and workouts since the 1980’s. Dan handles a wide variety of business matters including ownership disputes, contract disputes, breach of warranty, breach of fiduciary duties, illegal distributions, piercing the corporate veil, voiding fraudulent or other transfers and improper transactions, and many disputes that may involve a fund of money or other property, business breakups, wind downs, dissolutions and liquidations.
Creditors’ Rights
Dan represents lenders, landlords, business sellers, equipment and trade vendors, service providers, and all aspects of creditors’ rights and bankruptcy matters in state and federal courts including trials. He represents parties in collection and execution on judgments, workouts, secured transactions including foreclosures against real and personal property and businesses, repossessions, injunctions, pre-judgment attachments, lien and bond claims, fraudulent transfers, piercing the corporate and LLC veil.
Receiverships
Dan regularly represents business creditors, debtors, owners, receivers, and has been appointed as a receiver, in over 50 receivership cases dating back to the 1980’s to wind down, liquidate and dissolve corporations, LLCs and trusts, to distribute the proceeds to owners and creditors. These cases have involved virtually all industries and types of businesses including real estate development projects, start-up technology businesses, companies subject to mass tort claims, restaurants, mini-storage facilities, seafood processing, manufacturing, distribution and sales of products, construction, professional services and more.
Bankruptcy
Since the 1980’s Dan has represented creditors, creditors committees, trustees, debtors, owners and others in thousands of chapter 7, 9, 11 and 13 bankruptcy cases. He handles all aspects of bankruptcy cases including complex litigation, negotiations, administration and confirmation of Plans of Reorganization.
Representative Business Lawsuits And Receivership Cases
- Represented court-appointed receiver of a business in a lawsuit to recover fraudulent transfers, breaches of fiduciary duties and breaches of contract. After a month-long trial, Dan’s client was awarded a $48 million judgment.
- Represented one of several business owners in a state court lawsuit that involved a 48 unit apartment project with ground floor retail, and resulted in a 7 day trial. Dan’s client was awarded judgment against the other owners for breach of fiduciary duties, fraudulent transfers, to quiet title, injunctive relief, appointment of a receiver to wind down and dissolve the LLC, and to sell all of the LLC assets that were applied to pay the client’s judgment.
- Represented the owner of a chain of businesses wrongfully placed into receivership and after a 5 day trial in federal court successfully obtained dismissal of a $2 million fraudulent transfer lawsuit.
- Acted as a receiver as part of a settlement of a probate estate to wind down and dissolve trusts, LLCs and corporations, liquidate real and personal property and distribute the proceeds to owners and other creditors and parties in interest.
- Successfully defended business owners against a $2 million lawsuit for alleged breach of joint venture and partnership agreements, and fraudulent transfers, which was dismissed after a 5 day trial.
- Represented trustees of trusts in ancillary receivership proceedings to wind down, dissolve, liquidate and distribute assets.
- Represented a trustee as a plaintiff in a breach of contract/breach of warranty case involving defective steel supplied to a commercial dam construction project that resulted in a multi-million dollar award after a 30 day jury trial in US District Court.
- Represented a trustee in a lawsuit against the former CEO to recover funds allegedly embezzled from the sale of commercial aircraft. Worked with London and Geneva counsel to obtain discovery and trace funds through London and Zurich bank accounts.
- Represented business owners in a $50 million lawsuit by a trustee suing for alleged fraudulent transfers and leveraged buyout that resulted in a favorable settlement.
- Represented the receiver in a corporate receivership involving mass tort personal injury wrongful death claims and complex insurance coverage issues.
- Represented a seafood processor in receivership proceedings involving sale of the business, negotiations with landlords and other creditors.
- Acted as receiver or attorney for receiver in numerous multi-family and commercial real estate projects.
- Represented lender in multiple receivership proceedings for failed real estate projects, sale of projects, and lawsuits against guarantors.
- Represent multiple business owners in lawsuits with co-owners for wind-down and receivership.
- Represented beneficiaries of trusts in lawsuits for fraud and breach of fiduciary duties and related bankruptcy court proceedings.
- Represent multiple commercial businesses in breach of contract claims with customers and related lien foreclosures, construction disputes and related bankruptcies.
- Represented lenders in lawsuits to enforce multi-million dollar loans including obtaining judgments, post-judgment receiverships for various entities and collection in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
Representative Bankruptcy Proceedings
- Obtained Bankruptcy Court approval of a Debtor’s Plan of Reorganization in the first asbestos related Chapter 11 case in the Northwest including a Johns Mansville-type personal injury trust and mass tort channeling injunction.
- Represented a group of creditors to defeat the reorganization plan of cable television operating company and its subsidiaries and obtained court approval of a Creditor’s Plan of Reorganization. All creditors were paid in full.
- Represented the creditors committee in an Alaska based on-shore fish processor chapter 11. Confirmed a Plan of Reorganization on behalf of the Creditors Committee and successfully subordinated tens of millions claimed by insiders.
- Represented the Creditors Committee in a case involving an insolvent escrow and recovered creditors trust funds embezzled from their accounts.
- Confirmed a Plan of Reorganization on behalf of an owner of a restaurant chain, with full payment to all creditors.
- Confirmed Plans of Reorganization and cram down interest rates to refinance multiple apartment and commercial real estate projects.
- Confirmed Plan of Reorganization for home builder and to satisfy all creditors and discharge all debt including 10 different lenders that financed hundreds of homes and lots in multiple housing tracts.
- Confirmed Plan of Reorganization involving owner of several different multi-family apartment and condominium projects in addition to office buildings and other mixed use commercial real estate operations and refinance/restructuring of all debt.
- Confirmed Plan of Reorganization for heavy construction equipment dealer.
- Obtained $2 million judgment in bankruptcy court lawsuit against trustee for fraud and breach of fiduciary duties.
- Successfully petitioned the court to remove a number of businesses in state court proceedings into bankruptcy including a national retailer.
Education
- Bachelor of Arts, 1978, Western Washington University
- Juris Doctor, 1983, Seattle University School of Law
Publications
- Using Receivership in a Variety of Business Disputes, King County Bar Association
- Creditors Should Consider the Impacts of Bankruptcy, Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce
- Single Asset Real Estate Bankruptcy Cases, King County Bar Association
Presentations
- “Landlord-Tenant Law: Rapid-Fire Updates,” National Business Institute, October 2021
- “Leases, Evictions and More: Landlord-Tenant Law 2021,” National Business Institute, February 2021
- “Landlord-Tenant Law: When a Tenant Files Bankruptcy/Receivership,” National Business Institute, December 2018
- “Preferences and Fraudulent Transfers,” National Business Institute, August 2015
- “Credit and Bankruptcy Issues,” National Business Institute, August 2014
- “Creditor Remedies Available in Bankruptcy,” National Business Institute, December 2013
- “Top 6 Complications in Bankruptcy,” National Business Institute, August 2013
- “Fundamentals of Landlord-Tenant Law,” Sterling Education Services, July 2013
- “Bankruptcy and Debtor-Creditor Law,” King County Bar Association Continuing Legal Education, April 2013
- “Collections and FDCPA Compliance,” National Business Institute, December 2012
- “Bankruptcy Litigation 101,” National Business Institute, March 2012
- “Effective Creditor Representation in Bankruptcy,” National Business Institute, 2011
- “Uniform Commercial Code: Article 9,” Sterling Education, 2011
- “Seeking and Collecting a Judgment,” National Business Institute, 2011
- “Bankruptcy’s Implication in Collection,” National Business Institute, 2011
- “Nuts and Bolts of Collection,” National Business Institute, 2011
- “Real Estate Loans and Workouts,” National Business Institute, 2010
- “Landlord/Tenant Law in Bankruptcy,” Sterling Education, 2009
- “Real Estate Workouts,” National Business Institute, 2007
- “Washington State Receiverships,” King County Bar Association, 2005
- “Aligning Your Practice with the BAPCPA Bankruptcy Amendments of 2005,” National Business Institute
- “Bankruptcy Reform Update—One Year Later,” National Business Institute
- “The 2004 Washington State Receivership Act,” King County Bar Association
- “Advanced Real Estate Law: Credit and Bankruptcy Issues,” National Business Institute
- “Landlord-Tenant Law Update,” Sterling Education Services
- “Collection Law from Start to Finish,” National Business Institute
- “Effective Commercial Foreclosure Strategies,” National Business Institute
- “Loan Workouts and Receiverships,” National Business Institute
- “Single Asset Real Estate Bankruptcy Cases,” King County Bar Association
- “Advising the Financially Troubled Business,” Washington State Bar Association
- “Introduction to the Most Common Forms of Bankruptcy: Chapter 7, 11 and 13,” Eleventh Annual Pacific Northwest Bankruptcy and Credit Seminar
- “Successful Collection of Judgments in Washington,” National Business Institute
- “Construction in Bankruptcy,” King County Bar Association
- “Proposed Amendments to the Bankruptcy Code,” National Association of Credit Management National Convention
- “Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: Compliance for the Washington Practitioner,” National Business Institute
- “Creditors’ Rights and Protection of Security Interests In Bankruptcy,” Sterling Education Services
Professional & Civic
Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent (highest) rating
Named Super Lawyer by Washington Law & Politics and Washington Super Lawyers magazines, 2007–2011, 2022, 2023
American Bar Association, Corporation, Banking and Business Law Section
Federal Bar Association, Bankruptcy Practice Committee
King County Bar Association Bankruptcy Section
Washington State Bar Association Creditor-Debtor and Real Property Trust and Probate Section
American Bankruptcy Institute
National Association of Credit Management
Dan is a regular speaker for a number of professional organizations including Washington State Bar Association, Washington Society of CPA’s, the National Association of Credit Management and other organizations.
