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Meet Our Professionals

Kiah T. "Chip" Ford IV

Partner
Financial Restructuring & Insolvency Group Leader
Charlotte | 704.335.9840
Fax | 704.334.4706

Chip Ford has 30 years of experience representing institutional lenders, debt funds, and other creditors in all aspects of commercial debt collection and loss mitigation, including loan restructuring, bankruptcy, and litigation to enforce remedies such as foreclosure and receivership. His clients include national and regional banks, commercial mortgage servicers, and purchasers of distressed debt.

Chip also advises and represents clients from a wide range of industries on all aspects of the bankruptcy process, including the purchase and sale of assets under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, Chapter 11 plan confirmation, the assumption and rejection of commercial leases and executory contracts, and the defense of preference and fraudulent transfer claims. He has completed the American Bankruptcy Institute and St. John University School of Law bankruptcy mediation training, a 40-hour program run by leaders in the fields of bankruptcy and alternative dispute resolution.

Chip also represents clients in the purchase and sale of commercial real estate in distressed and non-distressed settings. Chip’s clients and peers consistently rank him among the leading lawyers in North Carolina.

Chip serves as the practice leader for Parker Poe's Financial Restructuring & Insolvency Group.

Representative Experience

  • Represented commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) special servicers in the resolution of hundreds of millions of dollars in distressed conduit loans secured by hotels, retail centers, mixed-use developments, industrial facilities, and apartment projects.
  • Represented national and regional banks in the resolution of hundreds of millions of dollars in distressed commercial real estate and commercial and industrial (C&I) loans.
  • Served as lead counsel to a national automotive retail chain in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases of General Motors and Chrysler.
  • Served as lead counsel to a national utility service provider in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of Lehman Brothers.
  • Represented a major overseas supplier to Sears in the defense of a $26 million preference claim.
  • Speaks regularly on topics related to the resolution of distressed commercial real estate assets and litigation to enforce creditors’ rights.

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Honors & Awards

  • The Best Lawyers in America in Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, 2012-2025; Bankruptcy Litigation, 2013-2025
  • Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers in Bankruptcy/Restructuring, 2008-2024
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent™ in Bankruptcy; Reorganization & Creditors' Rights; Commercial Foreclosure & Receivership; Financial Restructuring; Litigation
  • Business North Carolina magazine’s “Legal Elite” in Bankruptcy, 2010
  • North Carolina Super Lawyers Rising Star, 2009

Memberships

  • Mecklenburg County Bar Leadership Institute, Class of 2004
  • American Bankruptcy Institute, Member