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18 In her role with the Padgett Law Group (PLG), Keena Newmark leads the firm's bankruptcy practice, the practice's national unit, related bankruptcy litigation, and oversees the firm's expansion into Texas. She is based out of PLG's Dallas, Texas, office. Newmark has dedicated her career to the representation and advocacy of automotive and residential mortgage servicers and lenders. Her practice areas of expertise include bankruptcy law, bankruptcy litigation, and general creditors rights' practice. roughout her career, Newmark has worked alongside numerous national mortgage servicers to advise on the federal and state laws impacting bankruptcy, litigation, and other areas of the default servicing industry. As a leader, Newmark employs a client-centric approach to provide strategic solutions to complex legal matters. Most recently, she has been focusing on implementing and improv- ing servicing processes and procedures with a particular focus on individual consumer and commercial filings. Newmark is uniquely experienced in legal and operations with specific experience in bankruptcy, bankruptcy litigation, and general creditors' rights practice. Before joining PLG, she held various operational leadership and attorney management roles at two large national bankruptcy practices. Her experience has afforded her a deep understanding of the challenges many creditors face while servicing an active bankruptcy. How does the current low-level environment for foreclosures and delinquencies translate into the bankruptcy world? Do they tend to run parallel? It does have an effect because sometimes a bankruptcy is filed as a result of a borrower wanting to cure their mortgage, so there is a correlation. We have taken the current environment as an opportunity to evaluate efficiencies within our firm. Are the right people in the proper roles? Can we make processes that are manual more systemic? It's about enhancing the experience for our servicers. We're not only maintaining but increasing relationships during a time that most are losing volume. We haven't let the volumes take us off course from the mission, which is continuing to maintain and grow. During times of reduced volume, some firms view people as the first source of reducing costs, but what we've tried to do is examine people as part of the solution instead. We look at the subject-matter expertise of each individual and try to determine what we can offer the servicers, whether in a project context or outside of default but in a general servicing aspect. It's about shifting resources, and it's done well for us in that regard. From a bankruptcy context, it's been two-fold. We are continually growing because we're taking the holistic resources of the firm and using them to build efficiency and a better product for the servicer. Within that, there's also an examination of that particular resource for use for the servicer. So we're using that resource both internally, to develop or enhance technology or processes, and also externally to the servicer. What service have we not offered before, whether it's by project or permanent, that we now can provide because we have the subject-matter expertise to do so. As far as a relationship between default volumes and bankruptcy, the purpose of bankruptcy is securing a fresh start. ere's no time limit to when the borrower is seeking it. So whether that's a default before the point of foreclosure or an act of foreclosure, it might be the first opportunity when the borrower un- derstands that bankruptcy might be a way for them to stay within their home and cure their arrearage. From a firm perspective, we make sure that once someone has filed bankruptcy, if there is an act of foreclosure in place, we're being mindful and stopping the proceeding in the state court because of the stay. "Are the right people in the proper roles? Can we make processes that are manual more systemic? It's enhanced that experience for the servicers. We're not only maintaining but increasing relationships during a time that most are losing volume. We haven't let the volumes take us off course from the mission, which is continuing to maintain and grow." COUNSEL'S CORNER LEARNING LESSONS FROM DIVERSE COURT CASES Keena Newmark Managing Attorney of Bankruptcy Operations, Padgett Law Group