Phone: 251-414-7779
Email: Jason R. Watkins ›
Jay Watkins, one of the founding partners of O’Hara Watkins, has been practicing in Alabama courts for over 20 years. During this time, Mr. Watkins has represented a variety of businesses from banks, manufacturers and small mom and pop businesses, in litigation, trials and arbitration. Whatever the case may be, in every case, Jay starts by identifying the legal issues involved and implementing a strategy for resolution. Ultimately, the facts direct any legal strategy, but with Jay’s trial and litigation experience, he can provide clients with a quick legal roadmap of the dispute which allows them to react immediately and appropriately.
Although representing creditors and insurers has been Mr. Watkins’ primary focus, in his legal career he has represented a variety of clients including airplane and trucking companies, product manufacturers, builders, and restaurant owners. Mr. Watkins has tried several cases to verdict before various courts in Alabama. Recently, he represented various financial institutions in offensive litigation where the banks recovered funds that were fraudulently transferred to avoid the reach of creditors. Mr. Watkins’ last two jury trials included defending a national bank in a lender liability lawsuit and a regional trucking company in a negligent/wantonness lawsuit. In one case, he obtained summary judgment on behalf of a national insurance company in an intentional interference lawsuit.
Mr. Watkins handles all aspects of bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, including workouts, fraudulent conveyance actions, alter-ego claims, corporate veil piercing, and post-judgment collection. He has recovered several six-figure judgments or settlements for various creditors. On any given week, Jay is usually involved in some aspect of bankruptcy litigation, from the large chapter 11, with related adversary proceedings to the routine consumer case. He routinely counsels large and small banks concerning workouts and loan restructuring and advises creditors in bankruptcy cases regarding preference actions, administrative expenses, executory contracts, and the automatic stay. He has handled a multi-million dollar “stalking horse” asset purchase of a debtor trucking company which helped the new entity obtain the assets free and clear from creditors. He has worked on various unsecured creditor committees and was involved in a Chapter 9 municipality bankruptcy, one of few in the state of Alabama. Mr. Watkins frequently counsels businesses who may need to restructure debt to stay in business.
Mr. Watkins is a graduate of The University of Alabama School of Law where he won various writing awards and began his career as a federal law clerk for Chief Judge Randolph Baxter, United States Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of Ohio.
He maintains a diverse portfolio of cases, including:
Mr. Watkins regularly writes and speaks on current legal events. He recently authored a chapter in DRI’s A Compendium of Federal Consumer Credit Protection Statutes for the Financial Services Litigator and In-House Counsel Defense Research Institute, Commercial Litigation Section, fall 2015, an accumulation and analysis of the federal statutes that may be raised in consumer credit litigation. It is intended to be a comprehensive source of information for in-house and outside counsel who practice in the financial services area. Mr. Watkins is also an active member of the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association (ADLA), an organization of over 1000 attorneys dedicated to the defense of civil actions and the promotion of fairness and integrity in the civil justice system. He has served as a faculty member for the ADLA Trial Academy for the last 3 years.
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Senior Editor, Law & Psychology Review; National Bankruptcy Moot Court Team, Judge Conrad Duberstein Award for Best Brief; John A. Campbell Moot Court Board, Judge Walter P. Gewin Award for Best Brief; Bench and Bar Legal Honor Society
Vice President, Order of Omega