The economy may be slumping, but teenagers and 20-year-olds keep attending college.

That’s helped Smith, Gambrell & Russell partner Mac Young maintain a steady stream of work for his client, Place Properties LP, which develops, finances and builds housing for college students.

One recent transaction Young handled was for a new on-campus housing facility at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville. Place Enterprises Development, an affiliate of Place Properties, arranged for the sale of $100 million in tax-exempt bonds to finance the dorms. The bonds were sold by the Georgia Gwinnett College Foundation and also involved the state Board of Regents. The bond sale closed on March 23. The new dorms are expected to open in the fall of 2010, Young said.

Smith Gambrell associate Jonathan Gallant worked with Young on the transaction. Young’s liaison at Place Properties is their general counsel, Jennifer Hill. King & Spalding partner Bill Holby was bond counsel and McKenna Long & Aldridge partner Tom Lauth was underwriters counsel to Citigroup Inc.

Also last month, Young advised Place Properties on arranging a $154.6 million financing deal for the construction of off-campus housing projects across the U.S. The financing involves eight separate lenders, Young said. The facilities will be built at off-campus sites near eight different colleges, including Texas A&M University, the University of Texas-San Antonio and the University of Central Oklahoma. In addition to arranging the financing, Place is also the developer of these housing projects, Young said.

Members of the bankruptcy bar in Atlanta have repeatedly told the Deal Watch blog that most of the exciting action in restructuring these days takes place outside of bankruptcy court.

Those types of deals, however, are hard to find and even harder to report, since they typically don’t involve publicly accessible court documents. And when documents can be found, attorneys who are working on the transactions are loathe to discuss them, since their clients aren’t keen to air their dirty laundry in public.

Sometimes, though, an out-of-court restructuring will bubble to the surface. That was the case with a $17 million loan workout handled by Charles J. “Chuck” Driebe of Jonesboro. Driebe is a partner, along with his son, Charles Driebe Jr., in the firm Driebe & Driebe.

Driebe was lead counsel to Deerfield Group LLC of Hampton, Ga. Deerfield renegotiated the terms of a $17 million mortgage it held on more than 200 acres in south Fulton, Clayton and Henry counties, Driebe said. Deerfield, which was in default the loan, restructured the terms with the two lenders, Palmetto Capital Corp. and Nexity Financial Corp.’s Nexity Bank.

Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Martin partner Jimmy Paul advised Deerfield on issues related to bankruptcy law, Driebe said.

Cushing, Morris, Armbruster & Montgomery partners Mac Cushing and Parker Gilbert advised Palmetto Capital, according to court records.

Paul, Cushing and Gilbert did not return calls and emails seeking comment.

Nexity Bank was advised by McKenna Long & Aldridge partner Gary Marsh, with assistance from partner Jimmy Barkin and senior counsel Thomas Hall. Marsh declined to discuss his work for Nexity.

Like many banks, Nexity, of Birmingham, Ala., has been struggling due to the economic downturn. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the State of Alabama Banking Department issued a cease-and-desist order to Nexity this month, according to the Birmingham News.

The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy case is a gold mine for McKenna Long & Aldridge.

The Atlanta law firm on Friday asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to approve its bill for $631,156. McKenna also asked approval for $35,620 in expenses. The bill covers the period from Sept. 15 to Jan. 31.

McKenna is special counsel to Lehman on its Chapter 11 case. The law firm has represented Lehman for more than 15 years, according to a document filed in December by partner Charles Weiss. McKenna has advised Lehman on more than 230 matters, including real estate mezzanine financings, mortgage loan originations, loan workouts, creditor’s rights issues and commercial litigation.

In the Chapter 11 case, McKenna said it’s handling a variety of assignments, such as pursuing claims, representing Lehman in bankruptcy matters in other courts, analyzing loan documents and several other real estate matters.

McKenna has assigned 24 attorneys to the investment bank’s Chapter 11 case, including 19 from Atlanta. McKenna also billed for paralegals, a financial consultant, a librarian and a litigation analyst.

Partner Mark Kaufman [photo, right] submitted the highest bill, for $163,476. Kaufman billed for 286.8 hours at an hourly rate of $570. New York-based partner Christopher Graham had the highest hourly billing rate, at $700.

Other Atlanta-based McKenna lawyers working on the matter are partners David Geiger, Gary Marsh and Patrick McGeehan, senior counsel Thomas Hall and associates Summer Chandler, David Gordon and Alison Elko.

McKenna’s filings with the bankruptcy court reveal a wealth of information about the work the firm has handled for Lehman Brothers. The matters on which McKenna has advised Lehman that aren’t litigation-related include:

A $44 million mortgage loan on undeveloped land in Arizona. The loan is in a workout proceeding.

A workout loan for condominiums in Charlottesville, Va.

Sales and disputes related to a condominium homeowners’ association in Dallas.

Renegotiating the terms of a loan associated with Harbor View Hotel on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

Coordinating the foreclosure of real estate in Aspen, Colo.

When a real estate developer dropped out of a military housing project in Texas, partner Scott Rafshoon’s client stepped into the void.

Balfour Beatty Communities LLC last month closed on a $142 million deal to acquire a project to privatize housing at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. Balfour Beatty Communities will manage one phase of a project that has already been completed, according to Rafshoon. Balfour Beatty Communities will also complete the design, construction and management of a second phase at the same location. Balfour Beatty Communities acquired the project from Realm Holdings Inc. of Austin, Texas.

Realm Holdings was forced to sell its interest in the project because it was unable to obtain financing for an expansion of the project that was desired by the U.S. Air Force, Rafshoon said.

The deal was closed in spite of the “incredibly tight credit market,” Rafshoon said. They were able to close in part because the deal had the backing of the U.S. government. Although Capmark Financial Group Inc. is the primary lender, the deal also has the imprimatur of the U.S. Air Force.

It also helped that the deal closed during a narrow window of time in December when interest rates and credit spreads “tended to match up where it was financeable,” Rafshoon said.

Further, Capmark knew that Balfour Beatty Communities had a solid reputation for completing these types of projects at other U.S. military bases, he said.

Balfour Beatty Communities was formerly known as GMH Military Housing. In April, the British construction/engineering giant Balfour Beatty PLC acquired GMH Military Housing and changed its name. Rafshoon had counted GMH Military Housing as a client and has continued to represent the company under its new owner.

Balfour Beatty’s deal for GMH Military Housing came about a year after the U.K. company acquired one of GMH Military Housing’s key development partners, Centex Construction. Centex, which had been a unit of residential homebuilder Centex Corp., focuses on commercial building projects.

Rafshoon managed about a dozen McKenna attorneys on the transaction, from various practice groups including corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, tax, construction, environmental, government contracts, government affairs, real estate and real estate finance.

Kutak Rock represented Capmark. Andrews Kurth advised Realm Holdings.

Work in most areas of corporate law may be moribund, but not every segment is kaput. One active segment is venture capital investments in high-tech startups.

Consider the deal 2080 Media Inc. of Atlanta just made for a digital media company developed at Turner Broadcasting. 2080 Media of acquired PlayON! Sports from Turner last month for undisclosed terms. PlayON produces and distributes Internet broadcasts of untelevised college and high-school sports events. PlayON’s clients have included the Atlantic Coast Conference and Raycom Media.

Because of a variety of factors, tech startups actually thrive during economic downturns, said DLA Piper partner Jeffrey M. Leavitt, who was involved in the 2080 Media-PlayON Sports deal.

“Resources, like office space and salaries, are cheaper now,” Leavitt said. “Big companies are not really focused on research and development in this period. So, if you’re a startup developing some technologies, when the economy recovers, big companies will be looking to acquire the technologies they didn’t develop themselves.”

Amgen, Apple Computer and Microsoft all went through their incubation phases during economic recessions, Leavitt said.

2080 Media financed its deal for PlayON Sports partly through a $3 million fund it raised from local investors, Leavitt said. Leavitt and colleagues at DLA Piper, including associates Brian M. Gordon and S. Kiran Lingam, advised the fund’s lead investor, Imlay Investments Inc. and a second investor group, Noro-Moseley Partners. 

Another investor group, Buckhead Investment Partners, took legal advice from McKenna Long & Aldridge partner Michael J. Cochran and associate Bill C. Wainwright III.

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough partners Donna K. Lewis and Brian S. Galison and associate Hemant D. Dutta represented 2080 on the acquisition of PlayON.

One of the largest bankruptcies of the past year—that of Pilgrim’s Pride Corp.—has ensnared several Georgia companies and governments and their legal counsel.

Pilgrim’s Pride has many connections to Georgia. For one, Georgia is one of the biggest poultry-producing states. Additionally, Pilgrim’s Pride in 2007 absorbed Gold Kist, one of Georgia’s biggest chicken companies, in a $1.24 billion acquisition. Pilgrim’s Pride still markets chicken products using the Gold Kist brand.

Pilgrim’s Pride, based in Pittsburg, Texas, filed for Chapter 11 on Dec. 2 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth. The largest U.S. poultry company, outpacing Tyson Foods Inc., Pilgrim’s Pride reported $8.5 billion in yearly sales through the end of September, according to the company’s annual report. But Pilgrim’s Pride has been hammered by higher costs for corn, soybeans and other chicken feed. A glut of chicken in the marketplace and decreased consumer demand haven’t helped either.

Pilgrim’s Pride reported more than $2.7 billion in debts, according to its initial bankruptcy petition. Weil, Gotshal & Manges is lead bankruptcy counsel to Pilgrim’s Pride. Andrews Kurth is representing the official committee of unsecured creditors.

Among the Atlanta law firms and Atlanta-based attorneys involved with the bankruptcy case are:

Alston & Bird partner Jason H. Watson and associate Bess M. Parrish, representing Key Equipment Finance Inc., a unit of KeyCorp that provides lease-based financing of office equipment and machinery.

McKenna Long & Aldridge partner Daniel J. Carrigan in Washington, advising Sparks, Md.-based spices maker McCormick & Co.

Jones Day partner Jeff Ellman and associate Robbin Rahman, advising St. Louis corn miller Bunge North America Inc.

Seyfarth Shaw partner Paul Baisier and associate Shuman Sohrn, representing dry ice distributor Tomco2 Equipment Co. of Loganville, Ga.

Thompson, O’Brien, Kemp & Nasuti associate Ted Hight III, representing Norcross packaging manufacturer Rock-Tenn Co.

Wimberly Lawson Steckel Schneider Stine attorneys Jim Wimberly Jr. and James Hughes, advising Don Jackson, who has been designated as the new president and chief executive of Pilgrim’s Pride, pending bankruptcy court approval.

Other Georgia-based creditors are also involved in the case.

Bartholow & Bartholow partner Molly Bartholow in Dallas worked out a deal with Pilgrim’s Pride on behalf of her client, the consolidated city-county government of Athens-Clarke County, Ga. Pilgrim’s Pride owed Athens-Clarke County about $630,000 through Dec. 1, according to a court filing. Details of the two parties’ settlement agreement weren’t disclosed. Athens-Clarke County described itself as providing utility services to Pilgrim’s Pride. Athens-Clarke County provided water, sewer, storm-water and garbage-pickup services to Pilgrim’s Pride at the company’s two poultry processing plants in Athens, according to a document filed by Pilgrim’s Pride.

Andrew F. Emerson of Dallas is representing creditor Southeastern Export Corp., an Atlanta food exporting company owned by Zurab Lezhava. Lezhava is perhaps better known as the owner and restorer of the famous Atlanta mansion on West Paces Ferry Road known as “The Pink Palace.”

The queue of contenders for the title The Next Atlantic Station continues to grow. And of course it takes lawyers to assemble the plans to make it happen.

The latest movement comes on behalf of the city of Hapeville, which formed its first tax-allocation district (TAD) with the assistance of Hunton & Williams partner Doug Selby. The TAD encompasses the former Ford plant, which Hapeville officials and Jacoby Development Inc. want to turn into a mixed-use development. McKenna Long & Aldridge partner Sharon Gay was Jacoby’s counsel.

The TAD will allow Hapeville and Jacoby to convert the 122-acre site into places to live, work and play. The Hapeville site could also include a new public transit station. MARTA has expressed an interest in placing a stop at the Hapeville Ford plant, and the state of Georgia’s long-simmering plans for a commuter rail line south to Griffin could include a stop at the Hapeville site.

In addition to the Hapeville Ford plant, some other sites that developers think could be converted to a large collection of residences, offices and stores include the former GM plant in Doraville; Fort McPherson in south Atlanta, which is being shuttered by the Department of Defense; and Executive Park on North Druid Hills Road in DeKalb County.

Atlantic Station, which was developed by Jacoby, was built on the site of an old steel plant in midtown Atlanta. Among Atlantic Station’s many amenities are IKEA, Target and Publix stores; hotel and condo towers; restaurants and a movie theatre; and office towers that house some of Atlanta’s biggest law firms, including Arnall Golden Gregory and Burr & Forman. A third office tower, 271 17^th Street, is scheduled to open this year, and law firms also populate its tenant list. Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice and labor and employment firm Ford & Harrison plan to move to the new building.

Just thinking out loud: While some of Atlanta’s most-prestigious law firms are keen on leasing space at Atlantic Station, would they lease space in Hapeville or Doraville? If big law firms aren’t interested in office space outside of Midtown, does that leave a big hole in potential tenants for the space?

Looking to capitalize on the banking industry’s upheaval, and corresponding high rate of deal activity, Morgan Keegan & Co. acquired Atlanta boutique investment bank Burke Capital Group LLC.

McKenna Long & Aldridge partner Michael Cochran and associate Allix Magaziner advised Burke. Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz partner Robert DelPriore in Memphis advised Morgan Keegan, which is a unit of Regions Financial Corp. Terms of the sale weren’t disclosed.

Burke Capital specializes in the community banking industry, Cochran said. Founded by former Robinson-Humphrey banker Jon Burke in 1995, Burke Capital has been active in recent weeks advising clients on the U.S. Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) program and on acquisitions.

“For community banks, the TARP money only goes so far. A lot of these banks still might have to raise additional capital,” Cochran said. “It’s going to be a really active industry.”

Burke Capital’s clients have included Merchants and Farmers Bank in Comer, Ga.; Citizens Financial Services Inc. in Greensboro, Ga.; and Allied Bankshares Inc. of Cumming, Ga.

Cochran said he hopes to continue to do work for Burke Capital, noting that McKenna Long & Aldridge already has a relationship with Regions Bank.

Lawyers from Hartman, Simons, Spielman & Wood and Sutherland are the legal advisers on the bankruptcy court-approved sale of a Georgia natural gas marketer.

Sutherland partners Tom Byrne and Knox Dobbins advised MXenergy Inc. on its agreement to acquire Catalyst Natural Gas LLC for about $2 million. Hartman Simons partners Sam Arden and Joe DeLisle were counsel to Catalyst on the deal. The sale has received approval from U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Joyce Bihary and from the Georgia Public Service Commission.

Catalyst, of Atlanta, filed for Chapter 11 protection on Oct. 1 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Catalyst was a natural-gas marketing company that had served 34,000 customers in Georgia. MXenergy, of Stamford, Conn., provides natural gas and electricity in the U.S. and Canada.

In addition to the sales agreement, a host of Atlanta-area attorneys are advising clients in the Catalyst bankruptcy proceedings.

Jones & Walden partners Leon Jones and Denise Dotson are bankruptcy counsel to Catalyst, while Powell Goldstein partner Robert Mercer is legal counsel to the official committee of unsecured creditors to Catalyst.

Cohen Pollock Merlin & Small partner Gus Small is representing interested party Gas South LLC, which said in a court filing that it estimates that it’s owed about $1.5 million by either Atlanta Gas Light or by Catalyst. That debt is a result of Catalyst under-supplying the natural gas system shared by the state’s gas-marketing companies, Small wrote in a court filing on behalf of natural-gas marketer Gas South.

McKenna Long & Aldridge partners Gary Marsh and Craig Dowdy and associate David Gordon are counsel to creditor Atlanta Gas Light Co.

Rogers & Hardin partners Kimberly Myers, Tony Powers and Robert Remar are representing creditor Georgia Natural Gas, a unit of SouthStar Energy Services.

King & Spalding partner Paul Ferdinands is counsel to creditor SCANA Corp.

Morris, Manning & Martin partners Becky Patrick and David Rabin are counsel to Infinite Energy Inc. on litigation it filed against Catalyst. Hartman Simons partner David L. Pardue is defending Catalyst in the Infinite Energy litigation.

Scroggins & Williamson partners Robert Williamson and Hayden Kepner are counsel to interested party Constellation Energy Commodities Group Inc. McDermott Will & Emery partners Nathan Coco in Chicago and Robert Stephens in Houston are also advising Constellation Energy.

In the hunt for renewable source materials to make biofuels, researchers are leaving no stone unturned. Everything from green algae to switchgrass to corn stalks is being studied for its potential as a commercially viable fuel.

Another potential source material is grease, which is what drove a recent deal made by a McKenna Long & Aldridge client.

American Proteins Inc. in Aug. sold three facilities in Georgia that collect used cooking oil from restaurants and turn it into yellow grease. The assets were acquired for an undisclosed price by Darling International Inc. of Irving, Texas.

While traditionally used for animal feed, yellow grease can also be used to make biofuels, said McKenna partner Jeremy Silverman. Consequently, the market for yellow grease has risen dramatically in the past year, he said.

Silverman was lead corporate counsel to American Proteins, along with associates Trey Wainwright, Doug Eingurt and Stacey Robinson. McKenna has been a legal advisor to American Proteins since 1982, Silverman said. Weil, Gotshal & Manges advised Darling.

American Proteins, of Cumming, is the largest U.S. processor of poultry by-products. Darling collects and recycles animal by-products and used cooking oil from restaurants, butchers and grocery stores and then re-sells tallow and meat, bone and blood meal. Darling also provides grease trap cleaning services.