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Michael J. Thomerson

Attorney

Michael Thomerson is the founder and manager of The Thomerson Law Firm P.C.  Michael primarily represents and advises health care providers, lenders, landlords, and businesses in South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennesse. Michael also manages litigation and local counsel in these states and throughout the U.S.

Michael has over 30 years’ experience and extensive knowledge in the field of creditors’ rights.  During the Recession of 2007 – 2009, Michael handled well over a hundred commercial workouts and foreclosures.  For over 25 years, Michael has managed and handled litigation matters related to Stark and Anti-Kickback compliance for hospital systems and healthcare providers.

Practice Areas

  • Commercial Litigation
  • Corporate Law
  • Health Care
  • Creditors’ Rights
  • Collection and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments
  • Commercial Landlord and Tenant Law
  • Employment Law
  • Foreclosure
  • Injunctive Relief
  • Equitable Relief
  • Bankruptcy
  • Commercial Real Estate Workouts

Education

  • University of Alabama, History B.A., German B.A., 1989
  • University of Georgia, J.D., cum laude, 1992

Admissions

  • Georgia, 1992
  • South Carolina, 2003
  • Tennessee, 2003
  • U.S. District Courts, Georgia (Northern, Middle, and Southern)
  • U.S. District Court, South Carolina
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee
  • Court of Appeals of Georgia
  • Supreme Court of Georgia
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Representative Experience and Cases

Michael frequently represents health care providers in physician recruiting agreement, stipend agreement, and employment agreement disputes and litigation in state court and arbitration before the American Health Lawyers Association. See e.g. McKinley v. Coliseum Health Group, LLC, 308 Ga. App. 768, 708 S.E.2d 682 (2011); Mishra v. Doctors Hosp. of Augusta, LLC, No. 09-12548, 2009 WL 4366445 (11th Cir. Dec. 3, 2009).

Michael filed 40 actions against foreign entities in admiralty in federal district court and successfully collected the freights of shipper Topgallant Lines, Inc. on behalf of the lender which possessed the security interest in the freights. See e.g. Ambassador Factors v. RMS, 105 F.3d 1397 (11th Cir. 1997).

Michael represented a medical practice in Bulloch County, Georgia in litigation involving breach of contract claims, including the ownership of and access to medical records under HIPAA. With respect to that issue, Michael obtained a favorable order from the trial court, and successfully defended the order on appeal in the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court. Gerguis v. Statesboro HMA Medical Group, LLC, 331 Ga. App. 867, 772 S.E.2d 227 (2015) cert. denied July 6, 2015.

Michael represented a bank in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Georgia in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.  The firm filed a motion for relief from the automatic stays arguing that the property securing its claim was single asset real estate and that the debtor was required to make interest payments during the pendency of the bankruptcy.  The court ruled that the property fell within the definition of single asset real estate and further held that monthly interest payments on the loan were required to be made. The trustee failed to make payment of the monthly interest pursuant to the court’s order, and the firm obtained relief from the automatic stay and foreclosed on the real property that secured the loan.  SunTrust Bank v. Global One, L.L.C. (In re Global One, L.L.C.), 411 B.R. 524 (Bankr. S.D. Ga. 2009).  

Michael filed a breach of contract action against a physician in Davidson County, Tennessee and obtained summary judgment awarding all the principal, interest, and attorneys’ fees incurred in the case in the amount of $103,188.96. 

Michael successfully obtained a judgment against a physician practice in Bibb County, Georgia for breaching a lease. Thereafter, Michael filed four wage garnishments and six bank account garnishments and obtained payment in full of the debt owed to his client, plus interest and the costs associated with garnishments.

Michael successfully obtained a judgment against an Alabama physician in Davidson County, Tennessee on a breach of contract claim under Tennessee’s long-arm statute.  The physician moved to Texas shortly thereafter. The Firm located the physician and the physician’s bank account and had the account garnished. This garnishment forced the judgment debtor to pay the entire amount owed to the Firm’s client under the judgment in exchange for releasing the funds in his bank account.

After Michael successfully moved for summary judgment against a physician who breached a contract with his client, the physician appealed the order granting summary judgment and argued that parol evidence was improperly considered by the trial court in ruling on the motion.  Michael argued parol evidence is admissible at the summary judgment stage to show the parties’ construction placed on the contract and the Georgia Court of Appeals agreed, affirming the order granting summary judgment.  The Georgia Court of Appeals published the decision. McKinley v. Coliseum Health Group, LLC, 708 S.E.2d 682 (Ga. App. 2011).

Michael filed an action in Richland County, South Carolina on behalf of a corporate property management company for ejectment of a restaurant tenant and distraint based on its failure to pay past due rent, common area maintenance charges, taxes, insurance, and late fees.  Michael prosecuted the application and affidavit for ejectment, had the tenant removed from the property, foreclosed the landlord’s lien on the tenant’s property in the premises, and had the restaurant property sold at auction by the sheriff.

Michael represented a property management group and its affiliates and collected $533,000 in past due rent and related charges from 24 delinquent tenants and evicted the non-paying tenants over a period of 16 months. 

In the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Georgia in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, which included litigation over the debtor’s motion for use of cash collateral for the continued operation of the debtor’s apartment complex, Michael represented a lender. The debtor in this case owed the bank over $2 million, which was secured by real property and an assignment of leases, rents and income. The debtor and the bank were able to agree to a consent order that provided the debtor’s use of funds obtained from the rental property was restricted to the limited purpose of the operation of the rental property. Later in the case, Michael’s client assigned its rights to the debt and the property was sold. In Re: Treadwell Family Partners, L.P., United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Georgia, Case No.: 12-50890-JPS.

Professional and Civic Activities and Honors

  • 2018 Recipient, Legal Elite of the Upstate Business Litigation Attorney
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating
  • Phi Beta Kappa; Delta Phi Alpha; Phi Delta Phi. Hatton Lovejoy Scholar. Editorial Board, 1990-1991. Research and Special Projects Editor, 1991-1992, Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law.
  • “Partnerships, LLCs, and LLPs in Georgia,” Lorman Education Services, 1998–2000, Presenter.
  • “Contested Foreclosures: Practice & Procedure,” Savannah Bar Association, 2010, Presenter.

Publications

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