At the heart of my approach to serving clients is a simple philosophy: the client always comes first. I am passionate about working tirelessly to help my clients achieve their goals. I firmly believe that collaboration is key to success, and I work closely with my clients from the outset to develop thoughtful, strategic plans that will guide our work together.
Joshua Lesser is experienced in representing a wide range of clients, including financial institutions, businesses, and individuals in a variety of litigation and transactional matters. With a background in commercial litigation and bankruptcy, he brings valuable experience advising clients in banking, finance, capital markets, energy, entertainment, commercial real estate, retail, and hospitality industries, among others. He approaches each matter from the standpoint of service and advocates for the client’s best interest in a result-oriented and cost-effective manner.
Josh earned his J.D. with honors from Tulane University Law School. During Law School, he was selected for a competitive internship with Valero Energy Corporation, the world’s largest refiner of petrochemical products. After law school, Josh was selected for a highly competitive federal clerkship for the Honorable Samuel S. Sheldon in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Outside of working with his clients, Josh serves his community through pro bono practice and volunteer work. He is a regular volunteer at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ free VA Legal Clinics for the retired and active-duty servicemen and servicewomen of his country. During law school, Josh undertook two pro bono legal externships for the Gulf Restoration Network and the Animal Legal Defense Fund.
Education
Bar Admissions
Court Admissions
Community Involvement
- Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow
- State Bar of Texas Pro Bono College, Inductee
- United States Department of Veteran Affairs, VA Legal Clinic, Pro Bono Volunteer
Areas of Practice
Acknowledgements
- Best Lawyers® Ones to Watch – Banking and Finance Law, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization, Commercial Litigation, 2022, 2023, 2024
- Texas Rising Stars® (by Thomson Reuters) Business Litigation, Banking, 2022, 2023
Professional Affiliations & Memberships
- State Bar of Texas, Bankruptcy Section, Young Lawyers Committee, Vice Chair
- Turnaround Management Association, NextGen Board Director
- State Bar of Texas, Tax Section, Member
- State Bar of Texas, Consumer & Commercial Law Section, Member
- State Bar of Texas, Corporate Counsel Section, Member
- Houston Bar Association, Member
- American Bankruptcy Institute, Restructuring Committee, Member
- Louisiana State Bar Association, Member
Related Knowledge
News
- In 2022, successfully closed more than $100MM in term loans and lines of credit for real estate development projects.
- In 2022, achieved outright dismissal of claims for breach of contract involving the earn-out component of a Stock-Purchase Agreement.
- In 2022, successfully helped a lender achieve outright dismissal of claims involving federal securities and privacy law and state-law breach of contract and other related state-law claims involving real-property financing.
- In 2021, successfully negotiated a full settlement of claims and increased ownership percentage for a high-net-worth-individual client through an out-of-court corporate reorganization of an established electric-vehicle company, securing favorable concessions valued at $2MM.
- In 2021, secured full recovery of collateral for creditor-client through dispositive motions practice in two separate cases involving federal maritime liens.
- In 2019, accomplished the consensual de-leveraging of $8.1M from debtors’ balance sheet and $3.4M in cure-claim forgiveness as debtors’ counsel in complex chapter 11 restructuring of E&P proppant supplier. Also pursued claims in adversary proceedings on behalf of debtors to recover on state-law claims.
- In 2019, successfully negotiated full pre-confirmation recovery of claim, plus contract renewal after drafting and filing lift-stay motion as first chair creditor’s counsel in chapter 11 restructuring.
- In 2019, successfully defended commercial clients by achieving outright dismissal on a contested motion for summary judgment.
- In 2018, successfully defended commercial clients by achieving outright dismissal on contested motions for summary judgment in three separate lawsuits.
- In 2017, successfully defended commercial clients by achieving outright dismissal on a contested motion for summary judgment.
- LTL: Third Circuit Dismisses J&J Subsidiary Bankruptcy, Citing Lack of Financial Distress American Bankruptcy Institute ABI Journal:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/abi-org-corp/journals/feature1_07-23.pdf. - LTL Management: “Not a Case of Too Big to Fail … a Case of Too Much Value to Be Wasted” American Bankruptcy Institute ABI Journal: https://s3.amazonaws.com/abi-org-corp/journals/blocks_05-22.pdf.
- Liquidations and C Reorganizations Through the Prism of the IRS 2021 Audit of Bausch Health’s 2017 Granite Trust Transaction, American Bar Association ABA Tax Times:
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/taxation/publications/abataxtimes_home/22winspr/22winspr-prp-lesser-liquidations/. - Fifth Circuit Clarifies Scope of Permissible Compensation of Estate Professionals Under 11 U.S.C. § 330(a), American Bankruptcy Institute Ethics and Professional Compensation Committee:
https://www.abi.org/committee-post/fifth-circuit-clarifies-scope-of-permissible-compensation-of-estate-professionals. - A Categorical Review of Abuses: From Civil Bad Faith to Criminal Bankruptcy Fraud, America Bankruptcy Institute ABI Journal: https://s3.amazonaws.com/abi-org-corp/journals/feature1_03-22.pdf.
- CFPB’s New-and-Improved Reg F Provides Opportunities for Lenders to Protect Down-the-Line Debt Purchasers, State Bar of Texas Consumer & Commercial Law Journal: http://texasbar.informz.net/texasbar/data/images/Winter2021%20v2.pdf.
- Much Ado About Nothing: Hunstein’s Three Trips to the Eleventh Circuit Did Not Clarify Whether the FDCPA is a Financial Privacy Statute, ABA Business Law Today:
https://businesslawtoday.org/2022/11/hunstein-three-trips-eleventh-circuit-did-not-clarify-whether-fdcpa-is-financial-privacy-statute/. - 3rd Try at FDCPA Suit Fails to Resolve Central Question, Law360:
https://www.law360.com/articles/1553889.