STARK FIRM - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Founding Member
- Managing Member
- Member of the SMU Parent
Erin Elizabeth Stark is the founding member of The Stark Firm and manages the firm's Atlanta office that anchors the firm's coast-to-coast presence. She has more than 24 years of experience representing national and regional banks in a broad range of commercial and consumer lending transactions. She concentrates her legal practice in commercial finance, real estate, equipment finance, commercial litigation and creditor's rights. She represents lenders in a variety of finance transactions, including all types of secured and unsecured loans, SBA transactions, lines of credit, acquisition financing and working capital loans. She also focuses her legal practice on asset based lending, specialty lending, equipment finance, commercial lending, custom lending, real estate secured transactions, commercial card, SBA lending, SBA creditor's rights, creditor's rights, contested matters in bankruptcy, regulatory related matters, work outs and complex restructuring matters, including settlements, foreclosures and note sales. She also has experience counseling financial institutions on key sustainability and ESG issues specific to its affects on the real estate sector, such as reporting and disclosure requirements, compliance with regulations, community, climate change and environmental planning.
Erin has been a frequent lecturer on commercial real estate, asset based lending, consumer and commercial lending transactions, SBA and SOP Interpretation, nationally. She has been a speaker at various conferences and seminars on commercial workouts, bankruptcy, loan restructuring, SBA, commercial real estate, Article 9 transactions, commercial litigation and other matters.
She is an active member of Women's President Organization, NAGGL, the Mortgage Bankers Association State Legislative and Regulatory Committee, Alabama and Georgia Mortgage Bankers Association Legislative and Regulatory Committee, the American Bar Association, State Bar of Alabama, State Bar of Georgia, the Atlanta Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, National Association of Women Lawyers and the Alabama, Georgia, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas Chapters of International Women in Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation. She is admitted to practice in all state courts throughout the States of Alabama and Georgia, as well as the U.S. District Court for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Alabama and Georgia.
Erin is a member of the SMU Parent Leadership Counsel, Women's President Organization Atlanta Chapter, and Chair of the NAMWOLF Banking and Finance Committee. In her pro bono work, she mentors young female lawyers and is an active supporter of Dress for Success in Atlanta and the representation of victims of human trafficking, domestic violence and pay equity. Outside of work, she is obsessed with her kids, loves Paris and Roma and everything Italian.
Erin attended Southern Methodist University (B.A.), Cumberland School of Law of Samford University (J.D.) and Harvard Business School Executive Education WPO: Leading Business and Personal Transitions.
She has more than 20 years of experience representing national and regional banks in a broad range of commercial and consumer lending transactions with a focus on real estate. Jen's practice encompasses a wide variety of government related matters including representation of clients before state and federal legislative bodies and regulatory agencies; representing public and private sector clients on land use, regulatory, and development issues; government permitting, licensing, and contracting; condemnation matters and drafting legislation and regulations for both government and non-government entities. She also has experience counseling financial institutions on key sustainability and ESG issues specific to its affects on the real estate sector, including green buildings and leases, green financing and impact investment, reporting and disclosure requirements, compliance with regulations, community, climate change and environmental planning.
Jen regularly assists clients in navigating a wide range of zoning and land use issues under local and state regulatory law and offers practical counsel for such matters and disputes. In her work representing clients before various local governing bodies, she breaks down highly technical into easy to understand explanations. This allows her to efficiently advocate for her clients and ultimately gain elected officials support of the proposal. She is admitted to practice in all state and federal courts throughout the State of Georgia.
In her pro bono work, Jen assists a variety of clients in landlord/tenant disputes and domestic violence cases through the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation. She also assists nonprofit organizations with land use and zoning matters through the Atlanta Pro Bono Partnership.
Jen graduated from Georgia State University (B.A.) and Mercer University College of Law (J.D.)
Professional and Community Involvement
State Bar of Georgia, Judicial Committee
American Bar Association, Administrative Law Practice Group
State Bar of Georgia, Administrative Law & Local Government Law Sections
Georgia Association of Women Lawyers
Member, Mercer Alumni Association
Member, Georgia State University Alumni Association
Lawyers Club of Atlanta
Buckhead Church
Junior League of Atlanta, Sustainer Board of Directors
Georgia CASA, Board of Directors
Cherokee Town & Country Club, Second Vice President, Cherokee Women's Tennis Association
Member, Tuxedo Park Civic Association Board or Directors
Atlanta Speech School, Kenan Preschool President of Parents' Council
Atlanta Speech School Guild Board of Directors, Advisor
Sea Island River Club Board of Directors
As an attorney in Florida for almost 20 years, Ms. Ehrlich has represented clients in matters including business litigation matters and has served as an advisor to various corporate entitles on various legislative and regulatory issues. Jessica has also represented national and regional banks in a broad range of commercial and consumer lending transactions. At Stark, she concentrates her legal practice on commercial finance, real estate, equipment finance, commercial litigation and creditor's rights. She represents lenders in a variety of finance transactions, including all types of secured and unsecured loans, SBA transactions, lines of credit, acquisition financing and working capital loans. She also focuses her legal practice on asset based lending, specialty lending, equipment finance, commercial lending, custom lending, real estate secured transactions, commercial card, SBA lending, SBA creditor's rights, creditor's rights, contested matters in bankruptcy, regulatory related matters, work outs and complex restructuring matters, including settlements, foreclosures and note sales. Jessica has over 20 years of experience handling a full range of commercial real estate transactions and commercial lending. She regularly represents financial institutions in permanent mortgage loan, construction loan and conduit loan transactions. Her financing experience also includes foreclosures, workouts and restructuring of existing loans.
Jessica also brings over a decade of work experience at Fortune 500 companies and in Federal and State government to her law practice and in advising clients. In New York, she worked in Investment Research at Goldman Sachs and as an attorney at Bloomberg LP where her work was regularly published. In Washington, DC, Jessica served two members of Congress as Legislative Counsel on both the House Financial Services Committee and on the House Ways and Means Committee. She worked directly on the Dodd-Frank bill as well as on housing issues; CFIUS, and Fintech issues; programs for the unbanked and underbanked; the foreclosure crises; insurance regulation; Securities oversight and regulation; and consumer banking and credit unions. Most recently, Jessica was appointed by Mayor Muriel Bowser as the Chief of Staff for the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking and routinely counsels our banking clients on both federal and state regulatory and governmental matters.
Jessica's work has been recognized by Glamour Magazine naming her a "Woman of the Year" for Women in Politics in 2012 and by the Florida Association of Women Lawyers' naming her a Leader in the Law in 2013. In addition, Jessica has appeared regularly as a legal and financial analyst in national and international media on FOX News, FOX Business, MSNBC, Sky News, CNBC Europe, Florida This Week and many others since 2014.
Ms. Ehrlich has served as an appointee on the City of St. Petersburg Development Review Commission, as a division Chair of the St. Petersburg Bar Association, as an active member of the Florida Association of Women Lawyers Pinellas Chapter, and a member of Inns of Court. She is a co-chair of the Vanderbilt University Alumni Association for her class as well as for Shorecrest Preparatory School in St. Petersburg, FL.
Ms. Ehrlich has a BA from Vanderbilt University and a JD from Southern Methodist University where she was a Dean's Merit Scholar. While in law school, Jessica was a national moot court competition winner, on Dean's List, a Master Level of the Board of Advocates, led the Foreclosure Clinic, held a fellowship in international human rights law, and was a judicial intern for Chief Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich of the U.S. District Court, Middle Florida.
Ms. Ehrlich is admitted to practice in all state courts and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Florida.
Kiyam manages the firm's New York office. Kiyam has over 20 years experience representing financial institutions in various transactions and lawsuits throughout New York. He has extensive experience representing banks and lenders in commercial litigation, creditor's rights, commercial lending, asset based lending, custom lending, SBA transactions, SBA creditor rights, large loan work outs and complex restructuring matters, including settlements, foreclosures, note sales and commercial litigation. He is admitted to practice in all state and federal courts throughout the State of New York.
Kiyam attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (BS) and Hofstra University School of Law (JD).
Bob practices primarily in the areas of corporate law and commercial litigation, government relations, financial institution law, real estate law, and tax law. In the course of his career, Mr. Nealon has represented hundreds of companies and served as general corporate counsel to many nationwide and international companies, commercial development projects, high technology companies, financial institutions, non-profit corporations, and he has also served on a wide variety of private and governmental Board of Directors. He is currently the General Counsel to the County Executives of America in Washington, D.C. which is a nationwide trade association for U.S. Counties.
In addition to the Juris Doctorate degree, he received in 1982 from the University of Bridgeport magna cum laude, Mr. Nealon also holds an MBA in finance from the Rochester Institute of Technology and an LLM in taxation from Georgetown University. Mr. Nealon is a member of the Virginia and New York State bars, and is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Tax Court, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and U.S. District Court and Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the District of Columbia and the Northern District of Texas.
Mr. Nealon was appointed by Virginia Senator Tim Kain in 2007 as Chair of the Commonwealth of Virginia Small Business Advisory Board in Richmond, Virginia where he served for four years after having been appointed previously as a member to the Board by Senator Mark Warner. He was also Chair of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution Advisory Board at George Mason University from 2012 to 2018, Chair of the Washington D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in 1987 and formerly was an Adjunct Law Professor of Business Law at George Washington University from 1987 until 2004. He is a member of the National Press Club, the Old Dominion Boat Club, as well as many other Washington, D.C. area clubs and associations. Mr. Nealon now serves as President of the Friends of the Art Museum of the Americas Board of Directors which is the museum board for the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C.
He has been active in American Democratic politics for many years including the Presidential Campaign of Hillary Clinton in 2008 and 2016. He was also a campaign advisor in the Virginia Governors Campaign for Terry McAuliffe in 2013 and 2021; as well as to many other campaigns and candidates in Democratic politics. He currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and children.
Summer manages the firm's Miami office. Summer is an experienced litigator in our Miami, Florida office who concentrates her practice on commercial litigation, creditor's rights, SBA transactions, SBA creditor's rights and commercial real estate transactions. She has extensive experience defending and advising financial institutions in state, federal and bankruptcy matters. Summer also advises and represents financial institutions in insurance coverage and related complex commercial disputes.
Summer successfully advocates for her clients throughout various stages of litigation, including drafting and responding to pleadings, handling discovery, taking and defending depositions, preparing and arguing dispositive motions, and trial preparation. Additionally, she is adept at litigation strategy and consistently achieves favorable resolutions for her clients, including court judgments and settlement outcomes.
Summer graduated summa cum laude from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Economics. Thereafter, she graduated from Emory University School of Law with her Juris Doctor. While in law school, she earned a Transactional Law Certificate, Top 10% Oralist, and was a coach and participant in Frederick Douglas Moot Court. Summer is admitted to practice in all state and federal courts throughout the State of Florida.