Attorney Profile

Gene B. Tarr Shareholder and Board Certified Specialist in Business Bankruptcy Law Phone: (336) 293-9000 Fax: (336) 293-9030 Email: vCard:

Gene Tarr is the third most senior shareholder in the firm and a member of the Management Committee. He is board certified in business bankruptcy law by the American Board of Certification, and he is certified by the North Carolina State Bar as a specialist in business bankruptcy law. He joined Blanco Tackabery upon graduation from law school in 1983, after serving as the administrator of a 120-bed health care facility throughout the 1970's. He was appointed by Governor Martin to the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators from 1992-1994.

Gene is Chair of the firm's Litigation Group and leads the firm's Bankruptcy, Insolvency and Collections Practice Group. His practice is concentrated in commercial bankruptcy and insolvency, creditors' rights, preference defense, workouts, non-bankruptcy alternatives, collection matters and state court insolvency proceedings. Representation includes banks, trade vendors, reclamation creditors, preference defendants, bankruptcy trustees, lessors, lessees, and creditors' committees. He also represents Chapter 11 debtors-in-possession, partners, shareholders, and others. He has been involved in bankruptcy matters in Virginia, Delaware, Nevada, Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee and other states, as well as in each district in North Carolina. Among other cases, he is involved in:

• Movie Gallery, Inc., et. al. – Eastern District, Virginia
• Interstate Bakeries, Inc., et. al. (Merita, Hostess, Wonderbread, etc.) – Western District, Missouri
• Radnor Holdings Corporation, et al. – District of Delaware
• DBSI, Inc. – District of Delaware
• Commissary Operations, Inc. – Middle District, Tennessee

Along with George Hollodick, he was lead counsel for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of subsidiaries of Integrated Health Services, Inc., a publicly owned healthcare company, in their Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in Delaware. He has represented creditors, reclamation claimants, landlords, and/or preference defendants in several large bankruptcy cases, including Winn Dixie Stores, Inc., Fleming Companies, Inc., Kmart Corporation, Parmalat USA Corp., Radnor Holdings Corporation, Meridian Automotive Systems-Composites Operations, Inc., Dan River, Inc., and EBCI, Inc., f/k/a eToys, Inc.

Gene has spoken at numerous seminars for attorneys, trade associations, creditors, and others. He is very active with the North Carolina Bar Association, currently serving on the North Carolina Bar Association Foundation Endowment Committee for the 2008-2009 fiscal year. He has also served as Chair of the Bankruptcy Section (2007-2008), Vice-Chair of the Section (2006-2007), Treasurer (1993-1995), and Middle District Delegate (1996-1999). In addition, Gene is a member of the American (Section of Business Law), Forsyth and Yadkin County Bar Associations. He is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and on the Board of Directors of the Triad Chapter of the Risk Management Association. He is also a member of the Turnaround Management Association. He was recognized by North Carolina Super Lawyers in the area of Bankruptcy for the years 2006-2009, was elected to Business North Carolina magazine's Legal Elite for 2007 and 2008, and was selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2009 edition of The Best Lawyers in America © in the field of Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law (Copyright 2008 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.).