LIM, RUGER & KIM, LLP
LIM, RUGER & KIM, LLP
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A CEO On Why She Relies On Lim Ruger
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Interview with Joanne Kim, CEO of Wilshire State Bank “Lawyers at Lim Ruger have been proactive, which in turn helps our customers.” Q. What sets Wilshire State Bank apart from other mainstream community banks? Kim: We are managed by a very ethnically diverse management team that understands the complexities of running a business in a multicultural, dynamic business environment. We believe that this diversity in our management gives us a competitive edge in serving the needs of our customers. Not surprisingly, our customer base is as diverse as our management. |
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Q. What is your bank doing differently to deal with the current financial crisis? Kim: First, we’ve been more fortunate than others in that our underwriting policies had stayed generally conservative even in the boom days. Still, with this economic climate, we have our share of distressed assets. We try to discern which of the “bad” assets are worth working out on the front end so that we can create a win-win situation with our most loyal customers. In most cases, it is matter of working out the business and legal terms while having the borrowers provide additional collateral or guaranties in exchange for more manageable debt service plans or entering into an interim arrangement that works to the mutual benefit of the bank and its customers. |
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This is where the excellent legal advice from Lim Ruger has been very helpful for us. The lawyers that I have worked with at Lim Ruger not only guide me and my top management in making that important discernment, but are proactive in suggesting mechanisms to improve our position as a creditor, which in turn helps our customers avoid bankruptcies. Q. If the bank can’t get a satisfactory workout despite much effort, wouldn’t the bank proceed with legal action against the defaulting borrower? Kim: Yes, of course. But, litigation is always our last resort and our lawyers at Lim Ruger constantly remind us of that fact. However, if the bank should go down that path, we want decisive, strong advocates to preserve our collateral while being open-minded to creative solutions. Finding pragmatic solutions is the most cost-effective to litigate, which is why we Wilshire State Bank appreciate the litigation philosophy of Lim Ruger lawyers. Q: What is the most important quality that you’re looking for in your outside legal counsel? Kim: As a publicly held bank, we must have lawyers who are independent-minded enough to stand firm on issues looking only at the best interest of the bank’s shareholders. We are not impressed with lawyers who are eager to please the management without full appreciation of legal and business implications affecting the bank’s interest. In this respect, I have been very impressed with the lawyers at Lim Ruger. They know when and how to put their foot down. Lim Ruger is a diverse law firm, very much like our bank and our customers. Finally, a very important quality is trust—we need to be able to trust the integrity of our lawyers. We look to Lim Ruger on our most complex cases. Wilshire State Bank (NASDAQ: WIBC) is a leading community bank with over $2.5 billion in assets. It is headquartered in Los Angeles, California with over twenty-five branch or loan offices in seven states. Wilshire State Bank was ranked fifth on US Banker’s Top 200 publicly traded mid-tier banks, based on a 3-year REO performance (May 2008). |
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