Hill Blackett, III 

Hill Blackett, III is of counsel to Friedman Dumas & Springwater.  Mr. Blackett's principal area of practice is commercial lending, with a focus on creditors’ rights and restructuring matters.  He served as chair and co-chair of the State Bar of California Uniform Commercial Code Committee from 1997 to 1998, and chair and co-chair of the Intellectual Property Subcommittee from 1994 to 1996.  He was adjunct professor of law at the University of San Francisco from 1982 to 1983.  Mr. Blackett is a frequent lecturer for the California Continuing Education of the Bar, Professional Education Systems, Inc., and the National Business Institute.  He recently spoke on "Agri-Business Collateral" as a panelist at the Commercial Financial Services Committee of the ABA Business Law Section meeting in November 2005 and on commercial lending documentation at a seminar hosted by Lorman Education Services in August 2006.  He also has published outlines and articles on corporate finance and bankruptcy topics, including "When an LBO Goes Sour: Assessing the Fraudulent Conveyance Risk in Leveraged Buy-Outs," 1 Banking Law Review 35, Winter 1989; "What Supreme Court Rulings on Adequate Protection and the Absolute Priority Rule Means to Creditors," 1 Banking Law Review 47, Spring 1989; "Supreme Court Rulings Settle Major Issues for Secured Creditors," 1 Banking Law Review 48, Summer 1988; and "Federal Tax Liens," Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education’s Creditors’ Rights in Illinois program, 1980 (co-author).  Mr. Blackett received a B.A., with distinction, from Dartmouth College in 1973 and a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in 1977 where he was an articles editor for the Hastings Law Journal.