Christine H. Price

Counsel, Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP

Christine H. Price serves as counsel to Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP (MHH) in its Commercial Lending & Finance, Real Estate, and Secured Lending, Equipment and Transportation Finance practice groups, focusing on lender representation in complex secured lending matters and commercial real estate secured transactions.

On the lender side, Christine provides valuable representation to MHH clients through the entire loan transaction process, including providing guidance on underwriting issues and collateral questions, drafting commitment letters, ensuring completion of due diligence, and drafting and negotiating complex loan documents.  In particular, she successfully closed several loans made pursuant to the Main Street Lending Program (MSLP) on behalf MHH’s lending clients and continues to provide guidance to clients on post-closing questions in connection with these loans. On the borrower side, Christine has helped numerous MHH clients successfully navigate several financial relief programs made available during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), and Shuttered Venues Operators Grant (SVOG), by providing individual guidance and drafting countless articles to keep MHH clients and the industry updated on the constantly evolving programs. 

What is the best professional advice you have been given and how have you implemented it? 

It is important to both have and convey confidence in yourself and in your abilities. We all have self-doubt from time to time, which is perfectly fine, but when you know that you are correct, say it with confidence because you know that you can back up your position. Don’t add qualifiers or make your statement sound like a question when there is no reason to do so. If you are in doubt on your position, then dig deeper and gather more information so that you can erase that doubt. It never hurts to gain more knowledge. Most importantly, don’t let others make you think that you are wrong simply because they speak louder than you do. If you doubt yourself, others will too. 

Over the years, I found my voice and learned to speak firmly, confidently, and clearly, conveying to others that I know what I am speaking about.  I also know what I don’t know, and if I have any doubts about a particular matter, I actively seek out guidance from other attorneys in the firm or from other industry experts so that I become well versed in the topic at hand. It is something that I will continue to work on throughout my career.  

When interviewing newcomers to the industry, what do you say to pique their interest about why they should accept a position in this industry?

When speaking with newcomers to the industry, including summer associates, I ask them if they would like to work in an area of law that most attorneys have no idea exists, let alone know what we do. Secured lending is a transactional area of law that requires knowledge in a wide variety of disciplines, including real estate, corporate, and lien perfection. Furthermore, it helps if you are detail-orientated, draft clearly, and work in an organized manner. If that isn’t enough to pique their interest, then I let them know that blue booking is something that I have not had to do for many, many years. I have found that many attorneys are type-A personalities and the foregoing pitch gets their attention.

The next step is keeping that interest alive. I let them know that even though this can be a challenging and stressful area of law, it is also extremely rewarding. In fact, I recently had the opportunity to speak at career day to the 5th graders at my son and daughter’s school (trying to get future law students interested at a very early age) and was asked what I like most about my job.  What immediately came to mind is that I view myself as a helper. I help my client (typically the lender) make a loan to a borrower, which enables the borrower to use those funds to help improve its business operations. Secured lending attorneys help grow businesses and, in turn, those businesses help people through retaining or hiring employees and/or providing services to the public. All the parties have a common goal – for the loan to close.  We want the borrower to succeed and repay the loan in accordance with the loan documents.  It is also very rewarding to drive by a new building and know that you played a vital role in its creation by assisting the lender in negotiating and documenting the construction loan extended to the borrower.  Seeing the tangible results of your work in that way is truly special.