Armando is a commercial and real estate litigator and is leader of the Distressed Commercial Debt Litigation team. He represents businesses and owners in a wide variety of contractual, shareholder and commercial realty disputes. He devotes a large portion of his practice to representing holders of commercial debt in all aspects of work-outs, foreclosures, receiverships and guaranty enforcement actions.
I focus my practice on the following areas:
I represent special servicers, balance sheet lenders and purchasers with respect to every aspect of distressed commercial debt, from sale and acquisition, to work-out, foreclosure and receivership and associated guaranty and lender liability litigation. I successfully sought the first federal receiver for CMBS debt in New England and represent holders in federal and state receivership proceedings throughout the Northeast.
I represent closely held businesses and their owners in ownership, fiduciary and oppression claims in a variety of industries. I am currently representing majority ownership interests in a suit seeking to enforce their buy-back rights against the estate of a former owner.
I represent commercial realty owners in title, boundary, restrictive covenant, adverse possession, partition, leasing and easement disputes. I also routinely represent parties in the sale and acquisition of commercial real estate and have broad experience in negotiating commercial leases of all sorts, including retail, office and industrial.
Every cycle, I advise and represent candidates before the Rhode Island Board of Elections, Rhode Island Supreme Court, Federal Court for the District of Rhode Island and First Circuit Court of Appeals with respect to election challenges and other election law issues including ballot access issues. I recently prosecuted an unconstitutional deprivation of ballot access claim for a candidate for mayor of the City of Central Falls, RI, obtaining an injunction compelling the City to place the candidate on the ballot and further successfully defending that injunction on appeal to the First Circuit.
While some commentators have predicted a slow-down with respect to distressed commercial debt, the data suggests otherwise. Roughly $440 billion of CMBS loans will reach maturity between 2014 and 2017, with refinancing being unavailable for a disproportionately large number of these loans given more stringent underwriting and the reset in realty values.
Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly | July 18, 2016
Providence commercial litigation partner Armando Batastini is profiled in this feature article as the new Rhode Island Bar Association president. The story notes his goals to enhance pro bono and online lawyer referrals, in addition to other hopes for his term.
Providence Journal | July 07, 2016
This coverage notes that Providence commercial litigation partner Armando Batastini has been elected president of the Rhode Island Bar Association.
Roger Williams University, J.D., magna cum laude, class valedictorian
United States Naval Academy, B.S.
Rhode Island
Massachusetts
New York
U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
U.S. District Court, District of Rhode Island
U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut
Armando was selected, through a peer-review survey, for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2019 in the fields of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, and Commercial Litigation. Armando has been listed in Best Lawyers since 2017.
Armando has also been recognized continuously since 2011 as a “Rhode Island Super Lawyer” in Business Litigation based on a peer-review survey by Thomson Reuters. Additionally, he has been recognized as a Local Litigation Star continuously since 2012 by Benchmark Litigation, the definitive guide to America’s leading litigation firms and attorneys.
Armando Batastini is the incoming president of the Rhode Island Bar Association; is an active participant in the Bar Association Volunteer Lawyer Program, Elderly Pro Bono Program and Armed Services Legal Project; and is a fellow of the Rhode Island Bar Foundation. He is the recipient of the 2008 Rhode Island Bar Association Pro Bono Publico Award. He is also a board member for the Boston/Providence Service Academy Business Network, and a member of the Justinian Law Society of Rhode Island.
