Mr. Baker has extensive receivership experience involving a broad range of assets. Over the past nearly 15 years, he has tackled complex cases each facing their own unique challenges. Mr. Baker has been appointed on or served as lead agent on 150+ Receiver, Provisional Director, Trustee, Partition Referee matters and regulatory receivership assignments originating from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Justice, District Attorney, traditional lenders, private equity, debt funds, among many others.

Specific to cannabis, having been appointed as Receiver over eight cannabis licenses, Mr. Baker has significant experience with handling cannabis-related receiverships including retail operations, regulatory issues (state and local), and the sale of licenses. As one example, Mr. Baker was appointed as receiver over four cannabis licenses (retail, manufacturing, cultivation, and distribution) for a dispensary located in Los Angeles, CA with gross sales of $15M per year. In addition to managing the day-to-day financial and operational aspects of the dispensary, Mr. Baker was also tasked with overseeing and renewing the licenses with both the state and local cannabis licensing agencies, as well as to ultimately sell the business and its respective licenses. The matter further involved complex claims of differential ownership by multiple parties, a forensic accounting of various loans made to the business, and the alleged siphoning of funds and assets from the business by insiders. Mr. Baker was able to trace monies and inventory stolen from the company, obtain a $600,000 judgment against the culprit, begin enforcement of the judgment, and have much of the inventory returned.

Moreover, the Receiver was able to successfully renew state and local licenses, resolve significant litigation surrounding the business, and obtain multiple bidders for the business--all while maintaining ongoing operations.

Another ongoing example includes a cannabis consumption lounge and retail license located in the City of West Hollywood. The consumption lounge license was only one of eight issued by the City. Tasks include selling the licenses, reviving construction permits and finishing approximately $250k of tenant improvements to the space, navigating the City's complex cannabis codes, working with the City and the Business License Commission to gain sale approval, among a myriad of other issues.

To note just a few other examples of his experience within the cannabis arena, Mr. Baker has been appointed as Receiver over: 1) a property in Compton, CA and tasked with abating the operations of an illegal and unlicensed cannabis dispensary, 2) a property in Coarsegold, CA previously involved with cannabis cultivation and tasked with selling it, and 3) a property in El Monte, CA with numerous illegal operations, including an unlicensed THC processing facility that was shut down, and tasked with ensuring the property remain secure and free of illegal activity while ultimately selling the property.

Other general, but relevant, experience includes, post judgment asset recovery and liquidations, directly managing the operations and providing financial oversight for companies involved with partnership disputes, defaulted loans, allegations of fraud as well as businesses in need of orderly liquidations. Mr. Baker's experience in solving complex problems while needing to maximize the value of assets extends from managing a 220,000 sq/ft commercial office building on Wilshire Blvd., to orchestrating the windup and orderly liquidation of a $70M specialty chemical company, to operating a chain of 15 restaurants, to providing interim management for a technology company involved in a partnership dispute.

Education:

B.S., Economics New York University

M.B.A., University of Southern California

Affiliations:

California Receivers Forum (CRF), Director

National Association of Federal Equity Receivers (NAFER), Member

California Bankruptcy Forum (CBF), Los Angeles County Chapter, Member

California Bankruptcy Forum (CBF), Orange County Chapter, Member

Participates in Receiver and Insolvency Education courses sponsored by the Forum and Loyola Law School