James Cretella is an attorney and partner at Blank Rome, a national full-service law firm. He has practiced law for more than 21 years, beginning his career after graduating cum laude from Brooklyn Law School in 2004. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Villanova University in 2001. He represents banks, private lenders, commercial finance companies, and factors in negotiating and documenting secured finance transactions. He works closely with lenders of different sizes and provides support throughout each transaction. His experience includes asset-based and cash flow facilities, hybrid financing structures, receivables finance and factoring, notification and non-notification models, actual sale and participation structures, lender finance transactions from both lender and borrower perspectives, recurring revenue credit lines for SaaS and subscription-based companies, as well as supply chain, channel, and purchase order finance. He also advises on Article 9 foreclosure sales, workouts, intercreditor agreements, warehouse lines, and borrower needs that require specialized attention. His work extends across industries such as staffing, technology, FinTech, healthcare, real estate, government contracting, transportation, and energy. He supports middle- and upper-middle-market clients with asset-backed lending, larger factoring arrangements, inventory finance, supply chain finance, and various trade finance structures, including off-balance sheet receivable purchase facilities and purchase order financings. Jim Cretella serves as outside counsel to smaller private lenders, preparing front-end documentation for factoring, ABL, and recurring revenue transactions, while also assisting with broader legal issues. He represents smaller lenders in negotiating their own credit facilities and in buying or selling portfolios. He has been active in the Secured Finance Network and was recognized in 2016 as one of its 40 Under 40 honorees. In October, he moderated a lender finance session in Dallas that explored structuring, underwriting, risk considerations, M&A activity, and trends in private credit. He also participates in the International Factoring Association and will attend its 2026 conference, where he will co-present the Factoring Essentials class. James Cretella has co-authored articles for The Secured Lender and Financier Worldwide Magazine and mentors junior associates. He previously served on the board of the Adam J. Lewis Academy and contributes regularly to charities, including his church and educational institutions. He enjoys watching baseball and football and will celebrate his 20th wedding anniversary in 2026.