James Cretella is an attorney and partner at Blank Rome, a national law firm serving clients across the country. He has been practicing law for more than 21 years, beginning his legal career after graduating cum laude from Brooklyn Law School in 2004. He previously 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 supports them through every stage of a deal. His practice involves asset-based and cash flow facilities, hybrid financing structures, receivables finance and factoring, notification and non-notification arrangements, actual sale and participation models, lender finance from both the lender and borrower sides, recurring revenue-based credit lines for SaaS and subscription-driven companies, as well as supply chain, channel, and purchase order finance. He also handles Article 9 foreclosure sales and regularly advises on workouts, intercreditor matters, warehouse lines, and transactions involving unique borrower profiles.

Jim Cretella's experience spans staffing, technology, FinTech, healthcare, real estate, government contracting, transportation, and energy. He supports middle- and upper-middle-market clients with asset-backed lending, factoring transactions, inventory finance, supply chain finance, and various trade finance structures, including off-balance sheet receivable purchase facilities and purchase order financings.

He serves as outside counsel to smaller private lenders, preparing front-end documentation for factoring, ABL, and recurring revenue transactions, while also advising on broader legal needs. He additionally represents smaller lenders in negotiating their own credit facilities and in portfolio purchases and sales.

He is active in the Secured Finance Network and was named to its 40 Under 40 list in 2016. In October, he moderated a session on lender finance in Dallas that explored structuring, underwriting, risk, M&A considerations, and developments 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 formerly served on the board of the Adam J. Lewis Academy and donates regularly to charities, including his church and educational institutions. He enjoys baseball and football and will celebrate his 20th wedding anniversary in 2026.