AIRA News

Released: May 23, 2023

Members on the Move: Hernan Serrano and AIRA Director Emeritus Jeff Sutton Join Yip Associates

Miami, New York and New Jersey—(May 23, 2023) Yip Associates, one of the nation’s leading boutique forensic accounting firms, is pleased to announce that Hernan Serrano and Jeff Sutton have joined as Co-Leaders of the firm’s Bankruptcy Practice. Serrano and Sutton will be serving clients nationally from the firm’s offices in Florida, New York, and New Jersey.

Hernan Serrano has more than 25 years of experience in corporate restructuring, turnarounds, bankruptcy (creditor committees and debtor advisory) and business consulting. He has worked as an advisor to law firms, investment banks, privately and publicly held companies, and fiduciaries. Serrano has also been appointed as a federal equity receiver and liquidating trustee.

He is a Past President and current board member of the National Association of Federal Equity Receivers (NAFER) and currently the President of the Long Island Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association. Serrano is also a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute. He received his Bachelors of Business Administration and his Master of Business Administration in Corporate Finance and Investment from Adelphi University.

Jeff Sutton has been in the forefront of the bankruptcy community for the past 30 years focusing his practice on bankruptcy, insolvency, and forensic matters, working with both creditors and debtors, creditor committees, Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 trustees and other parties in interest. Sutton has represented more than 100 Unsecured Creditor Committees including NYRA Racing, Starter Corp., E-Toys, Roadhouse Grille, Loehmann’s and Pan American Hospital.

He is a member of the New Jersey Society of CPAs, American Institute of CPAs, Association of Insolvency and Reorganization Advisors, American Bankruptcy Institute, New York Institute of Credit, and the Turnaround Management Association. Sutton received his undergraduate degree from Fordham University.

“We are excited to welcome Hernan and Jeff to Yip Associates,” said Maria M. Yip, founder and managing partner of Yip Associates. “I am very pleased to have these seasoned bankruptcy professionals join our team as partners. Their breadth and depth of experience in bankruptcy consulting and litigation support will enhance our existing practice and we look forward to their insight and expertise.”

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Released: July 26, 2021

Members on the Move: Eric Jenkins, CIRA, Joins Huron

Huron is proud to welcome Eric Jenkins, CIRA, to our commercial disputes advisory team.

Eric has a proven track record as a trusted advisor and in providing expert services to his clients, using his over two decades of experience to advise and testify on complex disputes and investigations involving forensic accounting, breaches of contract, debt and equity capital markets, post-M&A disputes, and insolvency, restructuring and bankruptcy matters. Prior to joining Huron, Eric served as a managing director at Duff & Phelps, where he provided expert services in valuations, corporate finance, disputes and investigations, compliance and regulatory sectors. Eric previously served as a senior executive at Bank of America Securities and Deloitte.

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Released: Jan 28, 2021

Members on the Move: AIRA Board Member Jennifer Meyerowitz Joins SAK as Chief Growth Officer and General Counsel

Jennifer Meyerowitz has extensive experience in turnarounds, workouts healhcare advisory services, lease restructurings, real estate transaction services and bankrupcty that spans over 20 yeras and she has served as an attorney, consultant, investor, advisor, real estate professional andd company leader. She is highly regarded within the industry for her operational exppertise as well as her unique ability to connect and develop relationships with clients and referral sources.

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Released: July 15, 2021

Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors Inducts 2021 Distinguished Fellows

Medford, OR – At its annual conference on June 16th, AIRA announced the induction of its 2021 class of Distinguished Fellows.

Conceived to recognize the significant contributions that AIRA’s senior members have made to the art and science of corporate restructuring and to the association, the Distinguished Fellows designation is an academic and professional honor for those AIRA members who exemplify the highest level of excellence in professional practice and whose contributions are a significant positive legacy to our profession and the association.

These individuals have contributed in many ways to the profession and to AIRA. They have served as a distinguished judge and educator, provided important leadership to AIRA and other associations such as Turnaround Management Association (TMA) and American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), provided years of service on the AIRA board, contributed to AIRA’s CIRA and CDBV certification programs, organized and presented to AIRA and other professional conferences, and published articles and books.

2021’s Distinguished Fellows are:

David Berliner, CIRA, BDO USA, New York, NY
Hon. Kevin J. Carey (Ret.), Hogan Lovells US LLP, Philadelphia, PA
Stephen B. Darr, CIRA, CDBV, Huron Consulting Group, Boston, MA
Kenneth J. Malek, CIRA, CDBV, MalekRamian LLC, Libertyville, IL
Jose M. Monge-Robertin, CIRA, Monge Robertin Advisors, LLC, San Juan, PR
Thomas Morrow, CIRA, Evanto Group LLC, Beverly Hills, MI
Dr. Grant W. Newton, CIRA, AIRA Executive Director Emeritus, Medford, OR
Valda Newton, Managing Editor, AIRA Journal, Medford, OR
Grant T. Stein, Alston & Bird LLP, Atlanta, GA
Teri L. Stratton, CIRA, Piper Sandler & Co, El Segundo, CA

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Released: July 12, 2021

Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors Announces Transitions and Awards

Medford, OR – At its virtual annual conference, concluded in June, AIRA announced the following leadership transitions and awards:

Michael R. Lastowski, Duane Morris LLP, Wilmington, DE named president, succeeding David Bart, CIRA, CDBV, RSM US LLP, Chicago. Mr. Bart assumes the role of chairman from Brian Ryniker, CIRA, RK Consultants LLC, Sea Cliff, NY, who remains an AIRA board member./p>

Emanuel M. Katten Award

Emanuel M. Katten was a founding member of AIRA’s predecessor organization. He was instrumental in the development of the CIRA program and other association and professional initiatives.

In recognition of Manny’s legacy, annually, AIRA conveys its Emanuel M. Katten Award to an AIRA member with a history of outstanding service to the association and a substantial contribution to the profession. This year’s honoree is David S. Mork, CIRA, Arizsota Business Consulting Company, Sun Lakes, AZ. Mr. Mork, like Mr. Katten, is a founding member of the association.

In addition, the association recognized Robert Swartz, CIRA, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Boston, MA, for his contributions to the CIRA program and named Mr. Swartz and Mychal Harrison, Huron Consulting, New York, NY, to its board earlier this year.

Also recognized with a Certificate of Distinguished Performance for the 2020 year are David Barmish, SB360 Capital Partners, Needham, MA and Patrik Kast, Alvarez & Marsal, New York, NY.

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Released: July 12, 2021

Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors Announces CIRA Certification Award Winners

Medford, OR - Rendering financial advisory services in the business turnaround, restructuring and bankruptcy practice areas requires both special knowledge and extensive relevant experience. In 1992, the AIRA established the Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA) program to recognize by public awareness and certification those individuals who possess a high degree of knowledge and proficiency across a spectrum of functions related to serving clients in situations involving distressed and/or insolvent entities. Each year AIRA recognizes the highest scoring professionals who complete the CIRA program through awards sponsored by AlixPartners, LLP. At its virtual annual conference in June, AIRA recognized the following AlixPartners CIRA Award winners for 2020:

Having completed the requirements for certification, AIRA has awarded the following members CDBV certification:

1st Place – Nate Simon, AlixPartners, LLP, New York, NY
2nd Place - Bryan Fleming, Alvarez & Marsal, Atlanta, GA
3rd Place - Hrvoje Cizmic, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Los Angeles, CA

Also recognized with a Certificate of Distinguished Performance for the 2020 year are David Barmish, SB360 Capital Partners, Needham, MA and Patrik Kast, Alvarez & Marsal, New York, NY.

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Released: January 19, 2021

Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors Announces 2 CDBV Certification Awards

Medford, OR - Rendering financial advisory services in the business turnaround, restructuring, and bankruptcy practice areas requires both special knowledge and extensive relevant experience. In 2004, AIRA launched the Certification in Distressed Business Valuation (CDBV) program to train and accredit professionals in the highly specialized area of distressed asset valuation including the valuation of distressed and insolvent companies. The CDBV program requires the successful completion of an intensive three-part course of study and uniform written examination and demonstration of practical knowledge by case experience and references.

Having completed the requirements for certification, AIRA has awarded the following members CDBV certification:

Robert Crockett, Ernst &Young, Camana Bay, Grand Cayman
Kevin Tavakoli, SOLIC Capital Advisors, LLC, Evanston, IL

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Released: January 18, 2021

Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors Announces 8 CIRA Certification Awards

Medford, OR - Rendering financial advisory services in the business turnaround, restructuring and bankruptcy practice areas requires both special knowledge and extensive relevant experience. In 1992, the AIRA established the Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA) program to recognize by public awareness and certification those individuals who possess a high degree of knowledge and proficiency across a spectrum of functions related to serving clients in situations involving distressed and/or insolvent entities. Such expertise includes accounting, operations, strategic, taxation, and finance issues related to business bankruptcy and insolvency.

Having completed the requirements for certification, the following AIRA members are awarded the CIRA certification:

Evan Bookstaff / FTI Consulting, Dallas, TX
William Andrew Costello / Alvarez & Marsal, Dallas, TX
Andrew George / High Ridge Partners, Chicago, IL
Robert Molina / FTI Consulting, Dallas, TX
Joseph Pattaphongse / Center Street LLC, Newport Beach, CA
Guillermo Saldana / Mackinac Partners, Dallas, TX
David Samikkannu / AlixPartners, New York, NY
Ryan Sublett / AlixPartners, New York, NY

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