Mr. Ahern's Nashville–based practice with William Houston Brown (Bankruptcy Judge, W. Dist. Tenn., 1987–2006) focuses on consulting with law firms and financial professionals on commercial, real estate and bankruptcy law issues, expert testimony, alternative dispute resolution, writing and teaching. A member of AIRA's Board of Directors, he is also a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and the American College of Mortgage Attorneys; a Rule 31 Mediator in Tennessee; and holder of national certification as a Business Bankruptcy Specialist by both the American Board of Certification and the Tennessee Commission on CLE and Specialization. Mr. Ahern is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at Vanderbilt and St. John's Law School, also serving on the Advisory Board of the St. John's Bankruptcy LL.M. program.
Justin R. Alberto is an associate at Bayard. Justin focuses his practice on corporate bankruptcy and restructuring. He has experience representing debtors, creditors committees, equity committees, lenders, bondholders, secured and unsecured creditors, plan administrators, and other interested entities in various bankruptcy reorganization and liquidation proceedings. In addition to his restructuring practice, Justin also has experience representing entities involved in litigation arising under and transactions governed by the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware.
In 2013 and 2014, Justin was recognized by Super Lawyers magazine as a Delaware Rising Star in the practice area of bankruptcy & creditor/debtor rights. Justin was also selected for and recently graduated from the 2013 Federal Trial Practice Seminar sponsored by the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. The Federal Trial Practice Seminar is a biennial nine–week program specializing in trial advocacy skills with instruction from DelawareÕs District Court Judges and nationally recognized practitioners.
Justin is an active participant in the Federal Bar Association, currently serving as a board member for the national Bankruptcy Law Section and as a contributing writer for the Monthly Bankruptcy Law Circuit Updates. He also serves as a member of the Pro Bono Committee for the Delaware Bankruptcy Inn of Court.
Before joining Bayard in 2008, Justin graduated cum laude from Widener University School of Law. While in law school, Justin clerked for the Honorable Henry duPont Ridgely, Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court. He also served as the Managing Editor of the Widener Law Review and was a member of the Moe Levine Mock Trial Honor Society. Prior to law school, Justin graduated with a B.S. in Business and Economics from Springfield College.
Andrew B. Altenburg, Jr. was appointed to the bench for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey on May 19, 2014. Prior to his appointment, Judge Altenburg served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Daniel J. Moore, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of New Jersey in Newark, New Jersey, then as an associate with the firm of Davis, Reberkenny & Abramowitz in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and finally as the sole shareholder of Andrew B. Altenburg, Jr., Esquire P.C. in Marlton, New Jersey for more than fourteen years. Judge Altenburg concentrated his practice in bankruptcy law, credit union representation and creditor/debtor relations.
Judge Altenburg received his B.A. degree, cum laude, from Niagara University and his J.D. degree from the University Of Dayton School Of Law. He is admitted to the state bars of New Jersey and Pennsylvania as well as the District Courts of New Jersey and Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a member of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and the American and Camden County Bar Associations.
Judge Altenburg has served as an editor, author and frequent lecturer to professional and educational organizations such as the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, the New Jersey Credit Union League and NASCUS and has appeared on WOCC-TV Channel 8 as a guest speaker on the topics of “Bankruptcy” and “Creditor’s Rights in Bankruptcy Court”. Judge Altenburg was an author and the Editor-In-Chief of the 2005, 2007 and 2009 BANKRUPTCY PRACTICE: Skills & Methods textbook and the 2012 BANKRUPTCY: PRACTICAL SKILLS SERIES for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education.
EDUCATION
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
1977 to 1982 Tax accountant with Price, Waterhouse - Coopers, (formerly Coopers & Lybrand, CPA) promoted to tax manager in the fall of 1981.
1982 to 1984 Director of tax operations for the Fort Worth office of Deloitte (formerly Touche Ross, CPA).
1984 to Present President and majority stockholder of Barg & Henson, P.C. (six full–time professional staff, various levels of part–time staff and one full time administrator).
PROFESSIONAL INVOLVEMENT
OTHER INFORMATION
Our firm provides Federal and State tax consulting, compliance and related accounting services throughout the D/FW metroplex to a number of successful clients. A large portion of my time is spent providing tax planning and compliance services to troubled companies, middle sized businesses, entrepreneurs and high tax bracket individuals.
Our firm has been engaged in a number of reorganization and liquidation cases, in a variety of industries, primarily related to our knowledge of the Internal Revenue Code and its related provisions dealing with Title 11 of the United States Code and tax procedure. I have also testified as an expert witness in several cases related to federal tax issues.
Summary of Experience
David Bart has more than 25 years experience assisting businesses and their counsel in complex matters from general consulting to commercial litigation. Assignments include special projects, strategic analysis and operational assessments; many involving restructuring, bankruptcy, workouts and commercial damages. He has provided financial and litigation consulting services, valuation services and testimony in cases involving commercial damages assessment, evaluation of business operations, solvency analysis, fraudulent transfer litigation, business valuation, forensic accounting and financial investigation projects. His engagements include matters in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, U.S. District Court and State Court.
David's areas of expertise include strategic planning, restructuring, financial and economic analysis, investigative accounting, statistical analysis, and business valuation involving both profit and non-profit entities. His consulting services have resulted in business and financial restructuring, reduced operating costs, identification of unprofitable business segments, and successful negotiation of credit support with vendors and lenders as well as successful litigation outcomes.
Professional Affiliations
David holds the following professional designations:
David is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA). He is Chairman of the Technical Issues and Standards Committee and a primary author of the AIRA’s Standards For Distressed Business Valuation. David is Chairman of the Litigation Trust Task Force for the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) where he also serves on conference planning advisory committees. He is a member of the Business Valuation Association, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the American Society of Appraisers, and the Illinois CPA Society. He has published numerous articles and presentations and teaches seminars in his fields of expertise.
Education
David has earned both an M.B.A. (concentrations in finance and accounting) and a B.A. (major in anthropology and minor in statistics) from the University of Chicago.
Based in New York, Vin Batra is a managing director with Deloitte Corporate Finance LLC (DCF). Mr. Batra leads DCF's Financial Restructuring practice and specializes in providing investment banking services related to distressed M&A/Section 363 sales, rescue financings, and restructurings. Mr. Batra has more than 18 years of professional experience across U.S., Europe, and Asia.
Some of Mr. Batra's assignments throughout the course of his career include:
Prior to joining Deloitte, Mr. Batra was a managing director at Alvarez & Marsal Securities LLC, where he spent eight years in the corporate finance division. From 2000–2005, he was a vice president at Lehman Brothers in their investment banking division. Prior to this, Mr. Batra worked with professor Edward Altman at the Salomon Center of Finance, where he conducted research on bankruptcies and predicting corporate defaults through Z–Score computations. The early part of Mr. Batra's career was spent at Arthur Andersen.
Mr. Batra is a Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder and a Chartered Accountant. He is also a licensed FINRA General Securities Registered Representative (Series 7, 63).
B.S., University of Utah (1966); M.B.A., Golden Gate University Graduate Tax Program (1971); Certified Public Accountant, California (1969); Certified Insolvency Reorganization Advisor (1995), Member, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, California Society of Certified Public Accountants, American Bankruptcy Institute and National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees, former President, Central California Bankruptcy Association and is a past Director Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors. He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. From 1966 until 1980, Mr. Bean was a Revenue Agent and a Field Audit Group Manager with the Examination Division of the Internal Revenue Service in San Francisco and Fresno, California. From 1980 until 1993, he was a shareholder in a large local CPA firm. In 1993, he began practice as Dennis Bean & Co., Certified Public Accountant. On January 1, 2009, Mr. Bean’s firm merged with another accounting firm and became Bean Hunt & Company, Certified Public Accountants. On January 1, 2012 the firm’s name was changed with the merger of another firm and the name changed to Bean Hunt Harris & Company. Bean Hunt Harris & Company provides audit, business valuation, tax planning and compliance, litigation support services and tax examination and collection representation. Mr. Bean has spoken on the subject of the taxation of bankruptcy and insolvency at numerous seminars and workshops throughout the country.
Elizabeth C. Berry is the Principal of Elizabeth C. Berry, CPA, PLLC. She graduated from North Carolina State University in 1990 with a B.A. in Accounting and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1989 with a B.A. in English.
Ms. Berry is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in the state of North Carolina. She has attained the specialty designations of Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA) and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE).
Ms. Berry specializes in all levels of service for Chapters 7 and 11 Bankruptcy Trustees and Debtor In Possessions including preparation of tax returns, analysis of fraudulent transfers and preferential payments, collection of assets, retirement plan terminations, determination of insolvency, analysis and review of claims, and duties regarding Chapter 11 Plans of Liquidation. Ms. Berry regularly speaks to a national group of CPAs and restructuring professionals regarding tax planning and compliance for preand post-petition Debtors, and Chapters 7 and 11 bankruptcy cases.
Ms. Berry also specializes in Forensic Accounting. She combines financial expertise, fraud knowledge, and business acumen with an understanding of the legal system to investigate allegations of fraud with an eye towards litigation. She provides expert witness testimony, discovery assistance, validation of business facts, computation of damages, and determination of compliance. She has recently given a presentation to a national group of CPAs regarding forensics, the presentation of effective exhibits in court and Benford's Law.
Outside of the niche practice areas of bankruptcy and forensic accounting, Ms. Berry engages in tax and management services to individual, partnerships and corporate entities in various industries. Within these areas, she prepares income tax returns for individuals and businesses, sales and use tax returns, and payroll and payroll reports. In addition, she consults with new and established businesses regarding start-up issues, type of entity decisions, book–keeping, cash flow forecasts, and accounting systems, including but not limited to QuickBooks and Peachtree.
Ms. Berry has 24 years' experience in the fields of tax, management consulting, bankruptcy, restructuring, and forensic accounting.
Professional Associations:
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants ● North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants ● Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (CIRA) ● Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (CFE)
Jovi B. Bohan is a Director in the Dispute Advisory & Forensic Services Group. She has more than 15 years of accounting, auditing and financial consulting experience, Ms. Bohan's engagements include significant criminal and civil litigation matters, business restructurings, and analysis of complex accounting issues in the public, private, nonprofit, and government sectors. She has extensive experience with expert witness and trial preparation. Her fraud and forensic accounting experience includes assistance to the Department of Justice in a series of investigations of corporate executives indicted for white collar crimes.
Ms. Bohan provides litigation support, restructuring and investigation services including forensic accounting, complex financial analysis and accounting record reconstruction. Ms. Bohan specializes on matters involving fraud investigations, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS), accounting malpractice, and corporate bankruptcy and reorganization. Ms. Bohan also provides bankruptcy, reorganization and forensic accounting services to debtors, lenders and other creditors.
Prior to joining SRR, Ms. Bohan was a Director at Invotex. Earlier in her career Ms. Bohan managed financial statement audits at McGladrey and Grant Thornton.
Ms. Bohan is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, and the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants. She is on the board of directors for the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation of Greater Maryland, the ABI Mid–Atlantic Conference Advisory Board and the Turnaround Management Association, Chesapeake Chapter. Most recently, Ms. Bohan joined the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA) and is a member of the AIRA 31st Annual Bankruptcy Restructuring Conference Planning Committee.
Ronen Bojmel is a Senior Managing Director and Head of the Restructuring Group. Prior to leading the launch of the Restructuring practice at Guggenheim in October 2012, Ronen spent more than sixteen years on Wall Street advising a wide variety of domestic and international clients in out–of–court and Chapter 11 restructurings, recapitalizations, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts and capital raising activities. Ronen has been repeatedly recognized by the Turnaround Management Association, for his achievements as lead banker in designing and orchestrating successful restructuring transactions. Throughout his distinguished career at Miller Buckfire, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, and its predecessor, Wasserstein Perella, Ronen has provided financial advisory services to a variety of distressed companies, including, among others, General Growth Properties ("GGP"), Innkeepers USA Trust, Neff Corp., Simmons Bedding Company, BakerCorp, Charter Communications, Foamex International, and Crown Cork & Seal. Notably, as lead banker in GGP, Ronen architected a landmark CMBS restructuring agreement, and as lead advisor to Vulcan, he designed the strategy to reinstate Charter's eight billion dollar credit facility through a pre–arranged Chapter 11 case. Prior to his investment banking career, Ronen worked in aviation security operations under the Consul General of the Government of Israel while simultaneously obtaining his BBA in Finance from Hofstra University (Magna Cum Laude). Ronen also served as a field officer in the Israeli Defense Forces and currently serves on the Board of Circ MedTech, a medical device company committed to preventing the spread of AIDS in Africa.
Coley has more than ten years of financial consulting experience, including forensic investigation, restructuring and turnaround, Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring and liquidation proceedings, as well as the administration of the Plan of Reorganization and Liquidation during post-bankruptcy periods.
Professional experience
Coley has significant experience within the oil and gas, banking, real estate, telecom, airline and construction industries.
Representative examples of Coley's engagement experience include:
Oil and Gas
Banking & Real Estate
Construction
Telecom
Airline
Education and certification
Professional associations
Chris Calabrese is a co-founding Partner of LBC Credit Partners, a direct lender to middle market companies operating out of its third fund since 2005. LBC’s typical investment size is $10 million to $50 million and LBC borrowers have at least $5 million of EBITDA. At LBC Chris is responsible for the credit and portfolio management platform across all LBC funds, oversees the firm’s capital markets effort, and serves on Investment Committee. Additionally, Chris is a Director of an LBC portfolio company, True Textiles, Inc.
Chris has 10 years of private equity debt investing and 19 years of corporate and investment banking experience with the vast majority dedicated to leveraged lending. His significant transactional experience includes structuring a variety of deal types ranging from equity buyouts to complex bankruptcy financings.
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
EDUCATION
Judge Carey has served on the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware since December 9, 2005 (and was chief judge from 2008 to 2011), having first been appointed as a bankruptcy judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on January 25, 2001. He is a member of the Committee on Space and Facilities of the Judicial Conference of the United States, and on the Third Circuit Judicial Council's Facilities and Security Committee. Judge Carey is Global Chairman of the Turnaround Management Association. He is on the Board of Directors of the American Bankruptcy Institute and is a member of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. He is a contributing author to Collier on Bankruptcy and Collier Forms Manual. Judge Carey is also a part–time adjunct professor in Temple University's Beasley School of Law and in the LL.M. in Bankruptcy program at St. John's University School of Law. He began his legal career in 1979 as law clerk to Bankruptcy Judge Thomas M. Twardowski, and then served as Clerk of Court of the Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Judge Carey received his J.D. in 1979 from the Villanova University School of Law and his B.A. in 1976 from The Pennsylvania State University.
"There has always been a potential dark side inherent in business. My passion is to evaluate what’s happened so a proper course of action can be determined – those who are wronged should be made whole."
Robert M. Caster, CPA, CIRA, CFE, CFF is the Partner in charge of Herbein’s Forensic group which provides Litigation Support, Bankruptcy, Insolvency services and general Forensic Services to a variety of clients. Bob has worked on behalf of debtors, creditor committees, secured lenders, trustees, and individual creditors. He has provided litigation support services for both plaintiffs and defendants.
Bob has served many industry sectors including manufacturing, transportation, service, retail, real estate, and professional service firms. His services have frequently required testimony during depositions or at trial, and he has presented information and financial analysis to creditor committees and others over the course of his career. Bob has been appointed as a Bankruptcy Examiner by former Judges Thomas Twardowski and Bruce Fox in the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, as well as by Judge John Thomas in the Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Bob has also served as a court appointed Receiver in the Common Pleas Court of Pennsylvania, as well as having served as a Disbursement Agent.
Professional Memberships
Education and Certifications
Judge Ashely M. Chan took the bench as a bankruptcy judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on October 1, 2014. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Chan was a shareholder at Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller and concentrated her practice in the areas of bankruptcy and corporate restructuring. She is a 1996 graduate of Rutgers School of Law – Camden, where she received Tax Honors with Distinction and received the Rutgers Pro Bono Publico Award. From 1996 to 1997, Judge Chan served as law clerk for the Honorable Gloria M. Burns of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. Before joining HASPS, she was an associate at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP in the business and finance section where she focused on bankruptcy, corporate restructuring, and corporate finance. She has received numerous recognitions, including being selected as a Leader in Bankruptcy/Restructuring by Chambers USA, a Best Lawyer in America in Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights and a Pennsylvania Lawyer on the Fast Track by The Legal Intelligencer and Pennsylvania Law Weekly. She recently served as Vice President of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference and Vice President and Board Member of the Homeless Advocacy Project.
Shelley C. Chapman was sworn in as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York on March 5, 2010. At the time of her appointment, she was a partner in the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP in the Business Reorganization and Restructuring Department, where her practice included the representation of debtors, creditors, and other parties in interest in major chapter 11 cases and out–of–court restructurings.
Judge Chapman received a B.A. with distinction in all subjects from Cornell University in 1978 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, from which she graduated cum laude in 1981. She served as an editor of the Harvard Civil Rights–Civil Liberties Law Review.
Prior to joining Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP in 2001, Judge Chapman was a partner at Sidley & Austin and served as an Adjunct Professor at Brooklyn Law School in 1985–86. From 2001 through 2007, she served on the Board of Directors of inMotion, a non–profit organization that provides pro bono legal services to indigent women and children in New York City, primarily in the areas of matrimonial, family, and immigration law, serving as Board Chair from 2004 to 2007.
Prior to her appointment, she served on the Executive Committee of the UJA–Federation of New York's Bankruptcy and Reorganization Group and on the Advisory Board of the ABI New York City Bankruptcy Conference, and has been active in Cornell University and Harvard Law School alumni affairs. She is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. She is a member of ABI, serves on an advisory committee of the ABI Commission to Study Chapter 11 Reform, and serves as judicial co–chair of the ABI New York City Bankruptcy Conference. Judge Chapman also is a member of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and serves on the NCBJ Education Committee. She also serves on the Federal Judicial Center's Bankruptcy Judge Education Advisory Committee and acts as a mentor judge for the Center's Orientation Program for Newly Appointed Bankruptcy Judges. She has recently joined the Editorial Board of Collier on Bankruptcy as a Contributing Author.
Maria Ellena Chavez-Ruark is a partner in the Bankruptcy and Restructuring practice group at Saul Ewing LLP in Baltimore. Ms. Ruark has extensive experience representing debtors, creditors' committees, secured creditors, unsecured creditors, landlords, lessors, purchasers of assets, and trustees in complex insolvency proceedings such as Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, receiverships, and assignments for the benefit of creditors. She also represents parties in workouts, restructurings, and complex commercial litigation, including fraudulent transfer, deepening insolvency, breach of fiduciary duty, and preferential transfer litigation. She is admitted to practice in the State of Maryland and the District of Columbia and has experience in state and federal courts throughout the United States.
Ms. Ruark is the Secretary for the Maryland Bankruptcy Bar Association, the co–chair of the Pro Bono Committee for the Maryland Bankruptcy Bar Association, a member of the Local Rules Committee for the Maryland Bankruptcy Bar Association, a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, co-chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Mentor Program, the Secretary and a member of the board of directors for the Chesapeake Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association, the Secretary and a member of the board of directors for the Greater Maryland Chapter of the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation, a member of the American Bar Association, a member of the Business Bankruptcy Committee of the ABA's Business Law Section, vice chair of the ABA Business Bankruptcy Committee’s Series LLC Task Force, liaison to the Turnaround Management Association for the ABA Business Bankruptcy Committee, a member of the Hispanic National Bar Association, a member of the Maryland Hispanic Bar Association, a member of the board for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Maryland State Bar Association, a member of the Bar Association of Baltimore City, and a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine’s A Woman’s Journey Host Committee. She is also an officer or director for several non-profit youth and community organizations and a frequent speaker and author on various bankruptcy subjects.
Ms. Ruark is passionate about mentoring, community service and pro bono service. In 2009 and 2011, she was named one of Maryland's Top 100 Women in Business by The Daily Record, an annual award which recognizes leadership roles and outstanding professional, civic, and mentoring achievements of professional women who reside and work in Maryland and who are making an impact on the State. Also, Ms. Ruark was named to The Best Lawyers in America list for Bankruptcy and Creditor–Debtor Rights Law from 2013 through the present and selected for inclusion in the Maryland Super Lawyers, a publication of Law & Politics, from 2010 through the present. In 2010, Ms. Ruark was named one of the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland's "pro bono stars" for her exemplary service and commitment to providing pro bono legal representation to Maryland’s needy and underrepresented citizens. In 2006, Ms. Ruark was given the first annual Educator of the Year Award by Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service for her pro bono service in the State of Maryland.
Ms. Ruark has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Salisbury University, a Master of Business Administration from Salisbury University, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore School of Law.
Kathryn A. ("Katie") Coleman, a partner in Hughes, Hubbard & Reed’s New York office, is a member of the Corporate Reorganization Group and has over 25 years' experience representing companies restructuring their financial affairs, both in and out of court. In addition, Ms. Coleman represents equity sponsors and financial and strategic buyers in the restructuring arena. Ms. Coleman also has substantial expertise in advising boards of directors on corporate governance and fiduciary duty matters, and has experience both asserting and defending lender liability claims.
Ms. Coleman has advised clients on, and litigated at the trial and appellate levels, the significant legal issues inherent in modern restructuring and financial practice, including contested plan confirmation, prepackaged plans, credit bidding, exclusivity, debtor–in–possession financing, valuation, adequate protection of security interests, and cash collateral usage. She has substantial experience litigating venue, remand, and removal issues, and has represented recovery trustees dealing with myriad postconfirmation issues and litigation.
The industries with which Ms. Coleman has had significant involvement include natural gas exploration and development, newspapers, home products, forest products, retail, restaurants, hotels, metals, distribution, energy (oil and gas, wind), regulated utilities, manufacturing, real estate, office products, construction, new media, telecommunications, professional services, technology, agribusiness, and banking.
Ms. Coleman co–chairs the American Bankruptcy Institute's annual Complex Financial Restructuring Program and its Asset Sales Committee, and frequently speaks on bankruptcy law and distressed investing, participating in programs sponsored by the Practising Law Institute, the American Bankruptcy Institute, Turnaround Management Association, AIRA, the M&A Advisor, the New York City Bar Association, California Continuing Education of the Bar, and the American Bar Association. She also serves on the Steering Committee of the NYC Bankruptcy Assistance Project.
Mr. Darr has over 30 years of experience providing accounting, auditing and financial consulting services to business organizations, many of which are experiencing significant financial and operating difficulties. His industry experience includes law and professional services firms, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, energy, automotive, real estate/construction, mortgages/derivatives, telecommunications, manufacturing and distribution.
Mr. Darr's experience also includes providing litigation support and expert testimony in bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy matters involving preference and fraudulent conveyance actions, professional liability claims, patent infringement, royalty and intellectual property disputes, construction claims, wrongful employment discharge and lender liability and business tort claims. He has testified in U.S. Bankruptcy Court proceedings in Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont on a wide range of bankruptcy matters, including feasibility of business plans, allowability of creditors’ claims, best–interests test for unsecured creditors, fraudulent conveyance claims, preference actions, solvency, debtor-in-possession financing, substantive consolidation issues, cash collateral arrangements, valuation, equitable subordination, reorganization tax issues, and key employee retention plans.
Mr. Darr is currently the Chapter 11 trustee for TelexFree, LLC et al. He has advised the Chapter 11 trustee in the New England Compounding Pharmacy proceedings as well serving as CRO for Triax Pharmaceuticals Other engagements include Oscient Pharmaceuticals, LLC, Value City Department Stores*, ITA Holdings, Calpine Corporation, Refco, Inc., WorldCom,, Androscoggin Energy LLC, Access CardioSystems, Inc., Genesis Health Ventures, Inc., Integrated Health Services, Inc., Armstrong World Industries, Inc., Formica Corporation, SK Global America Inc., Caribbean Petroleum LP, and Malden Mills Industry Inc.
EDUCATION
M.B.A., University of Chicago
B.B.A., Boston College
PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS
Certified Public Accountant - Massachusetts, New Hampshire
Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor
Certification in Financial Forensics
Certification in Distressed Business Valuation
FINRA Series 7, 24, 79
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
American Bankruptcy Institute, member
American Bankruptcy Institute Trade Creditor Committee, member
American Institute of CPAs, member
Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors, Chairman(emeritus) and member of Finance Committee
Massachusetts Society of CPAs, member
HONORS AND AWARDS
Fellow, American College of Bankruptcy
Jacen Dinoff is the co–Founder and Chief Executive Officer of KCP Advisory Group, a leading business advisory firm specializing in providing creative solutions to rehabilitate businesses. Mr. Dinoff oversees all company operations and case assignments. Mr. Dinoff is highly–regarded as a corporate restructuring and turnaround management advisor with hands–on accounting, finance, management and operations experience that complements his technical expertise in bankruptcy case administration and financial advisory. Mr. Dinoff's career has included engagements in financial and operational restructurings, asset divestitures through sale and liquidation, and senior debtor/creditor advisor roles for many well-known companies, both publicly and privately held.
Mr. Dinoff is a Certified Turnaround Professional. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire, and an M.B.A in Finance from Bentley College. He is an active member of the Turnaround Management Association and American Bankruptcy Institute and is a frequent speaker and contributor at industry events and media outlets.
Joseph J. DiPasquale concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial litigation, corporate restructuring, complex bankruptcy, and debtor/creditor rights. He represents, in particular, debtors, Chapter 11 and 7 trustees, receivers, assignees, creditors’ committees, equity holders, secured creditors, private equity/hedge funds, and other parties in various high stakes insolvency proceedings.
Mr. DiPasquale represented Hudson Healthcare, Inc. (HHI), a not–for–profit management company that operated Hoboken University Medical Center (HUMC) in its chapter 11 proceeding. HHI had annual revenues of over $120 million, several hundred contracts and leases, and over 1,400 employees and physicians. The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey approved the sale of HHI’s assets, which ultimately allowed the consummation of the sale of HUMC's assets. The sales preserved over 1,200 jobs, ensured continued access to a full-service acute care facility for the residents of City of Hoboken and surrounding community, and relieved the City of its guarantee of over $52 million in bonds. Mr. DiPasquale discusses Hudson Healthcare, Inc. and non–profit hospitals in the July 30, 2012 issue of The Daily Deal.
Mr. DiPasquale served as lead special bankruptcy transactional counsel for Kara Homes, Inc. and its 54 affiliates in its chapter 11 reorganization proceeding. Kara had sixteen (16) senior lenders, all holding mortgages on separate developments. As special transactional counsel, Mr. DiPasquale negotiated the both private and public sale of many developments and DIP financing which ultimately lead to the confirmation of Kara's plan of reorganization. Prior to the chapter 11 proceeding, Kara generated approximately $300 million in revenues and was one of New Jersey's largest home builders.
Mr. DiPasquale is a Contributing Author of the New Jersey Bankruptcy Manual (3rd Edition, 2014 and 2nd Edition, 2006, ICLE); he co-wrote the chapter entitled "Retention and Compensation." Also, he has served as Editor of the New Jersey State Bar Association Bankruptcy Law Section Newsletter, and has lectured on bankruptcy and tax issues. Mr. DiPasquale was awarded an AV rating, recognizing very high to preeminent legal ability and professionalism, by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell, the leading directory of legal professionals. In 2012 and 2013, Joseph DiPasquale was selected by American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell as a "Top Rated Lawyer" in the area of Commercial Bankruptcy Creditor–Debtor Rights. From 2008 through 2015, Mr. DiPasquale was named a "New Jersey Super Lawyer" by New Jersey Monthly Magazine. In 2007, Mr. DiPasquale was named a "Top 40 Under 40" Attorney by The New Jersey Law Journal. In 1994–95, Mr. DiPasquale served as the law clerk for the Honorable William F. Tuohey in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.
From 2009 through 2014, Mr. DiPasquale served as a member on the Managing Board of Directors of Team Capital Bank (TCB), which had 13 branches and loan offices located in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and over $900 million in assets. Mr. DiPasquale was also chair to the Bank's Risk Committee and was involved in the merger of TCB into Provident Financial Services (Provident Bank) a publicly traded company, which transaction closed in June 2014.
Linda Donhauser co–chairs Miles & Stockbridge's Creditors' Rights and Bankruptcy Practice Group. She has over 25 years of experience representing lenders and other creditors in all phases of the restructuring process and in formulating creative workout strategies in and outside of bankruptcy cases. Linda believes that the quality that differentiates her from other lawyers is her judgment, which combined with her extensive experience, helps clients achieve the best possible outcome as efficiently as possible. Her practice encompasses primarily representation of non-debtor entities, including secured creditors, unsecured creditors, trade creditors, commercial lenders and lender groups, equity investors, creditors' committees, indenture trustees, real estate and equipment lessors, buyers of assets and other interested parties in bankruptcy cases and insolvency proceedings in Maryland, Washington, D.C. and throughout the United States. Linda has special expertise in matters relating to post–petition financing, cash collateral, lifting the automatic stay and maximizing realization of collateral value. She also has extensive experience in counseling lenders on loan structure, fraudulent conveyance and lender liability issues, and in counseling manufacturers on complex business law matters and commercial transactions involving financially distressed suppliers and customers. She also represents creditors and other parties in bankruptcy litigation and complex business litigation.
Linda speaks regularly on topics involving bankruptcy, workouts, secured lending, lender liability, enforcement proceedings and diversity. She has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America, Chambers and Partners USA and Maryland Super Lawyers, and was named among the Top 50 Women Maryland Super Lawyers from 2012–2014. Ms. Donhauser is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute's Advisory Board, and served as co–chair of the Mid- Atlantic Bankruptcy Workshop from 2010 through 2014. She is also on the Board of Directors for the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation, Greater Maryland Network, where she served as Co–Chair from 2012–2014, and as the Immediate Past Chair from 2014–2015.
Awards & Recognition:
Robert Drain is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York.
Judge Drain received his B.A. degree cum laude with honors from Yale University in 1979 and his J.D. degree in 1984 from the Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar for three years.>
At the time of his appointment in 2002, he was a partner in the Bankruptcy Department of the New York law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, where he represented debtors, trustees, secured and unsecured creditors, official and unofficial creditors committees, and buyers of distressed businesses and distressed debt in chapter 11 cases, out–of–court restructurings and bankruptcy–related litigation. He also was actively involved in several transnational insolvency matters.
Judge Drain is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the International Insolvency Institute, and the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. He is a past member and secretary of the Bankruptcy and Reorganization Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. He is an adjunct professor at St. John’s University School of Law’s LLM in Bankruptcy Program and has lectured and written on numerous bankruptcy–related topics.
Since his appointment he has presided over such chapter 11 cases as Loral, RCN, Cornerstone, Refco, Allegiance Telecom, Delphi, Coudert Brothers, Frontier Airlines, Star Tribune, Reader's Digest, A&P, Hostess Brands, Christian Brothers, and Momentive. He also has presided over the ancillary or plenary cases, as the case may be, of Corporacion Durango, Satellites Mexicanas, Parmalat S. p. A. and its affiliated United States debtors, Varig S.A., Yukos (II), SphinX, Galvex Steel, TBS Shipping, Excel Maritime, and Nautilus and has served as the court-appointed mediator in a number of chapter 11 cases.
He is the author of a novel, The Great Work in the United States of America.
Dennis Dunne is Practice Group Leader of Milbank's Financial Restructuring Group and a member of the firm's Global Executive Committee. He represents debtors and creditors in reorganization cases and out–of–court workouts, acquirors of financially distressed companies, providers of financing, and board of directors of public and private companies. Mr. Dunne also has unparalleled courtroom experience and clients seek him out for his in–court advocacy skills. His engagements have ranged across a wide array of industries, including automotive, airline, apparel, cable and broadcasting, chemical, construction, gaming, healthcare, housing, infrastructure, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, energy, retail, shipping, telecommunications, and textile. Mr. Dunne is the 2nd Circuit Regent for the American College of Bankruptcy and a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference.
Practice Teams
Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring
Complex Litigation
Practice Areas
Leah Eisenberg is a partner in the Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring Practice. She
focuses on corporate reorganization, bankruptcy and inter–creditor issues and corporate trust
matters and represents committees of unsecured creditors, indenture trustees, secured
creditors, debtor–in–possession lenders, acquirors, unsecured creditors, bondholder and
noteholder groups, equity holders, investors, creditor trustees, liquidation trustees, plan
administrators, and disbursing agents and other entities in bankruptcy reorganization and
liquidation proceedings.
Leah also is a member of the firm’s Steering Committee for the firm’s Women's Leadership Development Initiative.
Client Work
Leah’s recent matters have included:
Previous Work
Before entering private practice, Leah served as a first law clerk to the Honorable Robert E. Gerber, US bankruptcy judge for the Southern District of New York (2000-2001).
Professional Activities
Leah co-founded and developed the Women's Division for the New York Institute of Credit
(“NYIC”) and serves as President. Leah is also a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute (“ABI”), the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (“AIRA”), the Turnaround Management Association, and the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation. Leah is also a member of Brooklyn Law School’s Barry L. Zaretsky Annual Bankruptcy Roundtable Steering Committee.
Speaking Engagements/Presentations/ Recognitions/Publications
Leah has served on panels and moderated and lectured on bankruptcy and restructuring topics for the NYIC, ABI and AIRA as well as within her firm.
Leah's speaking engagements this past year included:
In 2013, Leah proudly accepted an invitation from the Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors to remark on the distinguished service of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York, Honorable Robert E. Gerber at AIRA's 12th Annual Advanced Restructuring & Plan of Reorganization Conference. Leah has also taught bankruptcy topics for the CIRA courses offered by AIRA and this past year Leah co-chaired the Pre-Conference Financial Advisor’s Toolbox Program for the AIRA’s 28th Annual Bankruptcy & Restructuring Conference. Leah also completed Cannon Financial Institute’s Course Corporate Trust I.
Leah has authored the following publications on bankruptcy issues:
Bonnie Glantz Fatell is a partner and former practice group leader of Blank Rome LLP's Business Restructuring and Bankruptcy Group where she also chaired the Women’s Forum for many years. For over 30 years, Ms. Fatell has concentrated her practice on bankruptcy reorganizations, out-of-court restructurings, and related litigation. She represents parties in all aspects of commercial bankruptcy, including creditors’ committees, debtors, institutional lenders, trade creditors, landlords, real estate and equipment lessors, and asset purchasers. Ms. Fatell's practice includes serving as a chapter 11 trustee, mediator and Consumer Privacy Ombudsman. She has been appointed as a Consumer Privacy Ombudsman in Revel AC, Inc. (NJ), Coldwater Creek (DE), dELiA*s (SDNY), Naartjie Custom Kids (Utah) and Kids Brands (NJ).
Ms. Fatell is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy where she served two terms as Regent for the Third Circuit. She is recognized as a leading bankruptcy lawyer by Chambers USA, listed in Best Lawyers in America, the International Who's Who of Insolvency and Restructuring Lawyers and as a Top Attorney in Delaware by Philadelphia Magazine's Super Lawyers. In addition, she has received the highest possible rating from Martindale–Hubbell.
In 2014, Ms. Fatell was recognized as Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law for the Philadelphia region. She also was named a 2014 Woman of Distinction by the Philadelphia Business Journal. This prestigious award recognizes the Philadelphia region’s most dynamic women for their personal and professional accomplishments. Ms Fatell is a frequent speaker and author on issues involving corporate restructuring and bankruptcy and since 2005 has been a Contributing Author for Collier Bankruptcy Forms Manual (LexisNexis).
Judge FitzSimon spent most of her career at the Department of Justice (1976 to 1987). She supervised a staff of 35 attorneys’ and paraprofessionals conducting litigation under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts and developed federal legal policy in a variety of areas. In 1982 she was appointed Acting United States Trustee for the Northern District of Illinois. Her responsibilities included the appointment and supervision of private trustees in liquidation cases and debtors in possession in business reorganization, litigation in bankruptcy and district courts and lecturing extensively on both substantive and administrative aspects of the Bankruptcy Code. Leaving the Department of Justice in 1987, Judge FitzSimon spent the next ten years of her career as a private sector attorney. She was a partner in two Phoenix Arizona law firms and founded her own bankruptcy and litigation boutique (1987 to 1998). Recruited by Sears Roebuck and Company in 1998, she served as associate general counsel, bankruptcy and collections, overseeing local counsel, financial with vendors and advising the company acquisition of assets out of bankruptcy cases. At Sears, Judge FitzSimon moved in a completely new legal direction, becoming Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President/Law. She directed legal staff handling all regulatory, compliance and ethical issues, established and maintained ethics/compliance training company wide and provided advice on business risk. In 2002, she joined Bridge Associates LLC, (NY & Chicago) to become their general counsel as well as to develop a compliance consulting practice. In 2005 she became general counsel/chief compliance officer/corporate secretary at White Hall Jewelers, a publically traded company. In 2006, she was appointed to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Court, where she currently serves. Throughout her legal career Judge FitzSimon has been active as an author, teacher, and leader. She is very active in the American Bar Association, chairing, co-chairing and vice- chairing numerous committees over the last 30 years. She was awarded the Jean Allard Glass Cutter Award by the ABA Business Law Section in 2014. She also is a member of the American Law Institute.
Charles M. Forman, senior member of Forman Holt Eliades & Youngman, is a widely respected leader of bankruptcy law in the region with more than 30 years of experience as attorney for debtors and creditors in addition to his service as a trustee appointed by the United States Justice Department and as attorney for numerous other trustees.
In his capacity as a trustee, Mr. Forman has overseen more than 15,000 Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 cases, including many of the most complex cases that have been filed in the area’s bankruptcy region, which includes New Jersey and Delaware, during the past two decades. The cases he has handled include household names such as Linens 'n Things, Workbench Furniture, Russ Berrie Toys and Upsala College. Some of his assignments have included serving as trustee for NJ Affordable Homes, a $100 million real estate Ponzi scheme, and Omne Staffing, a $350 million per year employee staffing company. The United States Justice Department recognized the excellence of Mr. Forman's performance as a trustee when it awarded to him the Director’s Award for Outstanding Achievements by a Private Trustee this past decade.
Mr. Forman's combined background in law and engineering and his creative approach to problem solving have served him well in connection with the many varied and complex assignments he has handled including matters in the areas of telecommunications, manufacturing, real estate, employee benefits and health care, securities law and other complex areas. He has lectured on numerous occasions on behalf of the New Jersey State Bar Association and New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education and other organizations, including national organizations, such as the American Bankruptcy Institute, on such topics as bankruptcy fraud, trends in bankruptcy law, trustee practice and other topics.
Mr. Forman's efforts and accomplishments have been reported in numerous reputable publications such as the New York Times, the Star–Ledger of Newark and Forbes Magazine. An article in the Bankruptcy Insider referred to Mr. Forman as a modern day "Robin Hood" because of his extraordinary efforts to recover funds for creditors. The Bergen Record likewise dubbed him “Master of Disaster” because of his skill in handling challenging and complex trustee assignments.
For many years, Mr. Forman has been selected for inclusion in NJ Monthly's New Jersey Super Lawyers lists. In 2012, he was listed in the Top 100 in NJ Monthly's New Jersey Super Lawyers list. Mr. Forman appears on the 2014 list in New York Magazine of The New York Area's Best Lawyers. 201 Magazine has listed Mr. Forman as one of Bergen's Top Lawyers for 2011–2014. Mr. Forman also is listed in the Martindale Hubbell Law Directory with an AV Peer Review Rating.
Mr. Forman has served as a Master in the William H. Gindin Bankruptcy Inn of Court and as President of the Federal Bar Association of New Jersey. He also served as Special Assistant to the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
In addition, he is proud to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Bankruptcy Law Foundation.
Eric Fromme assists companies in restructuring their financial affairs and represents creditors in their dealings with financially distressed companies, both in and out of court. He also represents private equity funds, hedge funds and other strategic buyers in acquiring – or in acquiring control positions — financially distressed companies. A substantial portion of his practice also involves advising boards of directors of companies on corporate governance and fiduciary duty matters in the restructuring context. Eric has advised clients on, and litigated at the trial and appellate levels, the significant legal issues inherent in modern restructuring and financial practice, including adequate protection of security interests, cash collateral usage, valuation, preferences, and fraudulent transfers. He has successfully handled a variety of highly contested trials in bankruptcy courts, including a multi–week plan confirmation trial, as well as bankruptcy appeals.
Education
Bar Admissions
Associations
Michael Fuqua is a Senior Managing Director for GlassRatner Advisory & Capital Group, LLC, and has over 25 years of experience in the areas of capital markets, forensic accounting, turnaround advisory, and bankruptcy. At GlassRatner, he focuses primarily on bankruptcy and restructuring matters and has been involved in the restructuring, refinancing and sale of multiple businesses. He has significant experience with middle market manufacturing companies.
Mr. Fuqua has been involved in the wind down and liquidation of the bankruptcy estates of Borden Chemicals and Plastics OLP; Southwest Recreational Industries; MiddleBrook Pharmaceuticals, among others. In addition to his work in restructuring and bankruptcy matters, he also serves as a Federal Equity Receiver.
Prior to joining GlassRatner, he held positions with Toronto Dominion Bank, Security Pacific National Bank, and Wachovia.
He received his undergraduate degree in economics and MBA from Duke University and is a CIRA.
Rosemary Gambardella was sworn in as a United States Bankruptcy Judge on May 3, 1985, becoming the first woman to serve on the Bankruptcy Court in the District of New Jersey. A native of Newark, Judge Gambardella attended Rutgers University where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and obtained a bachelor of arts degree in history in 1976. After receiving her law degree from Rutgers Law School–Newark in 1979, Judge Gambardella served as law clerk to the late Chief Bankruptcy Judge Vincent J. Commisa from 1979 to 1980. From 1980 to 1985, she was senior staff counsel to Hugh M. Leonard, then United States Trustee for the Districts of New Jersey and Delaware. Judge Gambardella served as Chief Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey from August 12, 1998 to August 11, 2005. She is a member of the Lawyers Advisory Committee of the Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, a member and former President of the New Jersey Bankruptcy Inn of Court and a member of the Bankruptcy Committee of the Third Circuit Task Force on Equal Treatment in the Courts – Gender Commission. In addition, she is a member of the National Association of Women Judges, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Turnaround Management Association and former member of the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Group for the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. Judge Gambardella was the Bankruptcy Judge representative to the Judicial Conference of the United States (2009–2011) and is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.
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Robert E. Gerber is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York, having been appointed in 2000 and reappointed in 2014. He assumed recall status in January 2015. Since his appointment to the bench, Judge Gerber has presided over a wide variety of chapter 11, chapter 7, chapter 15, section 304 and SIPA cases–including PSINet, Ames Department Stores, Global Crossing, Adelphia, ABIZ, Basis Yield Alpha Fund, Lyondell Chemical, BearingPoint, DBSD North America, Chemtura, Pinnacle Airlines, Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt and General Motors. He has presided over more than 20 cases with over $100 million in debt, including 10 with over $1 billion in debt.
Judge Gerber has over 175 published opinions, principally in the business bankruptcy and corporate governance areas.
Judge Gerber earned a B.S. degree in industrial engineering, with high honors, from Rutgers University (from which he graduated in 1967), and a J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from Columbia Law School, from which he graduated in 1970, and where, among other things, he was a James Kent Scholar. Before going on the bench, he practiced with the firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, in New York City, specializing in securities and commercial litigation and, thereafter, bankruptcy litigation and counseling.
He is a contributing author to Collier on Bankruptcy, and a Fellow (and Director) of the American College of Bankruptcy. He has been named as one of the nation's outstanding bankruptcy judges six times.
Karen A. Giannelli is a director of the firm of Gibbons P.C., and chair of the Financial Restructuring and Creditors’ Rights Department. She is the Third Circuit Regent for the American College of Bankruptcy and past Chair of the Bankruptcy Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association. She is a member of the Board of the Turnaround Management Association’s New Jersey chapter, and is a past president and chairperson of that chapter. Ms. Giannelli has written on debtor-creditor issues and secured transactions and has lectured at educational programs sponsored by the Practising Law Institute, Law Education Institute, Glasser LegalWorks Seminars, Aspen Law & Business Seminars, Prentice Hall Law & Business Seminars, New Jersey State Bar Association, Essex County Bar Association, and New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, among others. She has represented each of the significant constituencies in insolvency proceedings, including debtors-in-possession, trustees and secured and unsecured creditors. Ms. Giannelli has been involved in several cases of import to the development of bankruptcy law in the Third Circuit, including Bittner v. Borne Chemical Co., Inc., 691 F.2d 143 (3rd Cir. 1982); Matter of Triangle Laboratories, Inc., 663 F. 2d 564 (3rd Cir. 1981); In re American Family Enterprises, 256 B.R. 377 (D.N.J. 2000); Matter of Route 37 Business Park Associates, 156 B.R. 640 (D.N.J. 1992); and In re Elsinore Shore Associates, 91 B.R. 238 (Bankr. D.N.J. 1988). Ms. Giannelli has been featured in New Jersey Monthly among the top 50 women lawyers and the top 100 lawyers in New Jersey and in the New Jersey Law Journal as a prominent leader among women and minority attorneys in the State of New Jersey. She is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law and in Chambers USA for bankruptcy/restructuring attorneys.
Alfred T. Giuliano CPA, CIRA, CFE, CDBV
Fred has over thirty–five years experience as a certified public accountant. He is also a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA), Certified Distress Business Valuator (CDBV) and a Certified Fraud Examiner( CFE). Fred is a Chapter 7 Panel Trustee for the District of Delaware. In this capacity, he has administered several hundred asset cases. Several of these cases have been large operating cases. In the operating matters, he has served as either a Chapter 11 Trustee or a Chapter 7 Trustee operating pursuant to a 721 order.
He has liquidated assets ranging from entire operating entities to individual assets for companies located throughout the United States. Furthermore, he has served as a Court Appointed Examiner, Liquidating Trustee, and as a State Court Receiver. Some of his more notable cases, in which he has served as a trustee, include Hospital Partners of America, Getty Petroleum Marketing, Hard Rock Park, Ritz Camera, National Envelope, Think Equity, Evergreen Aviation, Global Aviation and National Wholesale Liquidators.
Andrew Goldman is co–chair of the firm's Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring Practice Group, resident in the New York office. He is comfortable handling bankruptcy-related litigation and corporate issues. Having practiced in the field for more than eighteen years, Mr. Goldman is a seasoned bankruptcy litigator and counselor whose practical insights and analytical abilities enable him to fashion strategy and form consensus in the most complicated of restructuring environments.
Practice
Mr. Goldman's practice is broad ranging, and includes representation of large public company debtors, creditors' committees, DIP lenders, acquirers and individual institutional creditors, in both out–of&ndsah;court workouts and formal restructuring processes (both domestic and of the cross–border type).
Honors & Awards
Mr. Goldman was named a leading insolvency and restructuring attorney in 2014 by Expert Guides. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, Mr. Goldman was recognized by Chambers USA for his bankruptcy/restructuring practice. He also received a 2011 Top Attorneys In The New York Metro Area award, was named one of Legal Times' Top 3% Attorneys in the United States for 2009 and named one of the world's leading lawyers in the ninth and tenth editions of the Guide to the World's Leading Insolvency and Restructuring Lawyers. In addition, the 2011-2012 U.S. News – Best Lawyers cited a client of Mr. Goldman's as saying he "is the most responsive outside counsel you will ever work with, hands down. Andy Goldman learned our business and was able to foresee issues and craft strategies. We were never a cookie-cutter deal to him." In the 2010 U.S. News – Best Lawyers rankings, Mr. Goldman's client David Amy with Sinclair Broadcast Group stated that "the depth of knowledge and responsiveness of lawyers at WilmerHale was superb. In hindsight, they were the best choice and I would not have wanted anyone else playing such a crucial role for the company."
Mr. Goldman was named in the April 2005 issue of Turnarounds & Workouts as an "outstanding young restructuring lawyer – 2005." He was also named one of Euromoney's Leading Insolvency and Restructuring Lawyers for 2007 and 2009, one of New York Super Lawyers' Top Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights Lawyers for 2006-2013, and among Continental's "Who's Who" of Lawyers and the Global Directory of Who's Who 2009/2010 edition.
Recent Highlights
Mr. Goldman's recent experiences include:
Michael Goldstein is a partner in Goodwin Procter's Financial Institutions Group, co-chair of its Financial Restructuring Practice and a member of the firm’s FinTech Practice. A veteran restructuring and insolvency lawyer with 30 years of experience, Mr. Goldstein represents debtors, sponsors, bondholders, creditors, committees and purchasers of distressed assets. His representations span a variety of industries, including chemicals, finance, health care, hospitality, high-tech printing, municipal debt, real estate, retail and technology.
Michael S. Goodman is a founding partner and Managing Director of SSG Capital Advisors. He is a nationally recognized leader in the restructuring industry with almost 20 years of experience in special situations transactions and has been involved in over 100 client engagements. His investment banking and financial advisory services include mergers and acquisitions for companies both in and out of bankruptcy; restructurings and reorganizations both in and out of bankruptcy; the private placement of debt and equity; complex valuations; feasibility analyses and other bankruptcy related analyses.
Past clients include publicly traded and privately held middle market and lower middle market companies across almost every industry sector. Michael is an expert source and frequently speaks on topics ranging from the state of the capital markets to alternatives available to companies in transition. His articles have appeared in leading business publications including the Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review, ABL Advisor, Philadelphia Business Journal and Financier Worldwide.
Michael began his investment banking career in 1995 as an analyst at Schroder & Co. He began focusing exclusively in the special situations area in 1998 as part of Berwind Financial, a Philadelphia-based regional financial services firm. In 2001, Michael became a partner of SSG Capital Advisors, which was formed to acquire the special situations investment banking practice from Berwind.
Michael is the President of the Philadelphia chapter of the Turnaround Management Association.
Michael received his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan in 1995.
Judge Kevin Gross was invested as a judge on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on March 13, 2006 and served as Chief Judge from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2014. Judge Gross was born in Wilmington, Delaware where he has been a life–long resident. He attended the University of Delaware, from which he graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. He thereafter attended Washington College of Law of American University where he was a member of the Law Review. Upon graduation from law school in 1977, Judge Gross was a judicial clerk for the Delaware Court of Chancery. He was admitted to the Delaware Bar in March, 1978.
Following his clerkship, in September 1978, he joined the firm of Morris and Rosenthal, and became a Director of the firm in 1985 which later changed its name to Rosenthal, Monhait, Gross & Goddess, P.A. In his early years as a lawyer, Judge Gross' practice consisted of general litigation with particular emphasis on the representation of shareholders before the Delaware Court of Chancery and federal courts. Beginning in 1991, his work increasingly developed in the bankruptcy area.
Judge Gross was an active participant in the Wilmington Desegregation case on behalf of the plaintiff class beginning with the remedy phase of that case; has handled several child custody and parental rights’ cases; and has mediated many cases pending in Bankruptcy Court, District Court, Superior Court and the Court of Chancery.
Recent cases include: Nortel Networks Corporation, Los Angles Dodgers, NewPage Corporation, Friendly's Ice Cream Corporation, Boscov's, Pierre Foods, Mervyn’s Holdings, Sharper Image, Cadence Industries, Dynamerica Manufacturing, Intermet Corporation, Aventine Renewable Energy, Fisker, Tuscany Holdings, Greenfield Energy and Trump Entertainment.
Judge Gross is married with two children.
Ms. Grubin has significant experience in a wide range of insolvency litigation and transactional matters in multiple jurisdictions. Her practice focuses on the representation of debtors, creditors, trustees and official and unofficial committees in all aspects of voluntary and involuntary bankruptcy proceedings and corporate restructurings and workouts in the profit and non-profit sectors. Currently, Ms. Grubin is advising two rural hospitals and a nursing home on restructuring, dissolution, affiliation and sale matters under the New York Not–for–Profit Corporation Law. She also has served as the elected and appointed chapter 7 and chapter 11 trustee in cases pending in the Eastern, Southern and Northern Districts of New York.
She has been involved in cases of national significance, including: MPM Silicones, LLC; MF Global; Patriot Coal Company; Chemtura Corporation; Delphi Corp.; Quebecor World (USA), Inc.; Dan River Holdings, LLC; Fortunoff's; Enron Corp.; The Singer Company N.V.; Keene Corporation; Public Service Company of New Hampshire; Zale's; R.H. Macy's & Co., Inc.; Merry–Go–Round Enterprises; and Adelphia Communications Corporation.
Ms. Grubin currently sits on LeGaL’s Board of Directors and chairs its Judiciary Committee. She also is an active member of the American Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the New York State Bar Association, and serves on the New York chapter board of the International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation.
Ms. Grubin has been named as a New York Metro Super Lawyer for Business Bankruptcy and recognized by Super Lawyers as a "Top Female Attorney in New York." A graduate of Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (J.D.) and Reed College (B.A.), she is admitted in New York and Connecticut, including their federal courts, and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.
Chief Investment Officer of Versa Capital Management, LLC, a private equity firm with $1.4 billion of assets under management.
Mr. Halpern has invested in, managed and advised companies in special situations for more than 20 years, and has been with the firm since 1995. His experiences cover a wide spectrum of industries in circumstances ranging from underperformers to liquidations. Previously, he practiced insolvency law, specializing in business reorganization of middle market companies. He is currently a Director of Avenue Stores (Sports Chalet, Bob’s Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports), Vestis Retail Group, SP Plus, Polartec, Allen-Vanguard, Bell+Howell, Civitas Media, BridgeStreet Worldwide and Hatteras Yachts. Mr. Halpern received a J.D. from Stanford Law School (Order of the Coif) and his B.A. from Reed College (Phi Beta Kappa).
Michelle Harner joined the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law faculty in the fall of 2009. She teaches courses in Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights, Business Associations, Business Planning, Corporate Finance, and Professional Responsibility. Prior to joining the faculty at UM Carey Law School, where she also has served as Associate Dean for Academic Programs, Professor Harner served on the faculty of the University of Nebraska College of Law and was voted "Professor of the Year" by the upperclass students during the 2006–07 and 2008–09 academic years. Professor Harner is an elected Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, and an elected Member in the American Law Institute.
Professor Harner is widely published and lectures frequently on various topics involving corporate governance, financially distressed entities and related legal issues. Her publications appear or are forthcoming in the Vanderbilt Law Review, Notre Dame Law Review, Washington University Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, Fordham Law Review (reprinted in Corporate Practice Commentator), Arizona Law Review (reprinted in Corporate Practice Commentator), Florida Law Review, Washington & Lee Law Review, Illinois Law Review, among others. She also has published or will be publishing articles in specialty law reviews at the Moritz College of Law (The Ohio State University), Rutgers School of Law, St. John’s University School of Law, University of Miami School of Law, University of Tennessee College of Law and UM Carey Law School.
Professor Harner's scholarship has been cited by numerous courts, including the United States Courts of Appeal for the First, Third, Fifth and Ninth Circuits and the United States District Courts for the Districts of Massachusetts and Nevada. Professor Harner’s current research interests include shareholder and creditor activism and its impact on enterprise value; legislative responses to serial business failures and related implications for discrete industries; and the ethical implications of insolvency for directors, officers and other fiduciaries.
Professor Harner currently is serving as the Reporter to the ABI Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11. In addition, in March 2009 and April 2012, Professor Harner received research grants from the American Bankruptcy Institute Endowment Fund to study the role of creditors' committees in chapter 11 business bankruptcies and potential reforms to chapter 11, respectively. She also serves as a member of the Dodd–Frank Study Working Group for the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
Professor Harner previously was in private practice in the business restructuring, insolvency, bankruptcy and related transactional fields, most recently as a partner at the Chicago office of the international law firm Jones Day. Before joining that firm in 1996, she served as law clerk to Judge William T. Bodoh of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Professor Harner is admitted to practice law in Illinois and Ohio.
William K. Harrington is the United States Trustee for Region 1 and Region 2. Mr. Harrington was appointed as the United States Trustee for Region 1 on November 8, 2010 and as the United States Trustee for Region 2 on November 26, 2013. Prior to his appointment as the United States Trustee for Region 1, Mr. Harrington was the Assistant United States Trustee for the District of Delaware. Prior to joining the Office of the United States Trustee, he practiced bankruptcy and reorganization law at Duane Morris LLP. Mr. Harrington is a member of the Boston Bar Association, the Delaware State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute and the Delaware Bankruptcy American Inn of Court. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from Villanova University School of Law.
David Herman is a Partner at Gordian Group, a leading independent investment bank specializing in complex, "story", distressed and/or short–cycle M&A, financial restructuring and capital raise assignments. Almost all of Gordian's advisory work is on behalf of companies, boards of directors and existing equity holders, including private equity firms, entrepreneurs and family groups. David and the firm are consistently recognized as leaders in the field by industry publications such as The Deal and Turnarounds & Workouts.
Representative disclosable advisory engagements include American Airlines, Esquire Solutions, Integrated Electrical Services, Jobson Medical Information; LTV Steel, Mississippi Chemical, Spansion, Summit Global Logistics and Xtreme Power.
David received his B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, and is FINRA Series 7, 24 and 63 Certified.
Professional Highlights
Alan Holtz has been a Managing Director in AlixPartners' Turnaround and Restructuring Services group since 2006, primarily focused on mid–market companies (under $1 billion). He co–leads the group's Transformation and Restructuring Advisory practice from the New York office, where he is also the Local Market Leader. For over 26 years, Alan has advised clients on all aspects of the financial restructuring process, including business planning and analysis, cash forecasting and management, operational improvement, valuation and the structuring and negotiation of plans of reorganization. Alan has provided these services to companies and their management and directors, and also to financial institutions and creditors’ committees, across a wide variety of industries.
Prior to joining AlixPartners, Alan spent 22 years at a "Big 4" accounting and consulting firm and its restructuring division successor.
Client Experience
Alan has been involved in dozens of major restructurings and out-of-court workouts. Recent clients include: Nebraska Book Company (college bookstores), Media General (newspaper and television), the Official Creditors' Committees of Residential Capital (mortgage lending) and of (Chicago) Tribune Company (newspapers), The Newark Group (paperboard), White Birch Paper (newsprint), in a cross–border Canadian restructuring and SP Newsprint. Previously, he led a team at Remy International, a Tier 1 automotive supplier that restructured through a landmark 59–day prepackaged Chapter 11. The Turnaround Management Association has recognized Alan and the AlixPartners team with its Transaction of the Year award for the successful Remy restructuring and with its Large Turnaround of the Year award for Nebraska Book.
Highlights of Alan's prior experience include: Barney's, Dana, Eastern Air Lines, Enron, KB Toys, National Amusements, Payless Cashways, Pillowtex, Popeye’s, U.S. Concrete, and USG. Alan has been included on Turnaround and Workouts' "People to Watch" list and was named "Turnaround Consultant of the Year" by M&A Advisor.
Affiliations
Alan received a bachelor's degree in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
He is past chairman and past president of the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors and is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor. Alan is also a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Turnaround Management Association and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He sits on the board of Newark Public Radio – WBGO and is a frequent speaker and author on the subject of corporate restructuring.
Jean Hosty is a vice president and member of the Piper Jaffray Capital Advisory team. She focuses on providing investment banking services and to distressed companies, lenders and creditors both in and out of court.
Prior to joining Piper Jaffray, Hosty worked at Macquarie Capital Advisors for three years in the firm's restructuring and special situations group, where she was based out of the Chicago office. Hosty has more than 7 years corporate finance experience including advising clients on all aspects of mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and debt capital markets transactions. Hosty graduated cum laude from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service with a bachelor’s degree concentrated in international politics.
The Honorable Kevin R. Huennekens was appointed as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia on September 11, 2006. He received his J.D. in 1978 from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William & Mary where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and the Law Review, and his B.A. from the College of William & Mary in 1975. Prior to his appointment, Judge Huennekens was a partner with the firm of Kutak Rock LLP. Judge Huennekens served as a Panel Trustee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (1988-2006). He was an Adjunct Professor of Law at the College of William & Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law (1993-96). He successfully argued the case of Patterson v. Shumate, 405 U.S. 253, 112 S. Ct. 2242 (1992) before the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Huennekens is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, a member of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the American Bankruptcy Institute, was recognized in Who’s Who Legal USA: Insolvency & Restructuring and The International Who’s Who of Insolvency and Restructuring in 2006, and was listed in the Best Lawyers in America from 1995 to 2006. He is a planning committee member of the Annual Mid-Atlantic Institute on Bankruptcy and Reorganization Practice. He is the Co-Editor of the Virginia CLE Publication, Bankruptcy Practice in Virginia (2012). Judge Huennekens served as Chair of the Advisory Committee on Executory Contracts and Leases of the ABI Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11.
Osagie has over 30 years of experience in the field of law, finance and business management, health-care and the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to co-founding Phoenix IP Ventures, Osagie conceptualized and established GlaxoSmithKline Ventures and was its founding Vice President. Osagie led GSK Ventures in concluding over thirty (30) worldwide transactions, within a 3 year period, in which he invested various GSK R&D non-progressed assets into various companies and/or as the basis of starting new companies.
Prior to this role within GSK, Osagie was a Vice President for Product Development Strategy at SmithKline Beecham. Prior to this role at SmithKline, Osagie was the founding Senior Vice President for Business Development and General Counsel at Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., a multi-billion dollar publicly traded specialist pharmaceutical company. Osagie previously served as a DuPont Merck Vice President for International Sales and Marketing and General Counsel to DuPont Merck's International, Manufacturing and Generic Drug Divisions, Osagie has also been a Price Waterhouse Corporate Finance Partner as well as a practicing attorney with a leading US Law Firm in the fields of corporate, corporate finance, taxation and intellectual property law.
Most recently, Osagie was a co-founder and former President, CEO and Chairman of Ception Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical focused on the discovery and development of novel products to address unmet medical needs, which was successfully sold to Cephalon, Inc. Osagie, was also the Founder of Trigenesis Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing pharmaceutical products for the dermatological market which he sold to Dr. Reddy’s pharmaceutical company. Osagie is Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Iroko Pharmaceuticals as well as Chairman of iCeutica Inc. In addition, he serves on the Board of a number of financial institutions such as StoneRidge Investment Partners and Haverford Trust. Osagie is also the Chairman of the Advisory Board for Quoin Capital, a Philadelphia based, full services Investment Bank.
Osagie is active in charitable and community pursuits and serves as a Board and Executive Committee member of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Orchestra. In addition, he is a Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania and also a member of the Board of Overseers of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he is an Adjunct Professor of Law. Osagie holds post-graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the London School of Economics and is a member of the New York State Bar.
Thomas P. Jeremiassen is a director at Berkeley Research Group, LLC in its Los Angeles (Century City) office. He is a certified public accountant, certified in financial forensics (CPA/CFF) and a certified insolvency and restructuring advisor (CIRA) with nearly 20 years of experience providing services in bankruptcy, forensic/investigative accounting, and litigation support. Mr. Jeremiassen has served as Chapter 11 trustee, Chapter 7 trustee, receiver and disbursing agent. He has also served as accountant and financial advisor for trustees, creditors, creditor committees, debtors, and examiners in numerous Chapter 7 and 11 matters. Mr. Jeremiassen is a graduate of Pepperdine University (B.S. in Accounting).
Professional Summary
Mr. Kalten joined Crowe Horwath LLP in August 2008 in the Restructuring Advisory Services Practice. Mr. Kalten is an accomplished Certified Insolvency Restructuring Advisor (CIRA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), and is Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) with an extensive bankruptcy and restructuring background. He has an expertise in preparing and analyzing financial statements and reports for use in bankruptcy, bank work out, forensic and litigation support engagements. He draws on 17 years of experience providing bankruptcy and restructuring, forensic accounting, and assurance services to clients in various industries including retail, distribution, construction, manufacturing, retail dealerships, not–for–profit organizations, and automotive suppliers.
Experience
Professional Affiliations
Education
Speaking Engagements
Certifications
Karen Kaplowitz founded The New Ellis Group in 1997 to advise law firms and individual lawyers on business development and lateral integration. As a personal coach, Karen has worked with hundreds of law firm partners around the country to build their practices. Karen has worked with many bankruptcy and restructuring professionals, particularly since 2008.
Karen's biweekly newsletter, Monday Monday, http://www.newellis.com/MondayArchive.html, is well–known among industry professionals for providing expert and actionable advice on business development strategy.
Earlier in her career, Karen was a successful trial attorney in Los Angeles and was recognized in Best Lawyers in America for over a decade and in Super Lawyers. She was an associate at O’Melveny & Myers; co-founded one of the first women–owned law firms in Los Angeles; and was a partner for nearly 20 years at Alschuler, Grossman & Pines, a prominent litigation boutique in Los Angeles. Karen's legal experience includes several major bankruptcy matters including Equity Funding Life Insurance, representing the trustee, and North American Car Corporation, defending an adversary proceeding.
Karen was president of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers and Chair of the ABA's Employer–Employee Relations Committee of the Tort and Insurance Practice Section.
Karen is a graduate of Barnard College, cum laude, and the University of Chicago Law School. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Robert J. Keach is a shareholder at Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson, Portland, Maine. Mr. Keach is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and a Past President (2009-2010) of the American Bankruptcy Institute ("ABI"). Mr. Keach is also the Co–chair of the ABI's Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11. Mr. Keach focuses on the representation of various parties in workouts and bankruptcy cases, including debtors, creditors, creditors committees, lessors and third parties acquiring troubled companies and/or their assets. Mr. Keach has appeared as a panelist on national bankruptcy, lender liability and creditors rights programs, and is the author of several articles on bankruptcy and creditors' rights appearing in the ABI Law Review, Commercial Law Journal and ABI Journal, among other publications. Mr. Keach is a contributing author to Collier Guide to Chapter 11: Key Topics and Selected Industries (2011 Ed.). Mr. Keach is recognized as a "Star Individual" in Corporate M&A/Bankruptcy in Chambers USA, in Best Lawyers in America (Ten–Year Certificate), and by New England Super Lawyers (Bankruptcy and Top 100 Lawyers in New England regardless of specialty). Mr. Keach is also certified in business bankruptcy by the American Board of Certification. Most recently, Mr. Keach has, inter alia, represented ad hoc committees in the Homebanc Mortgage, New Century TRS Holdings, and Nortel Networks cases in Delaware, as well as a public utilities commission in the FairPoint Communications case in the Southern District of New York. Mr. Keach was the fee examiner in In re AMR Corporation (the chapter 11 cases of American Airlines and its parent and certain affiliates). Mr. Keach is currently the chapter 11 trustee in the railroad reorganization case of Montreal Maine & Atlantic Railway, Ltd., as well as the fee examiner in Exide Technologies.
M. Kathleen Klein is a Certified Public Account in Fresno, California. Her firm specializes in the areas of taxation, bankruptcy, and insolvency issues. She provides services to chapter 7 and 11 trustees, bankruptcy attorneys and Debtors in Possession. Services provided include preparation of tax returns, preference analysis, and cash flow analysis for both liquidations and reorganizations, and preparation of monthly reports of operation. In addition, she assists clients outside of bankruptcy in dealing with unpaid Federal, state and local taxes. These services include negotiating Installment Agreements and Offer in Compromises with the Internal Revenue Service and local and state agencies.
Prior to establishing her own firm in 2004, Kathleen worked for Deloitte & Touch in San Francisco and for Dennis Bean in Fresno. She is a graduate of California State University- Fresno and San Joaquin College of Law where she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in accounting (1987) and Master of Science in Taxation (1997), respectively. Kathleen has attained the specialty designation of Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisory (CIRA).
Kathleen ‘s professional memberships include the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the California State Society of Certified Public Accounts (CalCPA), the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA) and the Central California Bankruptcy Association (CCBA). Kathleen is currently the Treasurer and is a past President of the Central California Bankruptcy Association.
Susan Klein is a member in the Firm's Bankruptcy & Restructuring Practice Group. Her practice focuses on complex bankruptcies, workouts, receiverships, loan closings, factoring other commercial transactions, and participation arrangements. She has represented many major banking institutions and corporations on bankruptcy, corporate and commercial litigation issues. She regularly represents creditors and debtors in commercial and bankruptcy litigation. Her practice includes litigation matters in both the trial and appellate levels.
FOCUS OF PRACTICE
Bankruptcy and Restructuring
Creditor Rights
Maryland Bankruptcy Law
Business Law
EDUCATION
J.D., cum laude, Temple University School of Law, 1982
B.S., summa cum laude, University of Maryland, College Park, 1979
BAR ADMISSIONS
Maryland, 1982
District of Columbia, 1992
Virginia, 1992
HONORS
PROFESSIONAL AND CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
PUBLICATIONS AND LECTURES
Karl Knechtel is a Director in the Corporate Recovery Group at Friedman LLP. Karl specializes in bankruptcy, insolvency and forensic accounting services for a wide range of industries including retail, healthcare, construction, restaurant and food services, manufacturing, telecommunications, oil and natural gas, telemarketing and professional services.
EXPERTISE
His expertise includes:
Karl also has extensive experience serving the various parties-in-interest for bankruptcy proceedings and has served as financial advisor to numerous creditors' committee.
Affiliations
EDUCATION
RELATED SERVICES
John Knight represents debtors, secured creditors and other parties in interest in Delaware chapter 11 cases. Vice chair of the firm’s Bankruptcy & Corporate Restructuring Department, John was lead counsel to National Envelope in its recent chapter 11 case, for which the firm won the 2014 M&A Advisor Turnaround Award for Restructuring Deal of the Year ($50 - $100 million).
John also has an active secured lender practice, representing the prepetition or DIP lender in many large chapter 11 cases. Recently, John was co–counsel to Toshiba Corporation in connection with its DIP loan to and acquisition of OCZ Technology Group.
John leads the firm’s substantive non–consolidation opinion team.
Experience
Presentations
Awards
Leadership
Education
Admitted to Practice
Teresa C. Kohl is a Director of SSG Capital Advisors and leads the firm's litigation advisory services practice. She is an experienced restructuring professional with over 15 years of leadership in crisis management and turnaround advisory. She has completed numerous restructuring matters including refinancing and sale transactions for middle market companies in bankruptcy proceedings and out-of-court workouts. Prior to her transition to investment banking, she led financial and operational restructuring engagements at Bridge Associates, LLC and NHB Advisors, Inc.
She serves on the Board of Directors of the American Bankruptcy Institute and is a member of the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors and the International Women's Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation. She is very active in the Turnaround Management Association, where she is the first woman to lead TMA's largest global chapter (New York City) as President. She is a founding co-chair of the TMA Global Network of Women, an executive board member of TMA Global and serves as Vice Chair of the Chapter Presidents Council.
Teresa received her BBA from the Villanova School of Business at Villanova University. She is registered with FINRA as a General Securities Representative (Series 7 and 63) and a Limited Representative - Investment Banking (Series 79).
Kimberly J. Lam is a Partner of Bachecki, Crom & Co., LLP, a public accounting firm in San Francisco, specializing in bankruptcy tax, forensic accounting and fraud investigations. She provides consulting on bankruptcy and insolvency matters, including income tax and cash flow analysis pertaining to liquidation of bankruptcy estate assets, tax elections, and attribute utilization, financial advisory, avoidable transfers, solvency, claim analysis, and assistance in complying with Bankruptcy Court and tax filing requirements.
Kimberly has more than 20 years experience in public accounting. Kimberly also specializes in and enjoys providing tax consulting and compliance services to high net worth individuals and their related entities including trusts, partnerships and corporations. She has extensive experience working with professional service companies, law firms and real estate businesses. She has worked with closely held family businesses, high growth companies and companies in bankruptcy with multi-state and multi–national operations to provide accurate and timely compliance. Kimberly often works closely with her clients and their advisors and attorneys to develop and implement strategic plans that minimize income and estate taxes. Kimberly prides herself in providing a comprehensive, thoughtful and personalized approach to her client's tax and financial needs.
Kimberly is a native San Franciscan and received her Bachelor of Arts in Business and Accounting from the San Francisco State University. She began her professional career in public accounting at Ernst & Young and Arthur Andersen. Kimberly was admitted to the partnership of Bachecki, Crom & Co., LLP in 2007.
Professional affiliations:
Jonathan M. Landers is a nationally recognized authority in bankruptcy and insolvency law. He graduated from Colgate University (Phi Beta Kappa) and from the Harvard Law School (magna cum laude, Harvard Law Review). He has broad experience in bankruptcy, insolvency, restructuring, financing transactions, purchase/sale of assets and bankruptcy and insolvency litigation matters, representing debtors, lenders and lending syndicates, large creditors, litigation trustees and defendants, and asset sellers and purchasers. He has served as lead counsel for clients in numerous matters including BostonGen (Committee), Strauss Auto (Debtor as litigation plaintiff), Hoop (Disney Stores -- Debtor), Odyssey Group (North Face and Head Sportswear -- Debtor), Insilco (Lending Group), Champion Homebuilders (Committee as litigation plaintiff), Finova (Debtor), Enron (large creditor), Adelphia (large creditor/agent), Placid Oil (large lender), Penrod (large lender), Greyhound (contract party), and Bergner (contract party). His clients have included Wells Fargo Bank, Dial Corporation, Merrill Lynch, and Citibank (in the bankruptcy of a number of major US law firms, most recently, Heller Ehrman, Thelen and Brobeck). Mr. Landers is the co-author of three books and more than 35 published articles on bankruptcy, creditors' rights and civil procedure, a former partner for 23 years with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, a former professor/visiting professor at the Universities of Chicago, California, Illinois, San Francisco and Kansas, a frequent speaker at legal education institutes, one of 65 members of the National Bankruptcy Conference and a member of American College of Bankruptcy (founding class), and has been recognized repeatedly in New York Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America. He is listed on the Official Register of Mediators for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the District of Delaware, recently completed a successful mediation of a multi-million dollar preference action, has been an expert witness and most recently testified in a case pending in Israel.
Paul Leake represents all major constituencies in restructurings, including debtors, commercial banks and bank groups, distressed investment funds, noteholder committees, official creditors' committees, unsecured creditors and distressed investors. He focuses on U.S. and transnational business reorganizations, including chapter 11 reorganizations and liquidations, out-of-court restructurings, secured financings, distressed acquisitions, and investments in troubled companies in a number of industries, including retail, shipping, airlines, energy, healthcare, publishing, satellite communications, and real estate. Paul is head of the Business Restructuring and Reorganization Practice.
Paul's representative out–of–court and chapter 11 debtor matters include Fresh & Easy, Georgia Gulf, Globalstar, Independence Air, Interep, Levitz, Proliance and ProQuest. He has represented ad hoc noteholder and official unsecured creditor committees in the Cone Mills, Energy Partners Limited, Enron, General Maritime, and Kirker Enterprises restructurings, and senior secured lenders and lender groups in the Bi-Lo, Calpine, Greenfield Energy Services, Meridian Automotive Systems, and Trico Marine restructurings. His major distressed M&A and creditor representations include Aurora Resurgence, Goldman Sachs, Pershing Square and other distressed funds in a number of high–profile restructurings.
Prior to joining Jones Day, Paul advised on out-of-court and chapter 11 debtor restructurings for Balanced Care, Drexel Burnham Lambert, Marvel Entertainment, NextWave Telecom, Olympia & York, and Sun Healthcare, and represented noteholder and official committees in the Iridium and Orbital Imaging restructurings, senior secured lenders in the Memorex restructuring, and creditors Citibank and GECC. Paul is a member of the American Bar Association and New York State Bar Association. He has published and lectured extensively on U.S. and transnational insolvency matters.
EXPERIENCE HIGHLIGHTS
Green Field ad hoc committee forges consensus with parties
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market completes sale of 150 stores to Yucaipa Cos.
World Fuel Services seeks to enforce its in rem rights in STX Pan Ocean chapter 15 case
HONORS & DISTINCTIONS
Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business
Legal 500 US
K&A Restructuring Register
IFLR 1000
EDUCATION
Columbia University (J.D. 1988); Amherst College (B.A. 1985)
BAR ADMISSIONS
New York
Professional and Industry Experience
Robert Liquerman is a principal in KPMG LLP’s Washington National Tax Corporate practice. In his role at KPMG, he advises clients and firm professionals on matters regarding mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, liquidating and nonliquidating corporate distributions, corporate reorganizations, cross-border transactions, discharges of indebtedness, bankruptcies and work–outs.
Before joining Washington National Tax in 1994, Mr. Liquerman served as an attorney for the Internal Revenue Service, Office of the Chief Counsel, Corporate Division. In this position, he drafted treasury regulations, private letter rulings, technical advice memoranda, closing agreements, responses to congressional inquiries, field service advices, and memoranda of law. Prior to his governmental experience, Mr. Liquerman was a senior tax associate in the mergers and acquisitions group and the insurance group in the New York office of another Big Four firm.
Mr. Liquerman is an adjunct professor of law in the LL.M. program at the Georgetown University Law Center, and he previously served as an adjunct professor in the LL.M. program at the College of William & Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law.
Publications and Speaking Engagements
Mr. Liquerman is the co–author of Bankruptcy & Insolvency Taxation (third edition) published by John Wiley & Sons and is also the author of numerous published articles. A frequent lecturer on mergers and acquisitions, Mr. Liquerman instructs internal and external continuing professional education courses.
A partner in the Insolvency and Litigation division of Bederson, Chuck has more than 25 years of diverse experience in litigation consulting and valuation. He has over 20 years of comprehensive experience in financial, tax and corporate management services, specializing in audit and management consulting for various real estate, healthcare and insurance providers.
Chuck is responsible for forensic accounting and economic consulting at Bederson and focuses on providing expert testimony and consulting services in the area of damage measurement, personal injury and wrongful death studies, business valuations, and accountants' malpractice. He has provided expert witness testimony for more than 110 cases encompassing a significant breadth of matters.
Chuck has extensive expertise in bankruptcy and reorganizations, fraud investigations, insurance disputes, healthcare fraud and abuse, as well as measuring damages for new and unestablished businesses. He also has experience in intellectual property disputes, construction delay damage cases, merger and acquisition disputes, lender liability issues and employment disputes.
Chuck’s professional credentials include: CPA (Certified Public Accountant) in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Past Chairman, Forensic and Litigation services committee; Member, Valuation Committee, Committee on Fiscal Responsibility, and Executive Committee, Philadelphia Chapter), CMA (Certified Management Accountant), CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter), FLMI (Fellow of the Life Management Institute), CFE (Certified Fraud Examiner), ABV (Accredited in Business Valuations), CGMA (Chartered Global Management Accountant), CFF (Certified in Financial Forensics), and Member of the Editorial Board of the National Litigation Consultants' Review.
Chuck has a B.S. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. He graduated with honors and is a member of the Beta Alpha Psi, the Accounting Major's Honor Society. He has authored dozens of scholarly articles for publications including: PICPA Journal, NJCPA Magazine, National Litigation Consultants' Review, The Value Examiner, NJBIZ, Commerce Magazine and more. He is a frequent conference speaker and has presented to organizations including PICPA, AGN, AIRA, Eastern Association of County Auditors and Controllers, Single County Authority Fiscal Officers Associations and the Montgomery County Bar Association. Chuck resides in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Don MacKenzie is a recognized expert at orchestrating successful financial and operational restructuring transactions in various industries, including automotive, franchise, equipment manufacturing, industrial contracting, and high-tech. Mr. MacKenzie has wide–ranging experience in insolvency and bankruptcy matters, turnaround and crisis management, mergers and acquisitions, transaction financing, corporate renewal, and business valuations. He provides litigation support services, including expert testimony in federal and state courts on securities violations, fraudulent conveyances, reorganization plan feasibility, business valuations, contractual interference, and breach of contract.
Previous Experience
As an expert in the automotive industry, Mr. MacKenzie interfaces with, and advises, Chief Executive Officers, senior management and board members regarding various strategy decisions and tactics to successfully navigate within the industry. He is frequently called upon by Original Equipment Manufacturers, Tier 1 suppliers, financial institutions and investors, such as private equity and hedge funds, to provide advice and counsel, and when applicable, oversees services provided to these institutions by Conway MacKenzie. He has served as interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Restructuring Officer for both public and private middle–market companies and large Tier 1 suppliers operating with complex capital structures in the international marketplace. Due to his vast knowledge of the inner workings of the automotive industry, Mr. MacKenzie is able to formulate negotiated solutions for complex transactions with customers, financial institutions and other interested parties. With his broad base of representation, automotive expertise and strategy analysis, Mr. MacKenzie is highly regarded as a unique financial and operational expert within the automotive industry.
Education & Professional Organizations
As one of the founders of Conway MacKenzie, Mr. MacKenzie has been with the firm since its inception in 1987. He is a Certified Turnaround Professional, Certified Public Accountant and has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Michigan State University. He is a member of the Turnaround Management Association, the Association of Insolvency and Reorganization Accountants, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants, and frequently conducts seminars and lectures on the subjects of corporate renewal, restructuring, and various additional topics relating to the automotive industry.
Howard Magaliff's practice encompasses all facets of bankruptcy and restructuring. As a consultant to distressed companies, Howard helps his clients maximize recovery and return to profitability. Advising clients as they emerge from a temporary setback, he outlines the legal rights, obligations and options for proceeding and collaborates on a strategy to reposition and renew the company’s performance going forward. Clients and lawyers routinely bring him into cases that have stalled at a critical juncture because he has a track record of concluding matters efficiently and favorably.
Howard is a commercial litigator with extensive first chair trial experience in federal district and state courts in a broad range of commercial and business matters including insurance, construction, tax certiorari, mortgage foreclosure and piercing the corporate veil. In bankruptcy court, he has litigated the settlement payment safe harbor for securities transactions, substantive consolidation, the applicability of the automatic stay to federal agencies, legal and accounting malpractice, unfinished business claims of a dissolved law firm and challenges to professional fees. He also handles appeals, has argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the New York Court of Appeals, and has written the winning briefs for several landmark cases decided by the Second Circuit.
Howard has represented domestic and international companies in a broad range of industries including the automotive, housing, real estate, energy, lumber, healthcare, restaurant, retail and electronics industries, and served as debtor's counsel in some of the largest and most well known cases including Enron, Chrysler, General Motors, NRG Energy, Allegiance Telecom, Ames Department Stores, Loehmann's, Guilford Mills, St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers, Frontier Airlines, Daewoo International (America) Corp., Delphi and Tower Automotive. He has also represented creditor and equity security holder committees. Howard is a chapter 7 panel trustee in the Southern District of New York, and is regularly hired as special litigation counsel to other trustees.
Howard is admitted to practice in New York and Connecticut, as well as in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the District of Connecticut, the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He received his B.A. in 1981 from Binghamton University and a J.D. 1984 from Boston University School of Law.
Alexandra Mahnken, CIRA, is a Senior Director with Huron Business Advisory where she provides financial advisory services to debtors and creditors, with a focus on bankruptcy litigation consulting. Recent chapter 11 cases include Revstone Industries, J & B Restaurants, WP Steel and Townsends.
Ms. Mahnken's restructuring and turnaround career spans more than twenty-five years, encompassing debtor and creditor advisory work, forensic investigations and litigation consulting, distressed investing, C–level interim management of distressed companies, and the valuation and sale of distressed assets.
Ms. Mahnken holds a B.S., summa cum laude, from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She is a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA) and teaches the CIRA certification classes. She is a member of the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors, the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. She is also an award–winning poet in the nascent genre of Bankruptcy Haiku.
Robert K. Malone is a partner with the firm and vice chair of the Corporate Restructuring Practice Group. He focuses his practice in the area of bankruptcy and insolvency law with emphasis upon sophisticated corporate reorganizations and out-of-court restructurings.
Bob has headed the firm's engagements in such notable bankruptcy cases as Advanta Corp., Accredited Home Lenders, Meadowcraft, Resorts International, Inc., Mutual Benefit Overseas, Inc., Kiwi International Air Lines, Inc., Kamine/Besicorp Allegany, L.P., Robert E. Brennan, Manhattan Bagel Company, Inc. and St. Mary's Hospital. In the New Jersey Law Journal article, Passaic Hospital First in New Jersey To Survive Chapter 11, Bob was featured as one of the "Saviors of St. Mary's".
In General. Bob is admitted to practice in the State of New Jersey, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, as well as the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. Bob is a graduate of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he received his bachelor’s degree in Economics in 1981 and a 1984 graduate of Seton Hall University School of Law, where he was bureau editor of the Seton Hall Legislative Bureau and Journal. Bob formerly served as a law clerk to the Hon. William H. Gindin, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of New Jersey, from January 1985 to September 1986. Bob has also served as a lecture panelist on bankruptcy–related issues for various groups including the American Bankruptcy Institute, the New Jersey Bar Association Bench/Bar Conference, the Essex County Bar Association Bankruptcy Practice Symposium, and the New Jersey Society of CPAs.
With over 27 years of financial restructuring experience, Perry Mandarino serves as PwC's U.S. Business Recovery Services practice leader and a partner within the firm’s Deals practice. Perry oversees a team of professional responsible for delivering fully integrated financial and operational services to help clients find practical solutions to complex operating issues, develop strategies to improve profit and cash flow and maximize value for stakeholders. Over the course of his career, Perry has represented more than 400 companies and other stakeholders through various out–of–court and Chapter 11 proceedings.
His past assignments include interim chief restructuring officer and advisory roles for clients. Given his expertise in complex debt restructurings and strategic planning, Perry has been involved with the preparation of turnaround, business and plans of reorganization, cash flow analyses, financial due diligence, transaction structuring, deal documentation financing and collateral evaluation. His broad range of restructuring and bankruptcy industry experience spans across retail, distribution, communications, business services, manufacturing, healthcare, construction and real estate companies, among others.
Some of Perry's notable assignments have included: Chrysler, Patriot Coal, Filenes Basement, Hoop Holdings, Inc. d/b/a/ The Disney Stores, Polaroid, Inc., Summit Global Logistics, Hoboken University Medical Center, National Envelope and MIIX Group. Perry has extensive experience in various Bankruptcy and state Courts, where he has testified and been qualified as an expert in matters related to financial viability, valuation, general reorganization matters and financing. Perry received a Bachelor of Science from Seton Hall University and has lectured to various industry groups on corporate and municipal bankruptcy issues and the reorganization process. Perry is a participant in the Wall Street Journal's "Bankruptcy Examiner" series, where he publishes a monthly article on various restructuring topics. Perry was recently named The M&A Advisor's Turnaround Consultant of the Year for 2014.
Prior to joining PwC in 2009, Perry was a Senior Managing Director of Traxi, LLC. Prior to joining Traxi, Perry spent 14 years at a Big Five firm, where he was a Partner in the Firm's Global Corporate Finance – Corporate Restructuring Group. Perry also was managing director of restructuring in a boutique investment banking firm.
A sample of clients includes:
Background
Scott leads our Mergers & Acquisitions Tax practice in Philadelphia and has over 15 years experience serving public and private corporations. Scott has spent his entire career within the Mergers & Acquisitions Tax practice and has been involved in hundreds of due diligence investigations on domestic and cross-border transactions across a variety of industries. In addition to due diligence, Scott advises domestic and foreign corporations on the U.S. tax consequences of business transactions, including: acquisitions, internal restructurings, divestitures, mergers, spin-offs, debt offerings, stock offerings, recapitalizations, and redemptions. Scott has written tax opinions and disclosures for a number of publicly-held corporations in connection with their transactions.
Professional and Industry Experience
Scott has experience within the following industries: Private Equity, Aerospace and Defense, Chemicals, Consumer Products, Diversified Industrials, Pharmaceuticals, Technology, and Telecommunications.
Publications and Speaking Engagements
Scott has spoken at a number of tax conferences throughout the United States. Scott is co-author of The Application of Code Sec. 367 to Code Sec. 304(a)(1) Transactions which appeared in The August 2006 edition of Corporate Business Taxation Monthly.
Other Activities
Scott is an adjunct professor of tax law at the Villanova University School of Law.
Nancy A. Mitchell is Co–Chair of Greenberg Traurig's Business Reorganization & Financial Restructuring Practice. She has more than 25 years of experience in restructuring and corporate finance as both an attorney and an investment banker. Nancy has had a key role in numerous bankruptcies and restructurings, including FriendFinder Networks Inc., GameTech International, Inc., Allens, Inc., Liberty Healthcare Group, Satélites Mexicanos S.A. de C.V., Indiana Downs, LLC, Conseco Finance Company, United Airlines and many others. She is listed in Chambers USA, The Legal 500 and The Best Lawyers in America. In 2014, Global M&A Network named her among the top 100 restructuring and turnaround professionals.
Brett is a principal of Porzio, Bromberg & Newman and a member of the firm’s Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring Department. He serves as the firm's Commercial Practice Group Chair, and Managing Principal of the firm's New York Office. His practice primarily involves the representation of creditors and commercial debtors in insolvency/restructuring matters. Most recently, Brett has served as counsel to creditor committees in several New Jersey based hospital bankruptcy proceedings, and has focused in recent years in assisting foreign liquidators pursue claims in U.S. based insolvency proceedings. Brett has substantial experience in bankruptcy related litigation matters, both defending parties who are sued for clawback/avoidance actions, as well as pursuing such actions on behalf of an estate.
Prior Relevant Experience
Honors and Awards
Publications
Speaking Engagements
Ms. Morgan has practiced business bankruptcy law since graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1987 and has practiced at Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP in Wilmington, Delaware, since 1997. As a partner in the firm’s Bankruptcy & Corporate Restructuring Section, she has represented debtors, creditors’ committees and secured lenders in some of the nation’s largest chapter 11 cases, including Eastman Kodak (debtor representation), Coldwater Creek (debtor representation), GateHouse Media (debtor representation), Buffets Holdings, Inc. (debtor representation), American Home Mortgage (debtor representation), AbitibiBowater (debtor representation), Energy Future Holdings Corp. (ad hoc committee of first lien creditors), Dendreon Corporation (official committee), Exide Technologies (unofficial noteholders committee), Optim Energy (lender representation), and many others. She has served as chair of the firm’s bankruptcy section and as a member of the firm’s management committee since 2011.
Ms. Morgan is a member of the Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey bars and also is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Turnaround Management Association, the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors, and many other professional organizations. She also serves on Delaware’s District Court Advisory Committee and was appointed by the Chief Judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to serve on the most recent Merit Selection Committee for bankruptcy judges in the District of Delaware. For the past several years, Ms. Morgan has been recognized by Best Lawyers of America as a leading bankruptcy practitioner in Delaware and ranked in the top tier by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, which notes that she is “a highly respected figure in the Delaware market”. In 2015, Ms. Morgan was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.
Edward E. Neiger is a co-managing Partner at ASK LLP. Prior to ASK LLP, Edward was the founding partner of Neiger LLP, a premier full service bankruptcy and corporate law firm. Prior to Neiger LLP Edward was an attorney in the Business, Finance & Restructuring department of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, one of the nation's premier restructuring practices.
Edward represented clients in the bankruptcy cases of Lehman Brothers, American Airlines and General Motors, to name a few. Edward recently represented Madison 92 Associates LLC, an $82 million New York City Marriot-flagged hotel in its successful restructuring. Edward also represents a wide variety of corporate creditors in large bankruptcies, including Chinese conglomerate Heining Mengnu Group Co., Ltd. (Mengnu), the largest unsecured creditor of Jennifer Convertibles, Inc. (JC). Mengnu served as the DIP Lender and Plan Sponsor and ultimately acquired JC through a plan of reorganization, obtaining over 90% of JC's common stock. He also represented Royal Spirit Ltd., a Hong Kong company and the largest creditor of The Connaught Group, a leading manufacturer and retailer of women's designer clothing with over $100 million in annual revenue that filed for bankruptcy. Royal Spirit acquired The Connaught Group's assets through a joint venture with U.S.-based Tom James Company, a leading manufacturer and retailer of Men's apparel.
Edward represented the creditors' committees in the bankruptcy cases of jewelry manufacturer First Class Imports, Inc., We Recycle!, a large recycling company with locations in Connecticut and New York, the international jewelry designer Doris Panos Ltd., TexStyle LLC, a large textile manufacturer, Atrinsic, a direct to consumer marketer built around the Kazaa brand, Marco Polo Capital Markets LLC, a trading clearinghouse, and HMX Acquisition Corp., owner of Sun Fashions labels as Hickey Freedman and Bobby Jones.
Most recently, Edward successfully represented NYC Mayor elect – Bill De Blasio in his fight to the closure plan of Interfaith Hospital, which was in bankruptcy in the Eastern District of New York. Edward also regularly lectures on Bankruptcy law and preference actions.
Edward is committed to giving back to the community. In law school, he assisted victims of domestic violence and was awarded the Archibald R. Murray Public Service Award in recognition of his efforts. He has been actively involved in various organizations that provide legal services to those in need on a pro bono basis, including defending low income tenants in eviction proceedings and helping Holocaust survivors recover monetary damages from the German government. Currently, the firm works with the Bankruptcy Assistance Project in helping low-income individuals file chapter 7 bankruptcy petitions, and was presented with awards recognizing its work in 2009 by Judge Bernstein (SDNY) and Chief Judge Craig (EDNY), and in 2010 by Chief Judge Gonzalez (SDNY) and Judge Stong (EDNY).
Edward authors numerous articles, which are published in national publications including, among others, the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, the Turnaround Management Association's Journal of Corporate Renewal, and the Bankruptcy Strategist. He also writes the Bankruptcy Update column for the New York Law Journal.
Robert Nistendirk is a member of Woomer, Nistendirk & Associates, PLLC, Certified Public Accountants, in Charleston, West Virginia. He specializes in providing accounting, tax and advisory services.
Mr. Nistendirk has been employed in hundreds of bankruptcy cases. His twenty–five years of bankruptcy experience includes accounting, forensics, liquidation, reorganization, succession planning, taxation and valuation. He has served as accountant, examiner, expert witness, plan manager and liquidating trustee.
Mr. Nistendirk's industry exposure includes advertising, agriculture, attorneys, construction, manufacturing, mining, physicians, public relations, real estate, restaurants, transportation and warehousing, wholesale and retail trade.
Mr. Nistendirk earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the West Virginia Society of CPAs.
Bob boasts he has been attending AIRA conferences since before it was AIRA.
Neil P. Olack is the United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi. Prior to taking the bench, he practiced law for 25 years in the areas of bankruptcy, creditors' rights, and workouts.
While in private practice; Judge Olack served on the board of directors of the American Bankruptcy Institute and on the advisory boards of the American Bankn1ptcy Institute Law Review and the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal. He was board certified in business bankruptcy law by the American Board of Certification and was a member of its board of directors.
Judge Olack has considerable experience teaching bankruptcy, both as an adjunct law professor and an instructor in a masters of business administration program. He also taught at the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University. Additionally, he has been a frequent lecturer on bankruptcy issues for professional and continuing legal education programs throughout the United States.
Judge Olack is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. He served as the Fifth Circuit Governor for the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges.
Experience
Ed Ordway specializes in providing financial restructuring advisory and investigative services to companies, creditors, equity holders and third-party purchasers in the workout and financial communities. Mr. Ordway has also served as a court appointed examiner, as a trustee, and has provided expert testimony concerning bankruptcy matters.
Prior to co-founding Capstone, Mr. Ordway was a Senior Managing Director at the Policano & Manzo legacy practice at FTI Consulting for fourteen years, most recently as co-leader of FTI’s national restructuring practice. Previously, he spent five years as Chief Operating Officer of Knickerbocker Associates, a real estate development and investment company with projects valued in excess of $100 million. He was also with a major auditing firm for eight years.
Education and Affiliations
Mr. Ordway holds a BA in Economics and Accounting from Rutgers University. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA) whose professional memberships include the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA), the New Jersey State Society of CPAs, and the American Institute of CPAs. Mr. Ordway is a member of the Board of Directors of the AIRA. He has spoken at professional forums and to institutional lenders on topics ranging from DIP financing and valuation to exit financing strategies, among other troubled company issues.
Partner—Chair, Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise & Wiederkehr, LLP, White Plains, New York
Jonathan S. Pasternak started his career as a corporate attorney at Parker Chapin Flattau & Klimpl, LLP in 1989. Thereafter, he joined The Rattet bankruptcy law firm in 1990 and became a named partner in 1995. He served as the Rattet firm’s Managing Partner from 2004–2012. Since January 2013, Mr. Pasternak has chaired the firm’s business bankruptcy and insolvency practice. He provides special concentration in bankruptcy, workout, business and real estate law matters throughout the New York metropolitan area. Mr. Pasternak routinely represents debtors and creditors in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with a focus primarily on debtors and their management. Mr. Pasternak has represented such noteworthy clients such as John DeLorean, Pudgie's Famous Chicken, Gaseteria Oil Corp., Nationwide Electronics, Circle In the Square, International Wholesale Tile, Dicanio Organization, Byram Concrete Corp., Marco Polo Capital Markets, Angelo & Maxies, San Domenico NY, and Atrinsic, Inc. in their respective Chapter 11 proceedings. Mr. Pasternak is a member of numerous national and regional bankruptcy and commercial law associations and has lectured on bankruptcy before various professional associations throughout New York and Westchester County. He has also been frequently quoted in Crain's, The Deal and other industry publications and newspapers on various bankruptcy and related issues. He is consistently ranked as one of the 20 top bankruptcy attorneys in the United States and top 5 debtor bankruptcy attorneys by The Deal in terms of case assignment. He has been named a New York Super Lawyer every year since 2008 and consistently enjoys an AV rating by Martindale Hubbell – its highest rating. Mr. Pasternak resides in Tenafly, New Jersey with his wife and three children. He is also an avid runner, singer, guitarist and performer.
Education
Bar Admissions
Court Admissions
Memberships
Professional and Community Affiliations
Tiiara N. A. Patton is a trial attorney with the United States Department of Justice, Office of the United States Trustee in Wilmington, Delaware. Prior to joining the Office of the United States Trustee, she was an attorney in private practice where she practiced bankruptcy and reorganization law. Ms. Patton also served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Burrell Ives Humphreys (Ret.), New Jersey State Superior Court, the Honorable Cornelius Blackshear (Ret.), United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, the Honorable Randolph Baxter (Ret.), United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Ohio, and as a judicial swing law clerk for the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey. She received her J.D. from The Ohio State University, Michael E. Moritz College of Law, and her undergraduate degree from Central State University.
Mr. Perison is a Senior Managing Director and Head of the Special Situations & Restructuring Group for Armory Securities, LLC, a middle market investment bank. Since 2008, the Armory team has been involved in over $10 billion of financial transactions involving 32 diverse engagements. The Armory team has been recognized by its peers and lauded by winning both the M&A Advisor 2013 Award, the 2013 Turnaround Award and the Top 40 under 40 Award. The Armory team has been engaged by not only by a diverse array of distressed companies and debtors, but also by some of the nation’s largest financial institutions, banks and commercial lenders.
While the Armory team has broad industry coverage, one of the industries in which Mr. Perison is most active in is gaming, where he has been involved in fourteen restructurings. From 2008 to 2011, Mr. Perison served as the Head of Oppenheimer's Restructuring Group and Head of Gaming Investment Banking. Prior to joining Oppenheimer in 2008, Mr. Perison was a Managing Director for Fortress Investment Group. Prior to joining Fortress, Mr. Perison was Co–Head of Investment Banking for Libra Securities, LLC, an investment bank specializing in gaming and special situations / investment banking from 2001 to 2005 and a Managing Director for U.S. Bancorp Libra from 1997 to 2001, the former leveraged finance and high-yield division of U.S. Bancorp.
Mr. Perison served as a corporate and restructuring lawyer for seven years with Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Mr. Perison has a J.D. cum laude from U.C. Hastings College of the Law and a B.A. in Economics magna cum laude from the University of California, Irvine.
Mr. Perison is a co-founder and advisor to Armory Group, LLC, which manages several middle–marked credit opportunity funds. Mr. Perison is also a member of the State Bar of California and holds several FINRA Licenses, including the Series 7, 9, 10, 24, 27 and 63.
Jerrold N. Poslusny, Jr. is a shareholder with the firm, and is co–chair of the firm's Bankruptcy, Insolvency, and Workout department. Jerrold represents clients in all aspects of Chapter 7 and 11 bankruptcy cases, having represented debtors, official committees, trustees, and secured and unsecured creditors. He also represents debtors, secured and unsecured creditors in pre–bankruptcy workouts.
Jerrold has experience in many business sectors, including:
He has also represented assignees, receivers, and creditors in all forms of state court proceedings.
As part of his representation of different constituencies in bankruptcy settings, Jerrold has substantial transaction experience, having represented buyers and sellers in asset sales and sales completed pursuant to Chapter 11 plans. He has also been involved in numerous forms of litigation, including: prosecuting and defending preference actions, fraudulent conveyances, enforcement of parties' rights under contracts and leases, state law causes of action, plan confirmation issues, requests for use of cash collateral, and requests to obtain post-petition financing. He has represented clients in appeals before the district court and the circuit courts of appeal.
Jerrold has recently represented:
EDUCATION
JD, University of Maryland School of Law, 1998
BS, The Pennsylvania State University, 1994
JURISDICTIONS ADMITTED TO PRACTICE
Delaware
Maryland
New Jersey
United States District Court for the District of Delaware
United States District Court for the District of Maryland
United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
PROFESSIONAL & BAR ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIPS
American Bar Association
New Jersey State Bar Association (secretary of the Bankruptcy Bar Section 2012–14)
Camden County Bar Association (Board of Trustees 2008–14)
American Bankruptcy Institute
Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors
Supreme Court of New Jersey, District IV Ethics Panel
After 34 years of public service, including 24 years as an elected official, Governor Rendell continues to pursue many of the same issues he was passionate about while in office. He now serves as a consultant or board member for several green and alternative energy firms, including Own Energy, Element Partners and Ocean Thermal Energy. He remains heavily involved in the campaign for government efficiency and strategic cost cutting through his work with entities such as Government Sourcing Solutions, Public Financial Management and Greenhill Advisors; and serves as Co–Chair of the organization "Building America's Future" which focuses on the need for more significant investment in American infrastructure. Rendell served two terms in each of the following offices: Governor of Pennsylvania (2003–2011), Mayor of Philadelphia (1992–2000), and DA of Philadelphia (1978–1985). He currently teaches government and politics at the University of Pennsylvania, and in 2012 his autobiography, A Nation of Wusses, was published by John Wiley.
Susan Jaffe Roberts is a partner in Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, L.L.P.'s Business Reorganization and Bankruptcy Litigation group and resident in the firm’s Baltimore, Maryland office. Ms. Roberts represents debtors, trustees, plan trusts and administrators, and creditors' committees in bankruptcy cases and related federal and state court litigation. Ms. Roberts focuses her practice on Bankruptcy, Bankruptcy Litigation, Trustee Representation, Creditors Committee Representation, Chapter 11 Reorganization and Creditors' Rights; Special Counsel Services; Distressed Business Workouts; and Business Litigation, including Malpractice Litigation.
Ms. Roberts was admitted to the Maryland bar in 2001, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 2002 and was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States in 2006. She has been a lecturer for the American Bankruptcy Institute, Maryland Bankruptcy Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants. She has authored articles for publication, and recently co–authored Prevent Disqualification and Disgorgement: Disclosure is Key, published in the January 2015 edition of the ABI Journal. Ms. Roberts is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Maryland Bankruptcy Bar Association, the International Women's Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation, the Maryland State Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. In 2011, she was recognized as a Rising Star among Maryland Super Lawyers.
From 2001–2003, Ms. Roberts clerked for the Honorable James F. Schneider, United States Bankruptcy Judge, District of Maryland.
Vincent J. Roldan is a Partner and Co–Chair of the Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group at Ballon Stoll Bader & Nadler, PC. Mr. Roldan has represented parties in interest in various aspects of bankruptcy proceedings, including debtors, secured lenders, noteholders, foreign and domestic trade creditors, creditors' committees, trustees, and asset purchasers. He is a frequent speaker and writer on Chapter 11 bankruptcy topics. Prior to joining the firm, he was a Partner and head of the restructuring practice at commercial litigation boutique in New York, and a senior associate in the New York office of DLA Piper LLP, for whom he worked for over nine years. He is admitted to practice in the federal and state courts of New York and New Jersey. Mr. Roldan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Lewis M. Killian, Jr., United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Florida, and interned for the Honorable Adlai S. Hardin, Jr., United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York.
Marc Rosenberg is a partner in the bankruptcy, reorganization and creditors' rights group at Golenbock Eiseman Assor Bell & Peskce LLP. He has worked on all aspects of bankruptcy and creditors' rights matters on behalf of a diverse client base for more than 20 years. He has represented financially distressed companies, purchasers of and investors in such companies, trustees and receivers, secured and unsecured creditors and creditors'committees in out–of–court workouts, pre–packaged,pre–negotiated and conventional chapter II cases and related transactional and litigation matters. Marc has a wide breadth of industry experience, including retail and apparel, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, media and real estate, among others.
Mares experienceincludes advising:
Speaker/Author
Education and Honors
Prior Legal Experience
Professional Experience
Suzanne is a Managing Director in Protiviti’s Richmond, VA office. She is responsible for engagements involving troubled companies, litigation, and valuation consulting. Suzanne has over thirty years of professional experience and has held positions in professional services consulting, public and private companies, and public accounting.
Principal Areas of Practice
Major Projects
Industry Lines
Clients Served
Education & Certifications
Professional Memberships
David Rush is a senior managing director in the FTI Consulting Corporate Finance practice and is based in Houston. Mr. Rush has more than 16 years of corporate recovery and financial advisory experience. His industry experience includes oilfield services; oil and gas; manufacturing; consumer/packaged goods; financial services and retail.
Mr. Rush’s experience includes interim management, forecast development, business plan analysis, collateral evaluation and recovery assessment. In addition, he has advised clients with asset sales; debtor-in-possession financings; covenant negotiations; avoidance actions; bankruptcy preparation and litigation support matters. Mr. Rush has represented private and public companies, lenders, creditor committees and other parties in interest.
Mr. Rush recently served as the interim chief financial officer of a Houston-based oil and gas equipment manufacturer and service provider. In this position, he assisted with the company’s stabilization after the acquisition by a financial sponsor through the development of a comprehensive business plan, liquidity forecast and with the leadership and infrastructure build out of the company’s accounting and finance department. Prior to that, Mr. Rush served as the chief financial officer and treasurer of Hostess Brands, a former $2.5 billion revenue wholesale bakery and distribution company. In this capacity, he oversaw the Chapter 11 process and was responsible for developing liquidity forecasts, completing pre-petition and post-petition financing transactions, negotiating with stakeholders and assisting with numerous 363 asset sales.
Mr. Rush has testified on various matters including debtor-in-possession financings; liquidation analyses; cash collateral disputes; liquidity forecasts; wind down plans; and recovery actions.
Mr. Rush’s prior engagements include Fremont Investment & Loan; Enron; Hostess Brands; Surefire Industries; Bombay Company; ASARCO; Intelsat; Texas Petrochemicals; Orion Refining; Link Energy; TransCom USA; Tri-Union Development; Tokheim; American Eco; Weiner’s Stores and several privately held companies and confidential matters.
Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Mr. Rush was a director with KPMG’s Financial Advisory Services practice and a manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Business Recovery Services practice. He began his professional career in the Business Assurance practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers, performing financial statement audits on both public and private companies.
Mr. Rush received the Houston Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Award and the M&A Advisor’s 40 under 40 award for the service advisor category. In addition, he received multiple awards for the work performed on Hostess Brands, including the M&A Turnaround Award for Distressed M&A Deal of the Year (over $1 billion) and the D CEO Mergers & Acquisitions Large Deal of the Year.
Judge Russell graduated from UCLA where he received his Juris Doctor Degree and a B.S. Degree in Engineering. Appointed a United States Bankruptcy Judge in 1974, served as Chief Judge from January, 2003 to December, 2006, appointed to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel in March, 1988, and became the Chief Judge from September, 1999 to December 2001.
Member of the faculty of the Federal Judicial Center, Washington, D.C. from 1977 to present, lecturing to other Bankruptcy Judges throughout the United States.
Author of West’s "Bankruptcy Evidence Manual" since August 1987.
Received the American Bar Association's FRANKLIN N. FLASCHNER Judicial Award as the outstanding Judge in the United States in a trial court of special jurisdiction in 1987.
Received the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Services’ Emil Gumpert Judicial ADR award in December 2000.
Received the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Outstanding Jurist Award in May, 2004.
On October 14, 2008, Judge Russell was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA), in the Bankruptcy and Restructuring Field.
On February 19, 2009, the San Fernando Valley Bar Association awarded Judge Russell the Stanley Mosk Lagacy of Justice Award.
Recipient of the 2013 Judge William L. Norton Jr., Judicial Excellence Award in Atlanta, GA at the NCBJ Conference presented by Thomson Reuter and the ABI in October, 2013.
Managing Director, CBIZ MHM, LLC
Shareholder, Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C., The New York Practice of Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C., An Independent CPA Firm
Brian Ryniker, based in our New York, NY office, is a Managing Director in our Corporate Recovery Group. Mr. Ryniker has extensive experience in matters involving business restructurings, bankruptcy and insolvency, transaction due diligence and accounting and forensic investigations. Mr. Ryniker has been involved in many complex bankruptcies and work-out situations representing unsecured creditors, debtors, and secured lenders. Mr. Ryniker has investigated and defended potential fraudulent conveyances, and other Bankruptcy avoidance actions. Mr. Ryniker‘s experience in forensic accounting and litigation support includes investigating financial frauds, determination of defalcation, and financial statement manipulations. Mr. Ryniker has investigated various frauds on behalf of one of the world's largest banks resulting in the arrest and convictions of several individuals. Mr. Ryniker joined the organization in 1998.
Expertise
Experience
Representative Cases
Background
EducationProfessional Licenses and Memberships
Mr. Sandler serves as a cochair of the firm's national Committee Practice Group and maintains a national practice representing debtors, committees, acquirers, and other significant parties in interest in complex reorganizations and financially distressed situations, both in and out of court. He is listed among both The Best Lawyers in America and Delaware Super Lawyers in bankruptcy and creditor-debtor rights; is ranked among the top bankruptcy attorneys in the United States by The Deal; holds an AV Preeminent Peer Rating, Martindale-Hubbell's highest rating for ethical standards and legal ability; and is ranked among Bankruptcy/Restructuring attorneys by Chambers USA, which states that he "is an expert in creditors' committee work," and that he “blend[s] traditional legal skills with commercial negotiating and business sense." Chambers USA has also described Mr. Sandler as “a creative, calm, effective lawyer who is also quick, smart and aggressive.” Mr. Sandler regularly represents clients in a wide variety of industries, including retail and consumer products, technology, food and beverage, construction, life sciences, and manufacturing.
He also has substantial experience in representing businesses and entrepreneurs in both healthy and distressed corporate and commercial transactions. Additionally, he is an adjunct professor of law at Temple University School of Law in Philadelphia, where he teaches a course in business reorganizations. Mr. Sandler is a court-approved standing mediator for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Districts of Delaware, New Jersey and New York, and the Superior Court for the State of Delaware.
Mr. Sandler is an active member of his community, continues to publish numerous articles, and is a frequent speaker on the topics of corporate law and business reorganization.
Lisa M. Schweitzer is a partner of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP based in the New York office.
Ms. Schweitzer’s practice focuses on financial restructuring, bankruptcy, insolvency and commercial litigation. She has extensive experience advising corporate debtors, individual creditors and strategic investors in both U.S. Chapter 11 proceedings and restructurings in other jurisdictions in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Ms. Schweitzer also has represented several companies seeking to acquire distressed assets in bankruptcy proceedings.
Ms. Schweitzer has advised clients in some of the most high-profile bankruptcy and related litigation matters in recent years. She is currently lead U.S. restructuring counsel to Nortel Networks Inc. and affiliates in their U.S. Chapter 11 proceedings, including serving as counsel to the U.S. Nortel estate in a groundbreaking cross-border trial in Toronto and Wilmington courts concerning a dispute with Canadian and European estates regarding the allocation of over $7 billion of sale proceeds. She also recently represented Alsacia and Express, Chilean bus companies, in their successful restructuring through a pre-packaged Chapter 11 proceeding in the Southern District of New York. Additionally, she played a major role in connection with the bankruptcies of Adelphia Communications, Delta Airlines, Maxcom, Refco and Vitro, among many others, and she advised Barclays Capital in its acquisition of Lehman Brothers’ North American investment banking and capital markets assets, and a $450 million debtor-in-possession financing facility provided to Lehman. Ms. Schweitzer was honored in 2012 as a “Dealmaker of the Year” and in 2011 as a “Dealmaker in the Spotlight” by The American Lawyer. She is recognized as a leading bankruptcy and restructuring lawyer by Chambers Global, Chambers USA, The Legal 500 U.S., IFLR 1000: The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms, The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers and The International Who’s Who of Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyers. Additionally, Ms. Schweitzer was shortlisted for Euromoney’s LMG Americas Women in Business Law Awards in 2013 and 2014 for insolvency and restructuring.
As a recognized leader in the field, Ms. Schweitzer speaks on a variety of bankruptcy and restructuring topics at conferences and frequently writes articles on bankruptcy issues for publications, including The Journal of Bankruptcy Law, Law 360, The Wall Street Lawyer, The M&A Lawyer and The New York Law Journal.
Ms. Schweitzer received a J.D., magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, from New York University School of Law, and an undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Pennsylvania.
Gary F. Seitz is the managing and founding member of Gellert Scali Busenkell & Brown’s Philadelphia office. He concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial bankruptcy, commercial litigation and transportation including admiralty and maritime law. Since 1999, Gary has served as a Chapter 7 Panel Trustee in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He also acts as Trustee in Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 cases in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Districts of Delaware and New Jersey. He has extensive experience handling bankruptcy matters for creditors, asset purchasers and trustees. Gary also serves as court appointed Sequestrator for the City of Philadelphia to recover back taxes from commercial property cash flow. Gary frequently advises creditors, trustees and insolvency professionals regarding Chapter 15, the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-border Insolvency and recovering assets abroad. As a Proctor in Admiralty, Gary also has expertise in admiralty and maritime litigation and transactions with particular emphasis on marine financing and vessel foreclosures. Gary is admitted to practice in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third and Fifth Circuits and the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Pennsylvania, the District of New Jersey and the District of Delaware. Gary graduated with an LL.M. in Admiralty from Tulane University School of Law; he has his J.D. from the University Of Iowa College Of Law; and he has a B.A. from Buena Vista University. His studies included programs abroad at the Taipei Language Institute, the Shanghai Law Research Institute, Law and Trade Program and the Bentham House Faculty of Laws of the University of London.
Didier Siffer is a Managing Director of Credit Suisse in the Recovery Management International group, based in New York. Mr. Siffer currently leads the group and is responsible for actively managing Credit Suisse agented syndicated distressed corporate credit exposures, derivatives, commercial real estate, MBS/RMBS and structured finance. Mr. Siffer has extensive experience in complex in and out-of-court restructurings, Chapter 11 reorganizations and liquidations in industries including energy, aviation, media/entertainment, industrials and financial institutions, to name a few. Further, Mr. Siffer has also successfully arranged and lead many syndicated DIP financings and exit financings. He has also accumulated extensive restructuring expertise in international bankruptcies and reorganizations.
Prior to joining the Recovery Management International group in 1998, Mr. Siffer was a relationship manager for Swiss and international corporate clients and subsequently acquired extensive corporate restructuring experience in Europe at Credit Suisse in Basel and Zurich.
Mr. Siffer received his M.S. in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Basel, Switzerland in 1992. He also graduated from the International Bankers School in New York in 1997 (a 9-month Credit Suisse sponsored, Columbia University/Stern School of Business arranged, executive MBA program extract focused on Corporate Finance & Capital Markets). Over the last several years, Mr. Siffer has been invited to speak on several bankruptcy and restructuring focused panels for, among other organizations, the Turnaround Management Association, the Loan Sales and Trading Association and the International Association of Credit Portfolio Managers.
Partner, New York
Ronald Silverman is a partner in our New York office, and his practice focuses on the representation of financial institutions, hedge funds, and other sophisticated investors, in the context of financial restructurings, insolvencies, and distressed acquisitions.
Ron is recognized by Best Lawyers in America (2006–2014), and he is included in the Expert Guides to the World's Leading Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyers (2007–2014). Ron is also recognized by Chambers USA (2010–2011) as a leading lawyer in bankruptcy/restructuring and by Chambers Global (2012) as a leading lawyer in bankruptcy/restructuring. He represents financial institutions and commercial enterprises in complex financial and commercial transactions, creditors' rights matters, and litigation throughout the United States and abroad. Ron has extensive experience in a wide range of transactions and creditors' rights matters, including international restructurings, debtor–in–possession financing, aviation and energy restructurings, distressed mergers and acquisitions, out–of–court workouts, reorganization and liquidation proceedings, and related litigation.
Ron is the Vice President for International Affairs of the American Bankruptcy Institute and was an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law, having taught a seminar on international insolvency.
Representative Experience
*Matters handled prior to joining our legal practice
David Skeel is the author of The New Financial Deal: Understanding the Dodd–Frank Act and Its (Unintended) Consequences (Wiley, 2011), Icarus in the Boardroom (Oxford, 2005) and Debt's Dominion: A History of Bankruptcy Law in America (Princeton, 2001), as well as numerous articles and other publications. He has been interviewed on The News Hour, Nightline, Chris Matthews' Hardball (MSNBC), NPR, and Marketplace, and has been quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and other newspapers and magazines
Jeff's practice is focused on representing businesses and individuals with complex financial litigation needs including: bankruptcy/bankruptcy litigation, creditor/debtor litigation, tax litigation, pension and employee benefit litigation and commercial litigation. He regularly tries cases and appeals before Connecticut’s state and federal courts. Jeff has particular experience regarding the interplay between and among bankruptcy law, tax law and ERISA.
Jeff has represented a wide array of interests including Chapter 11 debtors, trustees, creditor committees, equity holders, and other parties–in–interest across many industries including: aerospace, communications, healthcare, finance, real estate, hospitality, and others.
Jeff received his B.A. in government from Colby College, his J.D. from the University of Connecticut, School of Law and his LL.M. (Taxation) from Boston University, Graduate Tax Program. Jeff is a 2005 recipient of the Connecticut Law Tribune's New Leaders of the Law Award (Overall Achievement, Fairfield County), has been listed by New England Super Lawyer® as a Super Lawyer (Business Litigation 2014–2015) since 2010 (Rising Star 2010–2013), and was named a Fellow of the American Bar Association, Business Law Section (2011 – 2013).
Jeff holds many positions with local and national bar organizations and is a frequent writer and lecturer on topics involving bankruptcy, tax litigation and commercial litigation. Current positions include: Chair of the Government Powers Sub–Committee of the American Bar Association, Business Law Section, Business Bankruptcy Committee and Co–Chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute, Bankruptcy Tax Committee. He is a member of the New Haven Jewish Community Center Board of Directors. Jeff is a Speaker and co–founder of the New England IRS Representation Conference.
In his spare time, Jeff enjoys swimming, biking and running.
Grant Stein is a senior partner in Alston & Bird's Bankruptcy Practice Group. His diverse practice includes the representation of debtors, fiduciaries, and secured and unsecured creditors in complex and difficult out–of–court debt restructurings, bankruptcy cases, and financial transactions throughout the United States and internationally. He regularly represents officers, directors and other parties in insolvency related litigation of all kinds. His restructuring experience includes manufacturing, real estate, wholesale, retail, health care, aviation, communications, technology and intellectual property issues, and he has done substantial work in receiverships and assignments for the benefit of creditors.
Mr. Stein is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and currently serves on its Board of Directors. He is a past–President of the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors and the Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute, and is currently a Master of the Drake Georgia Bankruptcy American Inns of Courts. He is identified as a top practitioner in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business and in Super Lawyers magazine and was selected by Best Lawyers as the Best Lawyer for 2011 for Georgia Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Bankruptcy Litigation.
Mr. Stein served as law clerk to The Honorable W. Homer Drake, has written numerous articles, and regularly lectures around the country.
Services
Bankruptcy, Workouts & Reorganization
Commercial Litigation
Debt Finance
Mergers & Acquisitions
Structured Finance
Subprime Mortgage Markets
Special Servicing
Mediations
Education
University of Georgia
(J.D., 1981)
Emory University
(B.B.A., 1978)
Admitted to Practice
Georgia
Publications
Memberships
Teri Stratton is a managing director in the Los Angeles office of Piper Jaffray in the Capital Advisory Group. She is focused on providing debt advisory, equity private placements, and restructuring advisory to middle market companies in a variety of industries including consumer, industrials and healthcare. Prior to joining Piper Jaffray in 2009, Stratton was at Macquarie Capital Advisors (and predecessor firms) for 10 years. Prior to her investment banking career, she had eight years’ experience in corporate banking, serving in both credit administration and special assets. Stratton received a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of California at Los Angeles, and a Masters of Business Administration degree in finance with honors, from The Anderson School at UCLA. She is a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor, a board member of the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors, and a member of the Turnaround Management Association and ABI.
Michael L. Temin is a lawyer admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of Delaware. He is a senior counsel in the Financial Restructuring and Bankruptcy Department of Fox Rothschild LLP. Before joining Fox Rothschild he was an associate, partner and of counsel in the Litigation and Financial Services Groups of WolfBlock LLP and its predecessor firms. He has been practicing commercial bankruptcy law for 45 years. He has been giving ethical advice to lawyers for approximately the same period. He has participated in many CLE programs on bankruptcy and on ethics and has served as an expert witness in both disciplines.
Mr. Temin is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School where he teaches a course on chapter 11. He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and was a Regent from 1997 to 2003 and the Scholar–in–Residence from 2005 to 2009. He is the author of revisions to Collier Real Estate Transactions and a contributing author to Collier on Bankruptcy, the Collier Bankruptcy Practice Guide and the Bankruptcy Litigation Manual.
Mr. Temin is a member, and a former co-chair, of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee and a member, and a former chair, of the Philadelphia Bar Association Professional Guidance Committee. He is the co–editor and a contributing author of the Pennsylvania Ethics Handbook, now in its fourth edition. He served as the ethics counsel to the PBA Legal Ethics Committee prior to employment of current ethics counsel. At WolfBlock he served as conflicts counsel from 1995 to 2002.
Recognized as a Chambers USA “Leaders in their Field” lawyer since 2011 – in which clients have stated that he is a "phenomenal lawyer" – Mr. Testa represents businesses, individuals, debtors, creditors' committees, lenders, chapter 11 and chapter 7 trustees, litigation trustees, receivers, assignees, creditors and defendants in complex bankruptcy proceedings and related litigation throughout the nation.
Mr. Testa is equally skilled in business and civil litigation matters. He has represented corporations and individuals in federal and state court litigation and in arbitrations and mediations in a wide variety of business litigation, construction, and contractual disputes. Mr. Testa is also called upon by clients in times of crisis for leadership and advice on multiple topics including white collar criminal matters and government investigations.
Mr. Testa served as debtors' co–counsel to Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. in its successful 2004 and 2009 Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, which resulted in confirmed plans of reorganization. He also served as co-counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of In re GB Holdings, Inc., a case relating to the former Sands Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey wherein the creditors' committee terminated exclusivity of the debtor and won confirmation of a plan of reorganization.
Mr. Testa has significant experience serving as counsel to both Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustees in complex cases throughout the nation including: In re Solomon Dwek, a nationally publicized Ponzi case in which Mr. Testa counseled the bankruptcy trustee in his administration of over 80 debtor entities which owned more than 300 commercial, industrial and residential properties located throughout the United States, wherein hundreds of adversary proceedings were commenced by the Trustee, the real estate portfolio liquidated, and wherein a Chapter 11 plan of liquidation was confirmed; In re Pappas Broadcasting, Inc., in which the debtors and their non–debtor affiliates operated the largest privately held commercial television broadcast group in the United States as measured by Nielsen Media Research, wherein Mr. Testa represented the Trustee in the sale of numerous television stations; In re Student Finance Corp, a student loan company whose claims exceeded $1.1 billion; and In re Golden Guernsey Dairy, LLC, wherein Mr. Testa assisted the Trustee in selling the Midwest dairy distribution plant to Lifeway Foods. Mr. Testa also represents state court receivers and assignees in the dissolution of corporations and partnerships. Among his active cases Mr. Testa currently represents the Trustee of Big Island Carbon, a cutting edge bio-fuel company located in Hawaii; Tengion Inc., a publically traded bio–medical research company; Powerwave Technologies, Inc., an international wireless company; the Assignee for the Benefit of Creditors of Sixth Avenue Electronics City, Inc.; and Integrated Packaging Corporation.
Mr. Testa has experience prosecuting and defending a wide range of bankruptcy–related litigation matters including fraudulent conveyances, preferences, Ponzi schemes, directors and officers litigation, derivative employment issues, claims objections, fee auditor disputes, tax disputes, lease rejection, intellectual property, bankruptcy fraud and discharge issues. Mr. Testa frequently counsels clients in both the purchase and sale of distressed assets, including corporations, commercial and residential real estate, intellectual property, loan portfolios, television stations, liquor licenses, equipment, biomedical technologies, and other assets. Mr. Testa also advises secured lenders in bankruptcy proceedings including with regard to DIP and exit financing matters.
Mr. Testa was selected as a New Jersey Super Lawyer in 2014 and 2015, was recognized in 2008 by the New Jersey Law Journal as one of the state’s "40 Under 40," and has spoken on various legal issues as a panel speaker at the New Jersey State Bar Association Annual Meeting and Convention. He also previously served as the alternate municipal prosecutor for the Township of Verona (Essex County, NJ), and was a member of the District VA Ethics Committee.
Sara Tirschwell, CFA – Co-Founder and Lead Portfolio Manager, Livia Capital Partners LP
Ms. Tirschwell has over 25 years of industry experience and has frequently been recognized as being ahead of the curve, whether as one of Wall Street’s first bank loan traders or when providing thought leadership about multi-layered industry and company-specific circumstances. Her strategic edge is based on her ability to combine in-depth financial and valuation analysis with a nuanced understanding of stakeholder psychology, and a history of astute assessment of the impact of political, industrial and economic trends. In addition, her trading experience informs her ability to dynamically position the portfolio. Ms. Tirschwell also acted as co-head of the Economic Policy Council for the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C.
Ms. Tirschwell's prior experience includes:
For the past 40 years, Albert Togut has specialized in bankruptcy law to the exclusion of all other areas of practice. In 1980, he formed the firm of Togut, Segal & Segal LLP, a bankruptcy boutique located in Manhattan.
The firm has served as court–authorized counsel to the debtor or official committee in some of the largest and highest profile Chapter 11 cases, including American Airlines, Kodak, General Motors, Chrysler Automotive, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Rockefeller Center, Ambac Financial, AbitibiBowater Inc. (for the BCFC Debtor in the cross–border multibillion dollar restructuring); A&P, Enron, Delphi Automotive, Collins & Aikman, Saint Vincent's Hospitals, Charter Communications, Loehmann's, Frontier Airlines, Tower Automotive, Winn–Dixie, Ames Department Stores, Loew's Cineplex, SK Global, Daewoo International (America) Corp. (which together with its Korean parent underwent the largest non–sovereign debt restructuring in history with aggregate liabilities exceeding $70 billion); Allegiance Telecom, OnSite Access, joan and david helpern inc. (the famous luxury footwear and accessory retail chain); ContiFinancial Corporation, et al. (consumer finance companies responsible for originating, purchasing, selling and/or servicing billions of dollars in home equity loans); and DBSD North America.
Mr. Togut is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, a Fellow of the International Insolvency institute, co–Chair of the Commission of the American Bankruptcy Institute ("ABI") to study the reform of Chapter 11 and past Officer and ABI Director and Chair of its New York City program; he also served on the ABI's fee–study commission that studied professional fees in chapter 11 business bankruptcy cases. The ABI’s fee commission's report provides the most comprehensive, independent look at professional fees in chapter 11 cases to date. Mr. Togut was twice a member of the Committee on Bankruptcy and Reorganization of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, a member of the International Bar Association, and is an Advisory Board member of the LLM in Bankruptcy program at St. John's University School of Law, a past President of the Bankruptcy Lawyers Bar Association of New York. For six years, he chaired a Task Force of the Business Bankruptcy Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Business Law that analyzed disclosure statement requirements and confirmation practices in Chapter 11 cases. He has written and lectured on many topics under the former Bankruptcy Act and current Bankruptcy Code and has particular expertise in conflicts of interest and ethics. He has received the New York Institute of Credit Leadership Award and was also the recipient of the Prof. Lawrence P. King award. He was named as a New York Super Lawyer for 2007–14 and named in the Top 100 lawyers in New York, and has been repeatedly chosen as a "Leading Lawyer" by Chambers USA.
Mr. Toney is a founding member and Senior Managing Director of ToneyKorf Partners, LLC. Mr. Toney has been serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center since April 2012.
He has served as senior management, including that of the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Restructuring Officer, and Chief Financial Officer. With 30 years of experience, Mr. Toney is a senior executive who is focused on operational reorganizations, financial restructurings, and corporate turnarounds. He is results–driven, with a unique sense of vision and emphasis on strategy, while maintaining a disciplined focus on execution and continuous improvement. Mr. Toney is recognized for the successful execution of complex projects, including those relating to strategic planning, operations improvement, and financial planning, as well as organization assessments and realignments. He is an adept negotiator, with a proven ability to achieve effective solutions through positive working relationships with attorneys, lenders, and other key parties.
Mr. Toney is recognized nationally as an accomplished leader in serving as the C–level of management for organizations, both publicly traded and privately–held, that are underperforming, in distress, reorganization, or preparing for or currently in bankruptcy. He has served as senior management, including that of the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Restructuring Officer, and Chief Financial Officer. He has extensive experience with recruiting and leading executive management teams in difficult and challenging situations, including that of financial distress, loss or turnover of management, and other situations encountered by companies in transition.
Most of Mr. Toney's engagements have involved large companies in healthcare, retail, food processing, and manufacturing.
Vincenzo Toppi, CPA, CIRA, CFF, is a director in CohnReznick Advisory Group. Vinni has conducted special investigations and fraud examinations involving misappropriation of funds or assets, asset tracing and recovery, insider and third-party transfers, and insolvency analysis.
Vinni has been active in numerous fraud and forensic accounting investigations. He is a senior member of the NHL/NHLPA engagement team and is heavily involved in the analyses of the individual teams' reporting for compliance with the financial terms of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). In addition, he has served as a senior member of numerous engagement teams investigating the compliance with royalty agreements or revenue sharing arrangements.
His experience includes numerous investigations of financial crimes, such as misrepresentation of financial facts, bankruptcy fraud, and computer fraud. Vinni is experienced in reconstructing accounting records to verify the reliability of underlying books and records and the accuracy of financial reporting systems. Vinni leads the computer forensic and eDiscovery service team providing eDiscovery and litigation support services that include electronic data acquisitions, forensic data examinations, data mining and analysis, and document management and review.
Additionally, he provides workout and insolvency accounting and consulting services to financially troubled companies; creditors and secured creditors during workout or turnaround situations; and to all constituencies in bankruptcy proceedings, including court appointed trustees, receivers, and examiners.
Vinni has developed and presented numerous training courses on topics that include forensic investigations, data analysis, and fraud detection.
Education
Professional Affiliations
Andy Vara is the Acting United States Trustee for Region 3 encompassing Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He also is the Assistant U. S. Trustee (AUST) in Cleveland, Ohio. He served as the AUST in Wilmington, Delaware for three years and Acting AUST in Manhattan before returning to Cleveland where he began his career with the U.S. Department of Justice as a trial attorney. Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Vara worked as a judicial law clerk in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the Honorable Laurence E. Howard, Chief Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan.
Mr. Vara is a long-standing member of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and regular speaker and participant at ABI events such as the Central States Bankruptcy Workshop, Midwestern Bankruptcy Institute and Mid–Atlantic Bankruptcy Conference.
Mr. Vara served as a member of the ABI Ethics Task Force and Co-Chair for the ABI's Ethics and Professional Compensation Committee. Mr. Vara is a regular faculty member and lecturer for training seminars held at the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina. He has taught courses focusing on the mortgage servicing industry, Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, trial advocacy, management development, attorney misconduct, Chapter 11 corporate reorganization and Chapter 13 personal reorganization.
Mr. Vara received his Juris Doctor with honors from The Ohio State University in May 1991 and was awarded membership in the Order of the Coif. He performed his undergraduate studies at Duke University, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. Mr. Vara is the valedictorian of Mayfield High School Class of 1984.
Mr. Vara resides in Solon, Ohio. He and his wife have been married for twenty-three years and have three children.
Appointment:
Appointed January 20, 2011 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (current term expires January 20, 2025) as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Central District of California. Judge Wallace maintains chambers at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Santa Ana, California.
Education:
Princeton University, A.B. 1976 (summa cum laude) in History, Phi Beta Kappa
Columbia University School of Law, J.D. 1977 Notes and Comments Editor, Columbia Law Review Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar
Judge Wallace participated in the joint Princeton-Columbia Accelerated Interdisciplinary Legal Education Program, enabling him to complete college and law school in six years instead of seven. He is a member of the Princeton University Class of 1975.
Career Record:
1991-2011 Stutman, Treister & Glatt Professional Corporation
1979-1991 Meyer Hendricks Victor Osborn & Maledon
1977-1979 Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable William B. Enright, United States District Judge, Southern District of California
Prior to taking the bench, Judge Wallace was a Chair of the Bankruptcy and Workouts Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation and a Chair of the Taxation Section of the Beverly Hills Bar Association. He served as an Adjunct Professor at Loyola Law School from 2002 through 2010, where he taught a class in bankruptcy taxation. During the 1980s, he served as an Adjunct Professor at Arizona State University College of Law, where he taught classes in federal income taxation and business planning.
Judge Mary F. Walrath is a United States Bankruptcy Court Judge for the District of Delaware. She was appointed in 1998, and served as Chief Bankruptcy Judge from 2003 to 2008. Judge Walrath graduated from Princeton University in 1976 and earned her J.D., cum laude, from Villanova University in 1979. After clerking for the Honorable Emil F. Goldhaber, Chief Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the E.D.Pa., Judge Walrath spent the majority of her seventeen–year legal career as an attorney at the Philadelphia law firm of Clark Ladner Fortenbaugh & Young, concentrating in the areas of debtor/creditor rights and commercial litigation.
In addition to speaking at numerous bankruptcy educational programs and panels throughout the country, Judge Walrath is a founding member and co-president of the Delaware Bankruptcy American Inn of Court, a member of the Delaware Chapter of the International Women's Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. She is also active in the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, having served as Secretary from 2013 to 2014 and currently sits on the Board of Governors. Judge Walrath is the current Business Manager of the American Bankruptcy Law Journal. She is also an editor of the Rutter Group Bankruptcy Practice Guide and is an Adjunct Professor at St. John’s Law School in Queens, New York.
Erik White is a Director in the FTI Consulting Corporate Finance practice and is based in Dallas, TX. Mr. White has over 8 years of corporate finance, restructuring, and asset management experience in a variety of industries, including energy, construction, retail, financial services, and manufacturing.
Mr. White's engagements at FTI have included advising RadioShack during its bankruptcy case, developing a working capital improvement plan at a Canadian environmental services and construction company, representing the secured lender group in Patriot Coal's bankruptcy by, among other things, evaluating the Company's business plan, monitoring bankruptcy initiatives including union concessions and other cost saving strategies, and negotiating exit financing. Mr. White also assisted a hedge fund to evaluate a potential investment in a distressed coal mine and conducted M&A due diligence for the equity owners of a distressed ethanol producer.
Prior to joining FTI, Mr. White spent 5 years as vice president of credit trading at KBC Alternative Investment Management, an investment management firm with over $1 billion in assets under management. While at KBC, Mr. White managed the firm’s North American corporate credit portfolios, investing approximately $250 million of capital across a range of industries. In 2008–2009, Mr. White also led the liquidation efforts of the hedge fund as well as the divestiture of KBC's reverse mortgage business and was in charge of managing the Company's commercial paper program.
Mr. White holds an M.B.A from the University of Michigan, with a concentration in Operations Management. Mr. White graduated from Princeton University with a B.S.E in Operations Research and Financial Engineering.
Allen Wilen is a Partner in the firm's Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group and has nearly 20 years of experience. His extensive experience with bankruptcy, forensic accounting, corporate finance, and representing debtors, unsecured creditors and secured creditors in bankruptcy proceedings and out–of–court restructurings. In addition, he has spent considerable time in the areas of business operations, fraud investigation, contract damages and business valuation. He has also served as a liquidating Trustee and Disbursing Agent on multiple occasions.
Allen has been an integral part of forensic investigations leading to the criminal convictions of numerous individuals for crimes including bank and wire fraud, check kiting, and bankruptcy fraud. He has worked with numerous creditor committees and is known as a solutions-oriented bankruptcy professional. He also has extensive experience working with situations involving logistics and distribution, health care, entertainment and light manufacturing.
Allen is the Treasurer of the New Jersey Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA). He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJSCPA). He is also a member of the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA) and American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI). Previously, he was a director of Lawrenceville Re LTD, a Bermuda reinsurer.
Certifications
Specialties
Professional Activities
