Richard P. Carmody is a principal bankruptcy lawyer in the Birmingham, Ala., office of Adams and Reese LLP and has practiced law for more than 50 years. He specializes in insolvency law (C&I) and secured lending, and has a network of referral sources that he has developed throughout his career. Mr. Carmody is one of the firm’s principal bankruptcy attorneys, representing clients in difficult financial matters. He also provides counsel to lenders for complex commercial transactions and internal policies. In 1992, Mr. Carmody became the first lawyer in Alabama to become Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification. On the state level, he helped establish and served as the first chair of the Alabama State Bar section on bankruptcy and commercial law, and he was a member of the Alabama Law Institute’s committees for revision of the UCC (Articles 3, 4, 4A, 5 and 9). Mr. Carmody is a founding member of ABI, and he established and co-chaired its Ethics Committee from 1999-2005. Additionally, he served as vice chair of the ABI’s 2013 Task Force for Ethical Standards and was honored as ABI’s Committee Member of the Year in 2012. Currently, he serves on ABI’s Veterans Task Force. Mr. Carmody was inducted as a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy in 1999 and serves as serves as co‑chair of its Senior Committee. He is a frequent writer and lecturer on bankruptcy and commercial law topics, and in 2017, the Alabama State Bar presented him with the Albert L. Vreeland Pro Bono Award. Mr. Carmody received his B.A. in finance in 1964 from the University of Illinois and his J.D. in 1975 from Vanderbilt University School of Law.

Hon. John T. Gregg is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Michigan in Grand Rapids, appointed on July 17, 2014. He currently serves on the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Sixth Circuit. Previously, Judge Gregg was a partner with the law firm of Barnes & Thornburg LLP, where he focused on corporate restructuring, bankruptcy and other insolvency matters. Judge Gregg served as chair of the education committee of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges for 2022, serves on ABI’s Board of Directors, and is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, and he is a member of the American Law Institute. He is a frequent writer and speaker on bankruptcy and other commercial issues, and he has written and co-edited numerous secondary sources, including Collier Guide to Chapter 11, published by LexisNexis; Strategies for Secured Creditors in Workouts and Foreclosures, published by ALI-ABA; Issues for Suppliers and Customers of Financially Troubled Auto Suppliers, published by ABI; Michigan Security Interests in Personal Property, published by the Institute of Continuing Legal Education; Handling Consumer and Small Business Bankruptcies in Michigan, published by the Institute of Continuing Legal Education; Interrupted! Understanding Bankruptcy’s Effects on Manufacturing Supply Chains, published by ABI; and Receiverships in Michigan, published by the Institute of Continuing Legal Education. Judge Gregg received his B.A. in 1996 from the University of Michigan and his J.D. in 2002 from DePaul University College of Law.

Kara K. Gendron is co-owner of Mott & Gendron Law in Harrisburg, Pa., and has practiced bankruptcy law exclusively since 2001, focusing on representing individuals, farmers and small business owners. She is Board Certified in Consumer Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification (ABC) and is a certified bankruptcy court mediator. In 2021, Ms. Gendron was appointed as a chapter 7 and chapter 12 bankruptcy trustee for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and in 2025 she was invited to join the American College of Bankruptcy. She served as the Membership Relations Director for ABI’s Consumer Bankruptcy Committee and was an advisory board member for ABI’s 2023 Consumer Practice Extravaganza (CPEX). Ms. Gendron is a leader in the national bankruptcy community, serving as secretary of the executive board of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA). She also chairs NACBA’s Circuit Leader Committee and is a board member of both NACBA and ABC. In addition, she serves on the board of the Association of Chapter 12 Trustees (ACT12/ACT2), is a board member of the Middle District Bankruptcy Bar Association (MDBBA), and is an advisory board member for the Middle District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Court. In 2023, Ms. Gendron was appointed to the advisory board of the American Bankruptcy Law Journal (ABLJ), published by the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, and was reappointed in 2025. She is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the U.S. District Courts for the Middle and Eastern Districts of Pennsylvania, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Ms. Gendron frequently organizes and presents continuing legal education programs for NACBA, the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees (NABT), the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (NACTT), the Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI) and the MDBBA, and she taught bankruptcy law as an adjunct professor at Widener School of Law while maintaining her full‑time practice. She received her B.A. in 1997 from the University of Pennsylvania and her J.D. in 2001 from Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law.

R. Caleb Chaplain is a consumer bankruptcy attorney at Chaplain Dufraine, PLLC in Harrisonburg, Va., and serves as an adjunct professor of bankruptcy law at Washington and Lee University School of Law. Prior to opening his firm, he was the career law clerk to Hon. Rebecca B. Connelly of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg, and earlier served as a term law clerk to both Judge Connelly and Chief Judge Paul M. Black. A coordinating editor for the ABI Journal and a 2022 honoree of ABI’s “40 Under 40” program, he also volunteers as president of the board of Second Home Learning Center, a nonprofit serving children from low‑income households in Harrisonburg. He holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from Indiana University Maurer School of Law.

Jeffrey S. Fraser is a partner with ALAW in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and is the firm’s national Bankruptcy Partner. In this pivotal role, he works closely with each state’s managing attorneys as it relates to training, legal strategy, and all facets of the firm’s bankruptcy practice. Mr. Fraser is admitted to practice in the state of Florida and also is admitted to all federal district courts in the state of Texas, where he has extended his bankruptcy practice. In recognition of his efforts, he was selected by Super Lawyers as one of its “Florida Rising Stars” from 2019-23. Additionally, Mr. Fraser was named a 2017 Blackshear Fellow by the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ), and he is a 2020 ABI “40 Under 40” honoree, as well as a 2021 Junior Professional of the Year Award recipient by the American Legal & Finance Network (ALFN). He has published articles on bankruptcy issues in such publications as the ALFN, DS News, the Southern District of Florida Beacon and the Legal League. He also holds the highest rating by Martindale-Hubbell. Mr. Fraser received his B.A. in 2007 from the University of Miami and his J.D. in 2010 from the University of Miami School of Law.

Nicholas Fox is a partner and the practice leader of the Litigation and Insolvency team at Mourant Ozannes (Cayman) LLP in Camana Bay, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. He joined Mourant in 2010 and has more than 15 years of experience of litigation in the Cayman Islands and BVI. Before joining Mourant, Mr. Fox worked at another leading offshore law firm. Prior to that, he spent more than five years practicing at the London Bar. Mr. Fox has experience in commercial litigation, fraud and asset-tracing, private wealth disputes, fintech/cryptocurrency disputes, insolvency and financial services litigation, as well as regulatory matters. He received his M.A. in law from the University of Oxford.

Dania Slim is a partner with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw & Pittman LLP in Palm Beach, Fla., and New York, where she focuses her practice on insolvency and restructuring, chapter 15, cross-border and international insolvency, distressed M&A real estate, Latin America distressed real estate, aviation, aerospace and transportation, health care insolvency and restructuring, and energy. Selected as a “Rising Star” by Law360 and listed in The Best Layers in America and in Super Lawyers, a significant portion of her practice also focuses on Latin America. Ms. Slim is a 2020 honoree of ABI’s “40 Under 40” program. She received her B.A. cum laude in 2005 from Florida International University and her J.D. in 2008 from The George Washington University Law School, where she served as executive editor of the George Washington University Law Review.

Gunnar Branson is CEO of the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE) in Alexandria, Va., where he leads a global forum of nearly 180 institutional investors, investment managers and partners representing about $3 trillion in U.S. real estate assets under management. He has more than three decades of experience across commercial real estate, professional services, education and association leadership. Before joining AFIRE in 2018, Mr. Branson served as CEO of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers and earlier led strategy, innovation and marketing for Fortune 500 and mid‑market companies. A recognized thought leader, he is a frequent speaker, writer, panelist and media spokesperson on institutional investing, urbanism, sustainability and future trends. He has appeared on a TEDx stage and on television business news outlets such as CIBC, and he hosts interviews with industry leaders on The AFIRE Podcast. Mr. Branson received his B.F.A. in drama from the University of North Carolina School of Arts.

Jordana L. Renert is senior vice president of Distressed Debt/Specialty Corporate Trust at UMB Bank in New York, where she manages a portfolio of corporate and municipal workout transactions as part of a seasoned distressed‑debt specialty corporate trust team. She previously served as a partner with Lowenstein Sandler LLP and with ArentFox LLP, and was an associate at Willkie, Farr & Gallagher LLP. Ms. Renert is experienced in financial restructurings, distressed situations, bankruptcy reorganization, and municipal and liquidation proceedings, having represented creditors’ committees, indenture trustees, agents and bondholders, as well as acquirors and investors in troubled and bankrupt companies. Her restructuring work spans oil & gas, energy, mining and exploration, publishing, manufacturing, retail and health care, and she has played lead roles in such major chapter 11 cases as PG&E Corp., R.E. Gas Development, Sabine Oil & Gas, SandRidge Energy, Magnum Hunter Resources, SquareTwo Financial Services and Cengage Learning. Ms. Renert is Education Director for ABI’s Business Reorganization Committee and is a member of the New York Institute of Credit and the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation. She also has participated in the Family Court Clinic Project, providing pro bono family court legal consultations. Ms. Renert received her B.S. in 2003 in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University and her J.D. magna cum laude in 2007 from Brooklyn Law School, where she received the Professor Barry L. Zaretsky Bankruptcy Fellowship.

Russell A. Perry, CFA, CIRA is a senior managing director at Ankura Consulting Group, LLC in Southlake, Texas, and has more than a decade of experience across complex financial situations involving distressed companies, with an emphasis on the U.S. health care market. His financial advisory experience spans interim management, financial statement analysis, financial projection development, liquidity and cash management, M&A support, stakeholder negotiations, balance-sheet recapitalization/restructuring, DIP financing/sourcing and bankruptcy preparation. His current and former clients include private and public companies, nonprofit institutions, equity sponsors, secured and unsecured creditors, bond insurance companies, bondholders and other related parties. Mr. Perry received The M&A Advisor’s 2016 40 Under 40 Emerging Leaders Award. He holds inactive NASD licenses 7, 65 and 63 and has provided advisory services to clients across energy (exploration and production) and materials, retail, technology, hospitality, media and real estate. In addition, he has Till cramdown interest rate expert witness experience. Mr. Perry is a member of the DFW Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association, ABI, the CFA Institute’s DFW Society and the Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors, and he is a former treasurer of the DFW Association of Young Bankruptcy Lawyers and a former business division liaison of the Young Lawyers Committee of the Bankruptcy Law Section of the State Bar of Texas.

Prof. Nancy B. Rapoport is a University of Nevada, Las Vegas Distinguished Professor, the Garman Turner Gordon Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and an Affiliate Professor of Business Law and Ethics in the Lee Business School at UNLV. Her specialties are bankruptcy ethics, ethics in governance, law firm behavior, and the depiction of lawyers in popular culture. Previously, she clerked for Hon. Joseph T. Sneed III on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit following law school, then practiced primarily bankruptcy law with Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco from 1986-91. Prof. Rapoport started her academic career at The Ohio State University College of Law in 1991, and she moved from assistant professor to associate professor with tenure in 1995 to associate dean for Student Affairs (1996) and professor (1998), just as she left Ohio State to become dean and professor of law at the University of Nebraska College of Law from 1998-2000. She then served as dean and professor of law at the University of Houston Law Center from July 2000-May 2006 and as professor of law from June 2006-June 2007, when she left to join the faculty at Boyd. She served as interim dean of Boyd from 2012-13, as senior advisor to the president of UNLV from 2014-15, as acting executive vice president and provost from 2015-16, as acting senior vice president for Finance and Business (for July and August 2017), and as special counsel to the president from May 2016-June 2018. Prof. Rapoport is admitted to the bars of the states of California, Ohio, Nebraska, Texas and Nevada and of the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2001, she was elected to membership in the American Law Institute, and in 2002, she received a Distinguished Alumna Award from Rice University. In 2017, she was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi (Chapter 100). She is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and of the American College of Bankruptcy. In 2009, the Association of Media and Entertainment Counsel presented her with the Public Service Counsel Award at the 4th Annual Counsel of the Year Awards. In 2017, she received the Commercial Law League of America’s Lawrence P. King Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy, and in 2018, she was one of the recipients of the NAACP Legacy Builder Awards (Las Vegas Branch #1111). She has served as the fee examiner or as chair of the fee review committee in such large bankruptcy cases as Zetta Jet, Toys ’R Us, Caesars, Station Casinos, Pilgrim’s Pride and Mirant. Prof. Rapoport appeared in the Academy Award®-nominated movie Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (Magnolia Pictures 2005) as herself. She received her B.A. summa cum laude from Rice University in 1982 and her J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1985.

Edward T. Gavin, CTP, NCPM is the managing partner of Gavin/Solmonese LLC in Wilmington, Del., and has more than 20 years of experience working with distressed companies and their stakeholders in diverse industries, including retail, transportation, regulated and nonregulated manufacturing, pharmaceutical and health care, professional services, construction and metal-forming. He has served in leadership roles in engineering, manufacturing, information technology and regulatory affairs functions. Mr. Gavin is experienced in strategic planning and process re-engineering, with hands-on management experience in nonprofit, for-profit and public sector operations. He testifies frequently as an expert witness on such matters as ordinary-course-of-business issues in preference litigation, as well as on fiduciary duties of management in distressed companies. In 2021, Mr. Gavin launched business/disrupted, a weekly talk radio show and podcast on the VoiceAmerica Business network. He also is a nationally recognized expert in mediation; he is a National Certified Professional Mediator and a member of Mediators Beyond Borders International (MBBI). Mr. Gavin is a past president of ABI and served as Chairman from 2020-21, and he co-chairs ABI’s Mid-Atlantic Bankruptcy Workshop. He also co-authored ABI’s Chief Restructuring Officer’s Guide to Bankruptcy. Mr. Gavin has received the prestigious Turnaround Atlas Leadership Achievement Award, which honors individuals who have contributed to successful turnarounds resulting in revitalized companies, an improved local economy and job creation. He attended the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, studying music theory and education, received his Master of Studies with a concentration in dispute resolution and his Master of Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law and Pepperdine University Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, respectively.

Susan M. Freeman is a partner with Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP in Phoenix. In addition to her business bankruptcy law practice, she is an appellate lawyer and has briefed more than 300 civil appeals and argued over 100, many of which are bankruptcy appeals, including a U.S. Supreme Court appeal. Ms. Freeman is a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference and a Fellow and former director, vice president and secretary of the American College of Bankruptcy. She also is a former chair of the American Bar Association’s Business Bankruptcy Committee. Ms. Freeman is a life member of the American Law Institute and has been a certified specialist in bankruptcy law since 1985. She is a frequent author and lecturer, with particular emphasis on bankruptcy ethics issues, having authored Chapter 172 of Norton Bankruptcy Law & Practice on Professional Responsibility in Bankruptcy Cases and “Are DIP and Committee Counsel Fiduciaries for Their Clients’ Constituents or the Bankruptcy Estate? What Is a Fiduciary, Anyway?,” 17 Amer. Bankr. Inst. L. Rev. 291 (Winter 2009). Ms. Freeman regularly advises lawyers on bankruptcy ethics concerns and on bankruptcy appeals. She is a Fellow and former president of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and co-authored the civil appeals chapter of the Arizona Appellate Handbook. In addition, she was co-counsel for several law professors on amicus curiae briefs in Tennessee Student Assistance Corp. v. Hood, 541 U.S. 440 (2004), and Central Virginia Community College v. Katz, 126 S. Ct. 990, 1004 (2006), and she briefed and argued Hall v. United States of America, 132 S. Ct. 1882 (2012). Ms. Freeman has been listed since 1989 in The Best Lawyers in America for bankruptcy and commercial litigation/appeals, and is also listed in Chambers USA. She received her B.A. with distinction from Mount Holyoke College and her J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1975, where she was a Root‑Tilden‑Snow Scholar.

Minglei Wu is a bilingual civil and commercial panel mediator with Minglei Wu Mediation and Advisory and an internationally qualified commercial lawyer based in London. With 20 years of international legal experience and qualifications in England & Wales, Illinois (U.S.) and China, she advises on cross-border transactions, corporate insolvency and restructuring, joint ventures and international trade across such industries as e‑commerce, manufacturing, retail, TMT, automotive, property, pharmaceuticals and aviation. As a mediator, Ms. Wu handles the full range of commercial disputes with particular expertise in international and multijurisdictional matters, such as international insolvency and restructuring, joint venture and partnership conflicts, and international trade and contract disputes. Having lived and worked in Australia, China, the U.S. and the U.K., she brings a cross‑cultural perspective to dispute resolution and transactional work. Ms. Wu received her B.A. in English language and literature from Beijing Foreign Studies University her LL.B. from Fudan University, and her J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.

Michael P. Richman is a member of Richman & Richman LLC in Madison, Wis., where he focuses on representing chapter 11 business debtors, creditors and creditors’ committees and advises on virtually every aspect of financial distress and bankruptcy, as well as out-of-court restructurings. He is also an experienced litigator who frequently represents parties in commercial litigation in state and federal courts. In addition to chapter 11 business debtor, creditor and creditor committee work, Mr. Richman’s bankruptcy experience includes the prosecution and defense of complex preference and fraudulent conveyance cases, breach-of-duty claims against corporate insiders, and advocacy for purchasers of assets under § 363. Prior to moving to Wisconsin in April 2018, his legal practice was centered in New York City in the federal, state and bankruptcy courts located in the Southern District of New York, and he appeared frequently in Delaware. Mr. Richman maintains his active bar admission in New York and continues to represent clients in bankruptcy and litigation matters across the nation. In a career of more than 40 years, he has appeared in courts in more than 20 states. Mr. Richman is a past ABI President and chaired the Section 363 Subcommittee of ABI’s Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11, and he served as co-vice chair of ABI’s National Ethics Task Force. He has for many successive years been named a “Super Lawyer” in peer surveys conducted by Thomson Reuters, including most recently for Wisconsin in 2022-24. He was also recently honored by The Best Lawyers in America as a Lawyer of the Year in both 2024 and 2025 in Wisconsin. Mr. Richman has written numerous articles on ethics in bankruptcy practice published in the ABI Journal, is a regular lecturer on bankruptcy ethics topics for ABI and the Practicing Law Institute, and over the past 30 years has been an invited speaker/lecturer at hundreds of bankruptcy conferences on many other topics. He is also the founder and a performing member of ABI’s house band, the Indubitable Equivalents, and since January 2018 he has taught bankruptcy law as an adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison. Mr. Richman received his undergraduate degree with honors from Vassar College and his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar and was awarded the David M. Berger award in honor of Prof. Wolfgang Friedmann for distinction in international law. He also served as managing editor of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law.

Hon. Elizabeth S. Stong has served as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn since 2003. Prior to her appointment the bench, she was a litigation partner and associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York, an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and law clerk to Hon. A. David Mazzone, U.S. District Judge in the District of Massachusetts. Judge Stong is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Council of the American Law Institute, and the boards of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the Practising Law Institute, the New York County Lawyers’ Association and the New York Law Institute. She is a member of the Advisory Committee of Columbia University’s Committee on Global Thought and the Advisory Board of P.R.I.M.E. Finance, an international dispute resolution and judicial training organization, as well as co-chair of the New York City Bar’s Middle East-North Africa Law Committee. Judge Stong regularly serves as a delegate to UNCITRAL’s Working Groups on Arbitration and Conciliation and Insolvency, and is an elected member of the European Law Institute. She also chairs the ABA Standing Committee on Continuing Legal Education and holds leadership roles in the International Insolvency Institute, ABI and the ABA’s Business Law Section, International Law Section and Judicial Division. In addition, she is an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School. Judge Stong has trained judges in more than 25 countries on five continents, including North, Central and West Africa, Central Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula and South America, with the U.S. Commerce Department Commercial Law Development Program, the World Bank, INSOL and the ABA-Rule of Law Initiative, among other entities. She also has consulted with the Supreme Court of China and People’s High Courts in Beijing and Guangzhou, the Uganda Registration Services Bureau, and recently has led judicial workshops and consultations in Bahrain, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Nigeria and Brazil, among other venues. Judge Stong received the ABA International Law Section’s Mayre Rasmussen Award for the Advancement of Women in International Law, the New York City Bar “Her Hero” Lifetime Achievement Award, the American Bar Foundation’s Outstanding State Chair Award, the ABA Glass Cutter Award, the NYIC Honorable Burton R. Lifland Mentor of the Year Award, the NYIC Hon. Cecelia Goetz Award, the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors Judicial Service Award, the MFY Legal Services Scales of Justice Award, and the Brooklyn Bar Association’s Freda Nisnewitz Award for Pro Bono Service, among others. She received her A.B. magna cum laude from Harvard University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she received the Williston Prize, and she studied at the Université des Sciences Sociales in Toulouse, France, as a Rotary Foundation Graduate Fellow.

Hon. Sage M. Sigler is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta, appointed in March 2018. She succeeded Hon. Mary Grace Diehl, for whom she clerked after graduating from law school. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Sigler was a partner in Alston & Bird LLP’s Bankruptcy Group. She is an active member of ABI’s Board of Directors, NCBJ, IWIRC, TMA and the Bankruptcy Section of the Atlanta Bar Association, and she has been a volunteer presenter for the Credit Abuse Resistance Education (CARE) program. Judge Sigler was an honoree in ABI’s inaugural class of “40 Under 40” in 2017, and she served on the program’s steering committee from 2022-23, as well as on the publications committee in 2023 as an ABI Board member, and as the judicial chair for ABI’s Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop in 2024. She received her B.A. in political science from the University of Florida in 2001 and her J.D. in 2006 from Emory University School of Law, where she was the executive symposium editor of the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal.

Bill Rochelle is ABI’s editor-at-large, based in New York. He joined ABI in 2015 and writes every day on developments in consumer and reorganization law. For the prior nine years, Mr. Rochelle was the bankruptcy columnist for Bloomberg News. Before turning to journalism, he practiced bankruptcy law for 35 years, including 17 years as a partner in the New York office of Fulbright & Jaworski LLP. In addition to writing, Mr. Rochelle travels the country for ABI, speaking to bar groups and professional organizations on hot topics in the turnaround community and trends in consumer bankruptcies. He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Columbia University, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

Hon. Laurel Myerson Isicoff is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Florida in Miami, initially appointed on Feb. 13, 2006. She served as Chief Judge from October 2016 until October 2023. Judge Isicoff serves on the Judicial Conference Committee on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System. Judge Isicoff serves on the Judicial Conference Committee on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System and on its subcommittee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She serves as vice president of the American College of Bankruptcy, is a member of its Pro Bono Committee and is a past chair of its Judicial Outreach Committee, and from 2021-22 she co-chaired the College’s Commission on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. In recognition of that service, as well as her longstanding commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, she received the inaugural DEI Excellence Award from the College. In further recognition of her contributions to DEI, she was awarded the 2023 NCBJ DEI Leadership Award from the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. Judge Isicoff currently serves as judicial chair of the Pro Bono Committee of the Business Law Section of the Florida Bar and is a member of the Florida Bar Standing Committee on Pro Bono. Prior to becoming a judge, she specialized in commercial bankruptcy, foreclosure and workout matters, both as a transactional attorney and litigator for 14 years with the law firm of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, after practicing for eight years with Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, now known as Squire Patton Boggs. After graduating from law school, Judge Isicoff clerked for Hon. Daniel S. Pearson at the Florida Third District Court of Appeal before entering private practice. She is a past president of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and of the Bankruptcy Bar Association (BBA) of the Southern District of Florida, and, until she took the bench, she served as the chair of the Pro Bono Task Force for the BBA. In addition, she received the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award from The M&A Advisors. Judge Isicoff speaks extensively on bankruptcy around the country, and is committed to increasing pro bono service, diversity, equity and inclusion, and financial literacy for all. She received her J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law in 1982.

Stacy A. Lutkus is a partner in the Business Restructuring group of McDermott Will & Schulte LLP in New York, where she focuses her practice on all aspects of complex domestic and cross-border reorganization matters. She advises companies and foreign representatives preparing chapter 11 and chapter 15 cases for filing, as well as debtors, creditors, purchasers (including stalking-horse bidders) and lenders in connection with out-of-court restructuring transactions, distressed-asset sales, debtor-in-possession and exit financing. She also represents official committees of unsecured creditors, individual secured and unsecured creditors, equityholders and post-confirmation trusts in bankruptcy and related litigation. Ms. Lutkus has significant experience in crypto and crypto-adjacent domestic and cross-border insolvency proceedings, including work on FTX, Terraform Labs (including recognition of its chapter 11 case by the Singapore International Commercial Court), Voyager Digital, Compute North, and the Three Arrows Capital liquidation in the British Virgin Islands (and its parallel chapter 15 case). She maintains an active pro bono practice focused on representing the interests of children, previously served as a special agent with the U.S. Department of the Treasury IRS Criminal Investigation Division, and has been recognized by Lawdragon (2020) and selected for the International Insolvency Institute’s NextGen Leadership Program. Ms. Lutkus is a member of ABI, the Federal Bar Council’s Bankruptcy Litigation Committee, INSOL and IWIRC. She received her B.S. magna cum laude in 1997 from Drexel University and her J.D. in 2002 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Hon. Christopher M. Lopez is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Texas in Houston, appointed on Aug. 14, 2019. He previously was a member of the Business, Finance & Restructuring Group of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and focused on representations ranging from top global corporations in mega-restructurings to middle-market debtor and creditor representations. Judge Lopez lectures across the country on bankruptcy issues. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Thurgood Marshall School of Law. Judge Lopez currently serves as a council member of the State Bar of Texas’s Bankruptcy Law Section, an advisor to the State Bar of Texas Young Lawyers Committee, a member of the Nominations Committee for the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, and a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference. He received his B.A. in psychology in 1996 from the University of Houston, his M.A. in religion in 1999 from Yale Divinity School and his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 2003.

Susana Hidvegi Arango is a senior advisor at Riveron Consulting, LLC and a partner at HB Legal in Bogotá, Colombia, where she advises on business insolvency, complex litigation and arbitration. Until December 2021, she was the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Proceedings in Colombia (Chief Justice of Bankruptcy of Colombia). Between 2019-21, Mr. Hidvegi Arango represented the Republic of Colombia at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group V (Insolvency Law). During her participation, the UNCITRAL Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency with Guide to Enactment (2019) and the Legislative Recommendations on Insolvency of Micro and Small Enterprises (2021) were approved. Before taking office as Chief Justice of Bankruptcy of Colombia, Ms. Hidvegi Arango was the head of the Insolvency practice at Brigard Urrutia Abogados in Colombia, worked as international associate at Dechert LLP in New York City, and clerked for the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. She led the reforms to the bankruptcy regime to address the effects of the COVID-19 crisis, and as a result, the Government of Colombia issued Legislative Decrees 560 and 772 in April and June 2020 and the subsequent regulations, which provided for the creation of extra-judicial bankruptcy proceedings, the incorporation of artificial intelligence tools to the administration of bankruptcy cases by the court, and the creation of a simplified insolvency regime for small enterprises. These decress were made permanent legislation in Law 2437 of 2024. Ms. Hidvegi Arango is a lecturer of bankruptcy law at several universities, including Universidad del Rosario, Universidad Javeriana and Universidad de Los Andes, and she has participated in multiple projects with organizations such as the World Bank and INSOL. She also has participated in numerous national and international conferences as a lecturer and panelist on insolvency, and she has published several papers and articles on bankruptcy law. Ms. Hidvegi Arango is a member of the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), for which she is co-chair for Latin America; the International Association of Restructuring, Insolvency & Bankruptcy Professionals (INSOL), where she is a member of its Legislative and Regulatory Group, the Technical Research Committee and the Latin America Committee; the International Insolvency Institute (III), where she is a member of the board of the III Committee Model Laws@Work; and Colegio de Abogados Rosaristas, were she is a member of the directive board. She was honored in 2020 as one of ABI’s “40 Under 40,” and she is a member of the Global Restructuring Review’s 2022 “40 under 40” class. Ms. Hidvegi Arango was named Woman of the Year in Restructuring 2022 by IWIRC. Also in 2022, she was selected as part of INSOL’s Future Forty, a celebration of the rising stars of the insolvency industry in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the organization. Ms. Hidvegi Arango is admitted to practice law in Colombia and the State of New York, and she is a Fellow of INSOL. She received her law degree as well as a specialization in finance law from Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, and she pursued her LL.M. in business and bankruptcy law at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Jolene E. Wee, CIRA, CDBV is the owner, managing director and founder of JW Infinity Consulting, LLC (JWI) in New York, a financial advisory firm specializing in transaction advisory, interim management, litigation consulting, and forensic accounting for distressed companies and their stakeholders. For almost 20 years, she has advised investors, fiduciaries, creditors’ committees, lenders, debtors, legal counsel, high‑net‑worth individuals and public agencies on restructuring, bankruptcy, litigation, forensic, financing, merger, cross‑border and buyout matters. Ms. Wee currently serves as an examiner and chapter 11 trustee on ongoing chapter 11 matters and as a subchapter V trustee in Region 2 (Southern and Eastern Districts of New York) and Region 4 (District of Maryland, District of Columbia, and Eastern District of Virginia). Using her mathematics and computer‑science background, she deploys large‑scale data analytics to derive forward‑looking business insights grounded in accounting, finance and economics. Ms. Wee has testified regarding chapter 11 plan feasibility and performed solvency analyses, fraudulent‑transfer analyses and business valuations in bankruptcy litigation matters, with case experience across banking, e‑commerce, financial services, health care, insurance, manufacturing, professional services, real estate, retail and technology companies with revenues up to $15 billion. She is a member of the boards of ABI and the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees (NABT), and she was named to ABI’s 2020 “40 Under 40” class. Ms. Wee was Finance Monthly Global Awards’ Valuation Adviser of the Year in 2018, and led JWI’s engagement recognized by the 2025 Special Situation M&A award from Global M&A Network for the Total Auto Financing chapter 11 sale. She received her bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and business administration with a focus on finance from Berea College, and her M.B.A. from Miami University of Ohio.

Craig M. Geno is a member of the Law Offices of Craig M. Geno, PLLC in Ridgeland, Miss., and his bankruptcy practice consists representing secured and unsecured creditors, unsecured creditors’ committees, chapter 11 debtors-in-possession and bankruptcy trustees in chapter 7 and 11 cases. Additionally, he has served as a trustee in chapter 11 cases and is a subchapter V trustee in the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi and the Western District of Tennessee. His practice areas also include commercial and corporate litigation. Mr. Geno is a frequent writer and lecturer on various bankruptcy topics. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Mississippi State Bar Association (for which he served as president of its Law Office Economics Section from 1993-94), Mississippi Bar Foundation, Federal Bar Association (for which he served as the Southern District Vice President of the Mississippi chapter from 1989-90), and the Mississippi Bankruptcy Conference (for which he served as president in 2001). In addition, he is a member of ABI, the Business Bankruptcy Subcommittee of the Section of Business Law of the American Bar Association, and the Turnaround Management Association. Mr. Geno is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, the Mississippi Bar Foundation and the American Bar Foundation. He is listed in The Best Attorneys of America and as a “Top Fifty Attorney” in Super Lawyers, and his firm is listed in U.S. News & Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms.” Mr. Geno is Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification, served on its board of directors for eight years, and served as its president and chairman. He also served on the Mississippi State Bar as special counsel for the Committee on Character and Fitness from 1984-87, and as a member of the Committee on Character and Fitness from 1987-2013. Mr. Geno received his undergraduate degree in 1975 and his J.D. in 1978 from the University of Mississippi, during which time he served on the law school’s Moot Court Board.

John P. Fishwick, Jr. is the owner of Fishwick & Associates in Roanoke, Va., and a nationally recognized trial lawyer who handles challenging cases for individuals throughout Virginia. As a former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, he served as the chief law enforcement officer for the entire western district. Mr. Fishwick has successfully tried numerous cases in both state and federal courts. His successes in federal court, both in his capacity as U.S. Attorney and as defense counsel, include an acquittal for a client charged with perjury, and a hung jury in a case where his client was charged with price-fixing, which led to all charges being dropped. Mr. Fishwick also has worked on cases with multiple plaintiffs, and in one such case involving college accreditation, he successfully led the legal team to a $2.4 million settlement. He also has represented families whose child was injured or died as a result of college hazing. Mr. Fishwick has appeared regularly as a legal expert guest on NewsNation, Sinclair Broadcasting, MSNBC, CNN and Fox Business News, and he has been interviewed and quoted by the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The Washington Examiner. He has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers and Virginia Business Legal Elite. Mr. Fishwick received his B.A. in 1979 from Harvard College and his J.D. cum laude in 1983 from Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Va., where he served as a Note and Comment editor for the Washington and Lee Law Review.

Liz Fried, CPA, CFE is a manager in RubinBrown LLP’s Consulting Services Group in Denver and is a forensic accounting and litigation support professional with six years of public accounting experience. Her areas of focus include forensic investigations, economic damages, cash-tracing, business disputes, bankruptcies and receiverships. Ms. Fried has experience across a wide variety of industries, including construction, manufacturing and distribution, professional services and private equity. She received her B.A. in gender and women’s studies and African languages and literature in 2014, as well as her Master’s in accountancy in 2019, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, along with a certificate in religious studies.

Ira L. Herman is a partner with Blank Rome LLP in its New York office, where he concentrates his practice on restructuring and bankruptcy matters with an emphasis on distressed public debt issues, secured and unsecured loans, cross-border insolvency matters, distressed M&A and corporate governance. He regularly counsels lenders and other constituencies regarding bankruptcy risk, including with regard to inter-creditor issues. Mr. Herman also has served as a mediator and arbitrator with respect to insolvency, real estate, tax and other commercial law issues. He annually updates “Anticipating and Managing Bankruptcy Risk,” a series of articles he has written for the Financial Restructuring & Bankruptcy module of LexisNexis Practical Guidance®. He has served for five years on its editorial advisory board and has also served on Law360’s Bankruptcy Editorial Advisory Board. In 2022, Mr. Herman was received ABI’s Distinguished Service Award in 2025 for his work spearheading Restructuring Masterclass, a series of online courses designed to get attorneys up to speed on the nuances of bankruptcy law and practice. He received his B.A. in political science cum laude from Yeshiva University in 1979, where he served as editor-in-chief of The Polis, a political science journal, and his J.D. cum laude with distinction from Boston University School of Law in 1982, where he served as an editor of the Boston University International Law Journal.

Michelle H. Bass is a partner at Wolfson Bolton Kochis PLLC in Troy, Mich., where she manages its consumer bankruptcy practice group. She represents both debtors and creditors in consumer bankruptcy proceedings and has represented individuals reorganizing under chapter 11, including under subchapter V. She helps with stopping foreclosures, stripping secured liens and cramming down loans on collateral for individuals seeking to reorganize under chapters 13 and 11. Ms. Bass has successfully defended appeals in the Federal Eastern District for the State of Michigan and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a member of ABI, the Detroit Consumer Bankruptcy Association and the Oakland County Bar Association, and she is Board Certified in Consumer Bankruptcy Law. Ms. Bass has been named by Michigan Lawyer’s Weekly as one of 2019’s 30 Women in the Law, by Crain’s Detroit as one of 2021’s Notable Women in the Law, and by The Best Lawyers in America from 2023-25 for Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law. She also has been consistently recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Consumer Bankruptcy from 2014-22, as a Super Lawyer in Consumer Bankruptcy from 2023-25, and by Leading Lawyers from 2023-25 for Individual Bankruptcy Law. Ms. Bass served on ABI’s “40 Under 40” Program Steering Committee in 2023 and 2024, and she chaired the Michigan IWIRC Network from 2017-21. She received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her J.D. from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

Randall Reese is a managing director with Stretto in Chicago and has more than 20 years of corporate restructuring experience, with a unique perspective on the role of technology and bankruptcy data. He plays a key role in developing Stretto’s solutions by integrating case information and research capabilities. By collaborating with the company’s expert team of case managers, Mr. Reese identifies ways to improve efficiency and streamline administrative processes. His significant corporate restructuring experience includes representing parties in such major cases as Delphi Corp., Delta Air Lines and Enron Corp. He also has served as an advisor to companies in the legal technology industry. Prior to joining Stretto, Mr. Reese in 2007 founded Restructuring Concepts LLC in Silicon Valley to build best-in-class research products specifically focused on complex corporate restructurings. The company’s flagship product — www.chapter11dockets.com — is widely used by leading legal and financial professionals, including law firms that act as lead debtor counsel in more than 70 percent of all large chapter 11 cases filed nationwide. He also served as a senior advisor to several companies, including a venture-backed financial technology startup with significant involvement in cryptocurrency-related transactions and a claims and noticing firm founded by industry veterans. Mr. Reese periodically serves as an advisor/consultant to legal, legal technology and financial technology companies on core business issues. He began his career as an associate in the Corporate Restructuring practice of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Mr. Reese received his B.S. in business administration magna cum laude from Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, his M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley and his J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School.

Mohnish Zaveri, CFA, CFE, FRM is a director in the Turnaround and Restructuring practice at AlixPartners, LLP in New York, and specializes in guiding companies through complex financial and operational challenges across the industrial, retail, energy and technology sectors. He has advised businesses on liquidity management, operational improvements and strategic alternatives in both in-court and out-of-court restructuring processes and is experienced in business-planning, working capital optimization, creditor negotiations and transaction execution. Mr. Zaveri has managed cross-functional teams, navigating stakeholder dynamics and delivering sustainable outcomes for distressed companies. He received his BTech in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Bombay and his M.B.A. from New York University Stern School of Business.

Miranda Swift is an associate at Stinson LLP in Kansas City, Mo., where she assists clients in bankruptcy proceedings and litigation, receiverships, foreclosures and restructurings. She previously interned at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri. Ms. Swift assisted in counseling Flora Food Group in its acquisition of a Kansas-based manufacturing facility out of receivership and facilitating the reopening of the plant and expansion of production. She received her B.S. summa cum laude in 2019 from the University of Nebraska Omaha in 2019, and her J.D. summa cum laude in 2023 from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Malhar S. Pagay is a business lawyer with Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones in Los Angeles, where he focuses his practice on the development and implementation of strategic alternatives for and against distressed businesses. A member of the firm’s Healthcare Restructuring Group, he has substantial experience representing chapter 11 debtors, trustees, unsecured creditors, creditors’ committees and other parties in the contexts of bankruptcy cases, adversary proceedings, commercial litigation, mediations, domestic and international business transactions, business reorganizations, and out-of-court corporate restructurings of debt. Mr. Pagay has broad industry experience, including in health care and life sciences, real estate, technology, retail, manufacturing, transportation, sports and entertainment. His recent representations include reorganizing the Ruby Tuesday casual-dining chain with more than 200 restaurants through a debt-for-equity transaction with its secured lenders, implemented through a chapter 11 plan confirmed after only four months in bankruptcy; counseling technology entrepreneur Yueting “YT” Jia, the founder of mobility ecosystem company Faraday Future, in the successful restructuring of more than $3 billion in debt held almost entirely by creditors located in the People’s Republic of China (this representation was recognized at Global M&A Network’s 13th Annual Turnaround Atlas Awards as “Cross-Border Turnaround of the Year”); advising a creditors’ committee in connection with a successful hospital reorganization; and completing a § 363 sale of a $100 million Class A commercial office property over the objections of co-owners. He also has served as principal counsel to China Export & Credit Insurance Corp. and its Chinese policyholders and clients in complex U.S. insolvency matters. Mr. Pagay has lectured both in the U.S. and internationally regarding a variety of legal issues, including cross-border transactions and insolvencies. He has been named a “Super Lawyer” in the field of Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights every year since 2009 in a peer survey conducted by Law & Politics and the publishers of Los Angeles magazine, and he is rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. In addition, he has been listed among The Best Lawyers in America in the practice areas of Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation – Bankruptcy. Mr. Pagay received his B.A. in 1989 from Yale University and his J.D. in 1994 from the University of Southern California.

Julian Bulaon is head of Liability Management at Octus in Atlanta and previously served as the firm’s senior covenants analyst. He previously worked as an associate specializing in restructuring and credit insolvency at Latham & Watkins and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP from 2015-19, and before that was a summer associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, participated in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Summer Honors Program, and performed consulting and internship assignments in credit risk and internal audit. Mr. Bulaon received his Bachelor’s degree in finance from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.

Karim A. Guirguis, PMP, CAE is chief operating officer of the American Bankruptcy Institute in Alexandria, Va., the nation’s largest association of bankruptcy professionals, comprised of nearly 10,000 members in multidisciplinary roles, including attorneys, bankers, judges, lenders, turnaround specialists and others. Formerly ABI’s Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, he joined the staff in 2002 and has continually provided vision and leadership in providing innovative products and services to better serve ABI members and staff. Prior to joining ABI, Mr. Guirguis held several positions in website architecture and computer animation, most recently with Disney MGM Studios in Florida. His work has earned several awards from his peers, including an Oscar, technical achievement award, the prestigious Horizon Award for ABI’s video honoring its founders, and a Webby Award, to name a few. Mr. Guirguis is a regular presenter on cutting-edge technology issues for several professional educators, such as the American Society of Association Executives, for which he served on its technology board. He was a two-time honoree of the 40/40 Awards by the Alexandria (Va.) Chamber of Commerce, and was selected by the Leadership Center of Excellence as part of its 2017 “40 under 40” class to recognize top men and women, age 40 and under, engaged in a variety of fields, including business, technology, nonprofit management, civic life, public service, education and the arts, who are shaping future. Mr. Guirguis received his B.S. in electrical engineering from Cambridge University in England, his Master’s in multimedia and animation from George Mason University, and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Nicholas Christiano, CPA is a manager in RubinBrown LLP’s Tax Services Group in Denver. In his role, he serves clients in a variety of industries, including real estate, construction and professional services, with a focus on small business and high-net-worth client groups. Additionally, he supports the firm’s wealth-advisory practice with comprehensive tax planning. Mr. Christiano received B.S. degrees in 2017 in both accounting and finance from St. John Fisher University, and his LL.M. in taxation from the University of Denver - Sturm College of Law.

Matthew H. Lannan is a director in Alvarez & Marsal Tax’s Restructuring Tax practice in Washington, D.C. He has 10 years of experience advising financial and strategic clients on U.S. federal income tax aspects of M&A and restructuring transactions. Mr. Lannan’s practice includes transaction structuring, legal entity rationalization, tax modeling, and tax attribute analysis in connection with mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, IPOs, spinoffs, restructurings, bankruptcies and recapitalizations. He has served a wide range of clients in various industries, including Fortune 500 corporations as well as small, mid- and large-cap private-equity firms. Mr. Lannan has particular expertise in matters relating to federal tax attributes (e.g., § 382, earnings and profits, stock and asset basis, unified loss rule, and impact of debt forgiveness); other quantitative analyses such as transaction cost studies, debt modification analyses, cash tax models and gain/loss calculations; and tax implications of FDIC receiverships. Prior to joining A&M Tax, he was a Manager in EY’s Transaction Tax Advisory practice, where he practiced for five years in the Washington, D.C., area office. Previously, he was an associate in KPMG’s M&A Tax practice, where he practiced for two years in its Boston office. Mr. Lannan received his B.A. in European history from Bentley University, his J.D. from Northeastern University, and his LL.M. in taxation from Georgetown University Law Center.

Aaron G. Chambers is a managing director with Boos & Associates, PC in Madera, Calif., and works with small and mid-sized closely held businesses, providing interim and fractional CFO and controllership services, value-growth advisory, bankruptcy and insolvency consulting, and mergers and acquisitions advice. He has more than 10 years of sales and operations experience in retail, manufacturing and distribution, and several years in public accounting specializing in management consulting, tax resolution and financial statement auditing for troubled companies. Mr. Chambers serves on the boards of the California Tax Education Council, the Workforce Development Board of Madera County, the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors’ Southern California chapter, the Central California Bankruptcy Association and the Ag Lenders Society of California. He received his B.A. in business administration summa cum laude from Fresno Pacific University in 2018 and his Master’s in accountancy in 2020 from National University.

Michael E. Hastings is a principal at Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black PLC in Roanoke, Va., and chairs its Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights Practice Group. He is recognized in Band 1 by Chambers USA for his bankruptcy work in Virginia. For more than three decades, Mr. Hastings has counseled borrowers, commercial lenders and private-equity investors on creative strategies for financially distressed businesses, handling both court-supervised and out-of-court restructurings and liquidations. His practice spans bankruptcy proceedings, federal and state court receiverships, and statutory dissolutions, and includes representing sellers and purchasers of distressed assets — from Article 9 personal-property foreclosures to foreclosure and sale of real estate under mortgages and deeds of trust. Mr. Hastings received his B.B.A. cum laude from Eastern New Mexico University and his J.D. from Washington & Lee University School of Law.

Kath Koschel is the founder of Kindness Factory™ in Los Angeles and a resilience expert whose extraordinary recovery from two spinal injuries — relearning to walk on three occasions — fuels her global speaking, writing and advocacy. A former professional cricketer and Ironman competitor, she embarked on a two‑month, nationwide journey in Australia relying entirely on the kindness of strangers, an experience that inspired her to build Kindness Factory™ and champion millions of acts of kindness worldwide. An internationally sought‑after speaker and author of the book Kindness, Ms. Koschel partners with major organizations to foster resilience, gratitude and healthier workplace cultures. She received her B.A.Sc. in sports and exercise from the University of Technology Sydney.

Virginia Tate, CFE, CIRA, EA is the president of Tate & Associates, FAI International – Forensic Accounting & Investigations, a division of the EP Global Corporation, in New Orleans. She heads up the firm’s Tax, Accounting and Forensic Division, which focuses on litigation support, taxation and financial investigations with clientele throughout the world. Ms. Tate is an ABI member and previously chaired ABI’s Commercial Fraud Committee. She also serves on ABI’s Litigation and Taxation Committees. Her regular speaking engagements include continuing professional education providers such as the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, National Business Institute, Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors, ABI, Chambers of Commerce, CPA Societies, televised crime documentaries and investigation series, as well as exclusive presentations in private industry and nonprofit sectors. Ms. Tate received her B.S. in business administration with a focus on accounting from the University of Washington.

Marc B. Ross, CPA, CIRA is a senior managing director with KCP Advisory Group/HBM in Philadelphia, where he specializes in assuming hands-on management roles or providing consulting assistance to troubled or underperforming companies both inside and outside of court-mandated processes. He also provides services to nondistressed clients to assist them in maximizing recurring cash flows and enterprise value, and navigating through a sale or transfer of ownership. Mr. Ross has provided clients with interim-management services, including roles as a CRO and interim CEO, CFO and COO, and operational and financial consulting, advising debtors and creditors’ committees, providing litigation consulting and performing forensic investigations. He has more than 25 years of experience as an advisor, bankruptcy and turnaround specialist, crisis manager, forensic accountant and auditor. Mr. Ross has worked with clients in a broad range of industries, including manufacturing and distribution, food service and food processing, temporary and permanent placement services, service providers, retail, commercial lending, construction, telecommunications, hospitality, public utilities and other regulated entities and not for profit companies. Prior to joining HBM, he worked at boutique consulting firms, providing turnaround and crisis-management services. Earlier in his career, he worked for public accounting firms, including a Big Four firm. Mr. Ross was on a team that won the Turnaround Management Association’s Turnaround of the Year Award for its work on Agriprocessors, Inc. He is a member of ABI and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Turnaround Management Association and Secured Finance Network (formerly the Commercial Finance Association). Mr. Ross received his B.S. in management from Tulane University.

J.P. Marcos is a Restructuring & Financial Advisory associate at Alastar Partners in New York. He advises corporate management teams and creditors through complex liquidity and operational challenges, combining analytical rigor with hands-on stakeholder engagement. Prior to joining Alastar, Mr. Marcos was an associate in Riveron’s Restructuring and Turnaround Services group, where he supported chapter 11 and out-of-court engagements across the aerospace, consumer, industrial, media and technology sectors. He is a member of the Turnaround Management Association’s New York Chapter and the Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors. Mr. Marcos received his B.A. in philosophy magna cum laude from Wake Forest University.

Daniel A. Bloom is counsel in the Bankruptcy & Corporate Restructuring Group at Riker Danzig LLP in Morristown, N.J., where he represents debtors and secured and unsecured creditors’ committees, indenture trustees, bondholders, trade creditors, landlords and other key stakeholders in bankruptcy and corporate restructuring matters. Prior to joining the firm, he practiced bankruptcy and restructuring at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP and Kaye Scholer LLP and served as staff counsel for UJA‑Federation of New York, and he was a summer law clerk to Hon. Allan L. Gropper of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York and served as ADR editor of the Fordham Urban Law Journal. Mr. Bloom co-chairs the Partnerships and Outreach Subcommittee of the Jewish Bar Association of New Jersey and is an elected member of the Democratic Committee of Bergen County. He received his B.A. in economics cum laude from Yeshiva University and his J.D. cum laude from Fordham University School of Law.

Katharine B. Clark is a partner with Thompson Coburn LLP in Dallas and represents clients before bankruptcy courts, federal and state trial courts, arbitration panels and appellate courts nationwide. She routinely handles bankruptcy and insolvency litigation, including the representation of debtors, banks, court-appointed fiduciaries and creditors in chapter 11, 7, 15 and 13 bankruptcies. Ms. Clark has broad commercial litigation experience related to troubled and insolvent businesses. Her experience includes representing companies, fiduciaries, lenders, secured and unsecured creditors, and constituencies from every segment of the capital structure in federal and state court reorganization, liquidation and litigation proceedings. She has helped clients navigate insolvency matters involving billions of dollars in liabilities. In 2017, Ms. Clark was part of a team that received the Turnaround of the Year Award (Large Company) from the Turnaround Management Association for her work on the first successful bankruptcy reorganization of a life-settlement company. She also has experience in bankruptcy and litigation matters involving the real estate and energy industries, and she has litigated actions related to fraud that leads to bankruptcy or other displacement of management or control, including fraudulent-transfer litigation and state and federal court receivers. Ms. Clark received her B.A. magna cum laude in 2001 from Austin College and her J.D. cum laude from SMU Dedman School of Law in 2004, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif and associate managing editor of the SMU Law Review.

Todd R. Snyder is the global co-head of Restructuring at Piper Sandler Restructuring group in New York. Prior to joining the firm, he was a founder and CEO at TRS Advisors and executive vice chairman of Rothschild & Co., as well as co-head of its North American restructuring advisory business. Prior to that, Mr. Snyder was a managing director in the restructuring and reorganization group at Peter J. Solomon Co. and a managing director at KPMG Peat Marwick in its coporate recovery group, where he also served as national director of its corporate recovery practice for government enterprises. Before making the move to investment banking, he practiced law in the business reorganization department of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Mr. Snyder was a commissioner of the New York State Gaming Commission and a member of New York State’s financial restructuring board for local governments. He serves as a director of Amplify Energy Corp. and previously served as a director of Midstates Petroleum Co., Inc., GenCorp Inc., AMC Financial, Inc. and EcoStim Energy Solutions. Mr. Snyder currently serves as trustee for nonprofit organizations Bowery Residents Committee and Shining Hope for Communities. He received his B.A. in religious studies in 1984 from Wesleyan University and his J.D. in 1988 from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

Patrick Hruby is a senior associate attorney at Brock & Scott, PLLC in its Tampa, Fla., office. His practice focuses on creditor-side bankruptcy matters in all Florida and Ohio bankruptcy courts. Mr. Hruby has a broad understanding of bankruptcy from his creditor representation in all chapters, and from having served as a judicial law clerk in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio and serving chapter 7 trustees for several years. He writes frequently for industry publications and is currently serving as the Editor of ABI’s Consumer Committee Newsletter. Mr. Hruby received his undergraduate degree summa cum laude in 2006 from Cleveland State University and hs J.D. cum laude in 2009 from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

Prof. Robert M. Lawless is the Max L. Rowe Professor of Law and co-director of the Program on Law, Behavior & Social Science at the University of Illinois College of Law in Champaign, Ill., where he writes and teaches about bankruptcy, consumer finance and business law. He also served as the College’s associate dean for research from 2013-16. Committed to bridging scholarship and real-world policy, Prof. Lawless has played a key role in shaping discussions on bankruptcy reform. He served as the reporter for the ABI’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy and received ABI’s Service Award in 2019. He is a co-author of Secured Transactions: A Systems Approach and Empirical Methods in Law. He also administers the blog Credit Slips, a discussion on credit, finance and bankruptcy. He also is a co-principal investigator in the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, a long-term research project studying persons who file bankruptcy. Prof. Lawless has testified before Congress, and his work has been featured in media outlets such as CNN, C-SPAN, NPR, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” ABC News and the Financial Times. He is a member of the American Law Institute and the National Bankruptcy Conference, and he is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy. Prior to joining the Illinois law faculty, Prof. Lawless served on the law faculties of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law, and he has been a visiting faculty member at Ohio State University and Washington University in St. Louis. Prof. Lawless began his career as a law clerk for Hon. Harlington Wood, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, then practiced law in Washington, D.C., with the firm of Zuckert, Scoutt & Rasenberger. He received both his undergraduate degree in accounting and his J.D. from the University of Illinois, during which time he served as editor-in-chief of the University of Illinois Law Review.

Stephanie J. Drew, CPA, CFE, CFF, CIRA is a partner with RubinBrown LLP’s Business Advisory Services Group in Denver, where she concentrates her practice on the calculation of economic damages, forensic accounting investigations and bankruptcy matters. She has more than 20 years of varied public accounting experience, including taxation and consulting. Ms. Drew concentrates her efforts on assisting counsel representing both plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of legal disputes. Her consulting experience includes the calculation of economic damages, forensic accounting, and bankruptcy. Ms. Drew serves as a testifying expert and provides services to counsel, receivers and trustees on a variety of legal disputes. She has experience in a variety of industries, including retail, health care, manufacturing, construction, real estate, energy, and financial and legal services. Ms. Drew is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), ABI and the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA), and she serves on the board of the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC). She received her B.S.B.A. in accounting and information systems and her M.S. in taxation from the University of Colorado, Denver.

Eric S. Chafetz is a partner in the Bankruptcy & Restructuring Department of Lowenstein Sandler LLP in New York and advises creditors’ committees and individual trade creditors, debtors and plan/liquidating trustees involved in complex chapter 11 bankruptcies throughout the U.S. He advises clients across a wide range of industries on all aspects of the chapter 11 process, from pre-filing negotiation and preparation of first-day pleadings, including financing and sale documents, through the drafting and negotiation of plans of reorganization and all related ancillary documentation. Mr. Chafetz also has a strong track record in bankruptcy-related litigation, including investigating and prosecuting actions against officers, directors and lenders, as well as in prosecuting and defending preference/fraudulent-transfer actions. He was instrumental in reaching settlements with the EPA and various state environmental agencies in the Exide cases involving Exide Holdings, Inc. and Exide Technologies, LLC, which resulted in confirmed plans and successful exits from bankruptcy. Mr. Chafetz is a frequent speaker on current bankruptcy and creditors’ rights topics, including previously serving as a guest lecturer at the Columbia University School of Professional Studies, where he has lectured on such subjects as the intersection of bankruptcy and construction law. He participated in the ABI Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11’s Avoidance Power Subcommittee’s study of aspects of the Bankruptcy Code involving preferences, creditors’ reclamation rights and creditors’ rights under § 503(b)(9). He also is a prolific author and has published numerous articles addressing various cutting-edge issues geared toward trade and other categories of creditors, including publications by the National Association of Credit Management, the Credit Research Foundation and ABI, as well as for the New York Law Journal and Bloomberg Law. Active in the firm’s pro bono efforts, Mr. Chafetz has represented several individuals who filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and numerous nonprofits seeking to dissolve. He received his B.A. in 2000 from the University of Michigan and his J.D. cum laude in 2004 from Brooklyn Law School.

Robert S. Marticello is a partner with Raines Feldman Littrell LLP in Costa Mesa, Calif., where he focuses on business reorganization and related litigation. He is experienced in chapter 11 bankruptcy and out-of-court restructurings, and has represented a broad range of clients, including debtors, creditors, trustees, equityholders and asset purchasers in such industries as real estate, retail, restaurants, logistics and technology. He also litigates bankruptcy avoidance and nondischargeability actions. Mr. Marticello is a member of ABI’s inaugural “40 Under 40” class in 2017 and was selected for the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges’ prestigious Next Generation Program. He is consistently listed is Super Lawyers and acknowledged in The Best Lawyers in America for his work in bankruptcy and reorganization law. Mr. Marticello is a frequent speaker and published author on bankruptcy trends, and he holds leadership roles in several professional organizations, including vice chair of the Lawyer Representative Coordinating Committee to the Ninth Circuit, director of the Federal Bar Association’s Orange County Chapter, and director of the Turnaround Management Association’s Southern California chapter. He also is a former president of both the California Bankruptcy Forum and the Orange County Bankruptcy Forum. Mr. Marticello clerked for Hon. John E. Ryan in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California from August 2005 to February 2007, and for Hon. Robert N. Kwan in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California from March to August 2007. He also was a founding partner of Smiley Wang-Ekvall, LLP. Mr. Marticello received his undergraduate degree from California State University Chico and his J.D. magna cum laude from Californian Western School of Law in 2005, where he was a member of the California Western Law Review.

Lois R. Lupica is the director of the Legal Innovation Lab at the Community Economic Defense Project in Denver and the Maine Law Foundation Professor of Law, Emerita at the University of Maine School of Law. She served as director of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law Legal Innovation Lab from 2020-24 and was a 2019 Fulbright Senior Scholar researching access to justice and technology at the University of Melbourne. An affiliated faculty member of the Harvard Law School Access to Justice Lab, Ms. Lupica is co‑principal investigator of the Financial Distress Research Study and the Princeton Debt Lab. Her empirical work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the Arnold Foundation, JPAL and ABI. Ms. Lupica has published widely on access to justice, legal design, bankruptcy, consumer finance, securitization, property and contract theory, intellectual property in commerce, secured transactions and legal ethics, and she coauthored a leading casebook on bankruptcy law and practice. She also shows cold wax and encaustic paintings with Sync Gallery in Denver; her artwork appears in private and corporate collections and in museums and galleries. Ms. Lupica received her B.S. in consumer economics from Cornell University and her J.D. magna cum laude from Boston University School of Law.

Hon. Hannah L. Blumenstiel is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of California in San Francisco. Prior to her appointment on Feb. 11, 2013, Judge Blumenstiel was an associate (2003-08) and then a partner (2008-12) with Winston & Strawn LLP, where she focused her practice on creditors’ rights litigation in state and federal court, including bankruptcy court. From 2001-03, Judge Blumenstiel was an associate with Murphy Sheneman Julian & Rogers LLP, where she represented debtors, creditors and trustees in bankruptcy cases and adversary proceedings. She served as a law clerk to Hon. Charles M. Caldwell of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Eastern Division) from 1998 to 2001, and from 1997-98, she represented the State of Ohio’s interests in bankruptcy cases as an assistant attorney general with the Revenue Recovery Section of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. Judge Blumenstiel is ABI’s Vice President-Research Grants and serves as an Executive Editor of the ABI Journal. She received her J.D. from Capital University Law School in 1997 while working full-time for the Columbus Bar Association as director of its pro bono initiative, “Lawyers for Justice,” and her B.A. from Ohio State University in 1992.

Florian Bruder is a partner with DLA Piper in Munich, Germany, and advises investors, creditors and debtors on cross‑border acquisitions, financial and bond restructurings, and insolvency matters. He handles both out‑of‑court and court‑supervised restructurings and is experienced in national and international insolvency law, clawback actions and directors’ liability issues. Mr. Bruder focuses on structuring, risk-mitigation and sales or acquisitions in insolvency‑related situations, including the preparation and implementation of cross‑border restructuring and insolvency proceedings, and he has experience in international insolvency disputes, including U.S. chapter 15 and arbitration proceedings. In addition, he serves as a Council Member of INSOL Europe. Mr. Bruder received his undergraduate degrees from the Universities of Regensburg, Munich and Genf, and his M.Jur. from the University of Oxford, St. John’s College.

Nancy J. Whaley is an attorney serving as a chapter 12 and 13 trustee for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta. On Oct. 1, 2023, she was appointed to the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules. Ms. Whale0y is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and serves on its Pro Bono and Distinguished Student Committees. She also serves on ABI’s Board of Directors on its Finance and Investment Committees, and she is a past co-chair for ABI’s Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop. Ms. Whaley is a member of the Northern District of Georgia Bankruptcy Court’s Bench and Bar Committee and has served on the State Bar of Georgia Executive Committee, is a member of its Board of Governors and chaired its Investment and Finance Committees. She sits on the board of directors for the Association of Chapter 12 Trustees and is a member of the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees. She also is a founding officer of the NACTT Foundation, and a past chair of the Atlanta Bar Association’s Bankruptcy Section and the Bankruptcy Section of the State Bar of Georgia. Ms. Whaley served as president of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers and of the GAWL Foundation. She retired from the Air Force Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel. Ms. Whaley received her B.A. cum laude from Eureka College, where she was a Ronald Reagan Scholar, and her J.D. from Emory Law School.

Donald L. Swanson is a shareholder with Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O. in Omaha, Neb., and has been practicing bankruptcy law since 1980. He grew up on a livestock farm in Nebraska’s Sandhills, became Nebraska State FFA President (1993-94), and achieved FFA’s “American Farmer Degree.” During the 1980s farm crisis, Mr. Swanson represented debtors in more than 40 chapter 12 cases, achieving a confirmed plan and discharge in all but one. In Delaware’s $1.5 billion ethanol bankruptcy (In re VeraSun), he held an ex officio seat on the creditors’ committee as counsel for the ad hoc committee of grain suppliers. Mr. Swanson is a subchapter V trustee in the District of Nebraska and serves on ABI’s Subchapter V Task Force, and he is a court-approved mediator for both the U.S. District and the U.S. Bankruptcy courts of Nebraska. He also is a member of the Nebraska Delegation to the Uniform Law Commission and serves on its Drafting Committee for a uniform law on assignments for benefit of creditors; the ULC formally approved a Uniform Assignment for Benefit of Creditors Act in July 2025, which will hit state legislatures in January 2026. In addition, he is a court-approved mediator in both the U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts of Nebraska, and is Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification. Mr. Swanson publishes a blog on bankruptcy and mediation topics at https://mediatbankry.com, and he is rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. In addition, he is a Fellow of the Nebraska State Bar Foundation, and he has served on the board for Legal Aid of Nebraska, providing free legal services to low-income Nebraskans, and on the board for Global Partners in Hope, which provides clean drinking water and medical centers in West Africa. In 2022, as a commissioner on the Uniform Law Commission (ULC), Mr. Swanson proposed that ULC study the need for a uniform law on assignments for benefit of creditors. That proposal was accepted, and he now serves on the ULC’s Drafting Committee on Assignments for Benefit of Creditors. Mr. Swanson is a member of the Uniform Law Commission and is licensed to practice in the states of Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota. He has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers. Mr. Swanson received his A.A. from Grace University in 1976, his B.S. in political science from the University of Nebraska - Omaha in 1977, and his J.D. from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln in 1980, where he was an associate editor of the Nebraska Law Review.

Austin Peiffer is an attorney at Ag & Business Legal Strategies in Hiawatha, Iowa, where he focuses his practice on business bankruptcy matters. He joined the firm in 2020 following a clerkship with Chief Bankruptcy Judge A. Benjamin Goldgar of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Mr. Peiffer was the American College of Bankruptcy’s 2019 Distinguished Law Student for the Eighth Circuit, served as a judicial extern and worked with Washington University’s Low‑Income Taxpayer Clinic, and in 2025 he became Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification. He received his J.D., with a certification in Business & Corporate Law, from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.

Krystal R. Mikkilineni is a shareholder in the Restructuring, Insolvency, and Bankruptcy and the Mergers & Acquisitions departments of Dentons Davis Brown in Des Moines, Iowa, and represents businesses, creditors, trustees and individuals with reorganizations, insolvency matters, and chapter 7, 11, 12 and 13 bankruptcies. She focuses on M&A work within bankruptcy and § 363 sales, and she collaborates with investment bankers and financial advisors to develop cash-flow projections, bidding procedures and asset-purchase agreements. Ms. Mikkilineni is a founding member and current vice chair and treasurer of the Midwest Network of the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation and was recently selected as one of five semi-finalists for its national Rising Star Award. She also is actively involved in ABI and was selected for its 2021 class of “40 Under 40,” and she recently participated as one of 40 attorneys in the Next Generation Program of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges in Washington, D.C. She most recently practiced at Des Moines law firm, Bradshaw, Fowler, Proctor & Fairgrave P.C. In addition to her law practice, Ms. Mikkilineni is an active leader in the community and currently serves on the Chrysalis Foundation board of directors. She also is a past board member of the Iowa chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America and recently graduated from the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute’s Community Leadership Program. Ms. Mikkilineni received her B.A. magna cum laude in 2009 from the University of Northern Iowa and her J.D. in 2013 with honors from Drake University Law School, from which she holds a Business Law Certificate.

Hon. Catherine J. Furay is the Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Wisconsin in Madison and is a a frequent lecturer on bankruptcy, commercial law, ethics, community property and litigation topics. She is a member of the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Group to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. She also served as the bankruptcy judge member of the Advisory Process Review Working Group, a member of the Advisory Group for the AO’s Bankruptcy Case Weighting Study, and on the Space and Security Advisory Council. In 2019, Judge Furay became the editor-in-chief of Ginsberg & Martin on Bankruptcy. She is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and a member of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, currently serving as its Treasurer and a member of its Executive Committee, and she has served on various other committees. Judge Furay also is a member of the Turnaround Management Association and is past president of the Certification Oversight Committee and a member of the board of trustees. She has served on various ABI committees and is a contributing author of Chapter 16 of Construction Law, “Bankruptcy” (Steven G.M. Stein, ed., 2006 & Supp. 2023). In addition to being co-author of Wisconsin Business Advisors Series: Collections & Bankruptcy Vol. 4 (Pinnacle Books), Judge Furay co-authored the Wisconsin Civil Litigation Forms Manual, 2015 – 2017 (Pinnacle Books). In addition, she has authored numerous articles on bankruptcy, collection, marital property and litigation topics. Judge Furay has served on the board of governors and various committees of the State Bar of Wisconsin, including its executive and finance committees. She received her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School.

Cia H. Mackle is an attorney with Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones in Coral Gables, Fla., and represents debtors in possession, chapter 11 trustees, creditors’ committees and other constituencies in complex domestic and international reorganizations and high-profile chapter 11 cases, including Party City, Cineworld, Chinos Holdings (J. Crew), Neiman Marcus and Ascena (Ann Taylor). She has more than 15 years of experience handling financial-fraud and Ponzi-related matters, such as Professional Financial Investors Inc. and Woodbridge Financial, and she has prosecuted and defended numerous multimillion-dollar fraudulent-transfer and breach-of-fiduciary-duty actions. Experienced in e-discovery and the presentation of electronic evidence, Ms. Mackle has managed dozens of large-scale document reviews and productions. She has been listed several times in The Best Lawyers in America for Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation — Bankruptcy. Ms. Mackle received her A.B. in 2003 from Duke University and her J.D. in 2006 from the University of Southern California, where she was a member of the Southern California Law Review.

Ferve E. Khan is a restructuring counsel in the New York office of BakerHostetler LLP, where she counsels clients nationwide on all aspects of distressed and insolvency-related situations, representing unsecured creditors, unsecured creditor committees, and trustees in chapter 11 proceedings and handling both plaintiff- and defense-side litigation and transactional work. She has particular experience in fraudulent transfer litigation in New York and Delaware bankruptcy proceedings, UCC Article 9, financial fraud and mass tort matters. She also routinely counsels borrowers and secured lenders on bankruptcy issues in debt finance and real estate transactions nationwide, and works across the financial services, energy and health care industries. Ms. Khan was honored as one of ABI’s “40 Under 40” in 2020, is an active member of ABI’s Mid‑Atlantic Bankruptcy Workshop Advisory Board, has served as co-chair of ABI’s Bankruptcy Litigation and Legislative Committees, and was an ABI Journal column editor and contributor, as well as editor‑in‑chief of ABI’s Bankruptcy Litigation Manual. She also is an author of the bankruptcy chapter of the PLI Digital Assets Treatise (2025) and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Ms. Khan previously clerked for Chief Judge Martin Glenn of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. She received her B.A. in political science magna cum laude in 2005 from Brown University and her J.D. in 2008 from Cornell University Law School, where she served as articles editor for the Cornell International Law Journal and managing editor of the Legal Information Institute Bulletin.

Hon. Paul R. Hage is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit, sworn in on Sept. 30, 2024. Prior to his appointment to the bench, he was co-chair of the bankruptcy group at Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, LLP, where he practiced for 18 years. Judge Hage serves on ABI’s Executive Committee as Secretary and as an Executive Editor of the ABI Journal. He is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and serves as co-director of the Conrad B. Duberstein National Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition. In 2017, Judge Hage was selected as a member of ABI’s inaugural “40 Under 40” class. He received his bachelor’s degree from James Madison College at Michigan State University, his J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law and his LL.M. in bankruptcy from St. John’s University School of Law.

Robert F. Elgidely is a partner with Fox Rothschild LLP in Miami and New York, where he focuses his practice on complex bankruptcy disputes and commercial litigation matters. In his bankruptcy practice, he regularly represents court-appointed fiduciaries in connection with chapter 7 and 11 cases stemming from fraud and financial crimes. He also regularly represents debtors, creditors, creditors’ committees and liquidating trustees. Mr. Elgidely has handled business, real estate, aviation, admiralty, sports and entertainment, motor vehicle and ERISA/employee benefits disputes. He prosecuted avoidance claims seeking more than $84 million in recoveries in a chapter 7 bankruptcy case stemming from a massive check-kiting scheme, served as special counsel to the chapter 7 trustee in a bankruptcy case involving a $350 million international Ponzi scheme in which 7,000 victim-creditors obtained significant recoveries, represented the chapter 11 trustee of a law firm that collapsed following the revelation of a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme perpetrated by the firm’s principal and secured recoveries that contributed to a 100 percent distribution to victim-creditors, and represented several Italian professional tennis players in connection with a suit against the ATP concerning provisions of the official rulebook for the sport. Prior to joining Fox Rothschild, Mr. Elgidely was a partner in the bankruptcy law and litigation practice of a Florida boutique law firm. Before he became a lawyer, he served in the U.S. Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve; he completed Basic Combat Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., in 1989 and Advanced Individual Training as a medic at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, in 1990. Mr. Elgidely received his B.A. from Siena College in 1993, his J.D. in 1996 from Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law and his LL.M. in taxation in 1997 from the University of Miami School of Law.

Howard A. Cohen is a partner with Fox Rothschild LLP in Wilmington, Del., and has more than 20 years of experience in financial restructuring, bankruptcy and creditors’ rights matters. He represents debtors, official committees, ad hoc committees, equity sponsors, trustees, asset-purchasers, lenders and trade creditors in bankruptcy proceedings. He also concentrates on the preparation and issuance of nonconsolidation and other Delaware opinions, and advises troubled companies and their boards in insolvency situations. Mr. Cohen represents clients in bankruptcy avoidance litigation, including fraudulent-transfer and preference litigation. He provides counsel in a variety of industries, including health care, retail, oil and gas, media, technology, transportation, manufacturing and real estate. Prior to joining Fox Rothschild, Mr. Cohen was a director of the financial restructuring and creditors’ rights group at an East Coast law firm. He also served as a partner in the corporate restructuring practice group in the Wilmington office of a national law firm, and before that, he was a corporate restructuring associate at two international law firms, as well as an associate in the creditors’ rights and bankruptcy group of a Florida-based firm. Mr. Cohen is admitted to practice in Delaware and Florida and is Membership Relations Director of ABI’s Financial Advisors and Investment Banking Committee. He also is a member of the Delaware Bankruptcy Inn of Court. Mr. Cohen received his B.S. in 1996 from Florida State University and his J.D. in 1999 from Duke University School of Law.

Lacey S. Bryan is an attorney with Markus Williams Young & Hunsicker LLC in Denver, where her practice is focused on complex bankruptcy litigation. She represents clients in all phases of insolvency and restructuring, including debtors, creditors, and trustees in chapter 7 and 11 bankruptcies. Ms. Bryan previously clerked for Hon. Michael E. Romero of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado and was the staff attorney for the Chapter 13 Trustee for the Northern District of Oklahoma. She is a member of ABI and the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation, Faculty of Federal Advocates, and the Colorado and Oklahoma Bar Associations. She also is a 2025 ABI “40 Under 40” honoree. Ms. Bryan received her B.A. in 2009 from the University of North Texas and her J.D. with highest honors in 2013 from the University of Tulsa, where she served on the executive board of the Tulsa Law Review.

Jeffrey S. Ainsworth is an attorney with BransonLaw PLLC in Orlando, Fla., where he practices primarily in the areas of bankruptcy, creditors’ rights and dischargeability issues, and has represented individual debtors, corporate debtors, unsecured creditors, committees, secured creditors and trustees. He is a member of ABI, the Orange County Bar Association and the Central Florida Bankruptcy Law Association. Mr. Ainsworth is admitted to practice in all Florida courts and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Florida. He received his B.A. in political science in 2004 from the University of Central Florida and his J.D. in 2008 from Florida State University, where he also received a Certificate in Environmental and Land Use Law.

David E. Gordon is a shareholder with Polsinelli PC in Atlanta and leads Polsinelli’s national distressed health care practice. He counsels on business bankruptcies and insolvencies with a distinct focus on health care industry restructuring. Mr. Gordon has represented health care providers, REITs, hospitals, lenders, landlords, health care systems, skilled-nursing and assisted-living facilities, purchasers of distressed assets, secured and unsecured creditors, committees, trustees and other parties-in-interest in chapter 11 reorganization proceedings, receiverships and workouts throughout the U.S. His transactional experience includes representing purchasers in § 363 sales and representing various parties in problem loan workouts, bridge loans and other financings, forbearance agreements and other distressed transactions. Prior to joining Polsinelli, Mr. Gordon taught as an adjunct professor of law at the Emory University School of Law for more than seven years. He received his B.A. in 2003 from Georgetown University and his J.D. with honors in 2006 from Emory University School of Law.

Thomas R. Buck, CTP, CIRA is a partner at Province and a crisis-management specialist with more than 25 years of experience guiding distressed companies through operational turnarounds, financial restructurings, divestitures and complex bankruptcy proceedings. He has served in both debtor and creditor roles on matters including Transit Group, Parmalat USA, KidsPeace Corp. and Saint Michaels Medical Center, and he has delivered innovative, stakeholder-aligned solutions as a financial advisor, interim manager and Chief Restructuring Officer. Prior to joining Province, Mr. Buck held senior restructuring roles at Glass & Associates/Huron, EisnerAmper and B. Riley Advisory Services, and earlier in his career spent nearly a decade in industry. He received his B.S. in economics from Lehigh University and his M.B.A. from Wake Forest University.

Hon. Michelle M. Harner is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Maryland in Baltimore, appointed in 2017. Prior to her appointment to the bench, she was the Francis King Carey Professor of Law and the Director of the Business Law Program at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, where she taught courses in bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, business associations, business planning, corporate finance and the legal profession. Judge Harner lectured frequently during her academic career on various topics involving corporate governance, financially distressed entities, risk management and related legal issues. Her academic scholarship is widely published, with her publications appearing in, among others, the Vanderbilt Law Review, Notre Dame Law Review, Washington University Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, Indiana Law Journal, Fordham Law Review (reprinted in Corporate Practice Commentator), Washington & Lee Law Review, William & Mary Law Review, University of Illinois Law Review, Arizona Law Review (reprinted in Corporate Practice Commentator) and Florida Law Review. Judge Harner has served as the Associate Reporter to the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, the Reporter to the ABI Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11, and most recently chaired the Dodd-Frank Study Working Group for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. She also served as the Robert M. Zinman ABI Resident Scholar for the fall of 2015. She most recently served as the chair of the Dodd-Frank Study Working Group for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, and she is currently serving as a member of the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and an associate editor of the American Bankruptcy Law Journal. Judge Harner is an elected conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, an elected Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, and an elected member of the American Law Institute. She 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. Judge Harner received her B.A. cum laude from Boston College in 1992 and her J.D. summa cum laude from The Ohio State University College of Law in 1995.

Robert M. Fishman is vice chairman of Algon Group LLC in Delray Beach, Fla., and has decades of experience as a business bankruptcy and insolvency attorney in corporate restructurings and asset liquidations. Over the course of his legal career, he has represented a wide range of clients, including debtors in possession, trustees, creditors’ committees, secured creditors, litigants in bankruptcy proceedings and buyers of distressed assets. In his current role, Mr. Fishman guides businesses and stakeholders through reorganizations, workouts and strategic asset-dispositions. He is also recognized for his extensive work as a bankruptcy mediator and fee examiner, and served as the fee examiner in the City of Detroit’s chapter 9 case from 2013-15. Previously, Mr. Fishman was a member of Fox Rothschild LLP in its Chicago office. He is a past ABI president and chairman, and a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. He also served as a faculty member of the ABI/St. John’s University Law School Bankruptcy Mediation Training Program. Mr. Fishman received his B.A. in 1976 from the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana and his J.D. in 1979 from George Washington University.

Lauren Tang is a managing partner at Virtus Law - Stephenson Harwood (Singapore) Alliance in Singapore, where she acts for and advises clients with commercial disputes and intricate restructuring and insolvency challenges. Her work includes representing clients in landmark cases, such as obtaining a scheme moratorium after the 2017 amendments to the Singapore Companies Act (which resulted in the first reported judgment on the requirements of a scheme moratorium); advising on one of the first pre-pack schemes approved under Section 71 of the Singapore’s Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act; and advising a major secured lender on the collapse of Hin Leong Trading. She also has advised corporations on Singapore sanctions, ranging from potential penalties to mitigation steps. Ms. Tang serves in the Singapore Law Society’s Insolvency Practice Committee and the Singapore chapter of the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation. She received her LL.B. from the University of Durham, St. John’s College in 2006 and her Diploma in Singapore Law from the National University of Singapore in 2008.

Joanna Diane Caytas is an attorney in the Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Creditors’ Rights section at Porter Hedges LLP in Houston. Her practice focuses on all aspects of bankruptcy and restructuring, with a particular emphasis on debtor representation in complex chapter 11 and chapter 15 cases across many industries, including crypto, energy, transportation and hospitality. She also has experience in special investigations as well as bankruptcy litigation and appeals, including representing creditors’ committees. Ms. Caytas co-chairs ABI’s Commercial and Regulatory Law Committee, and serves as vice chair of the Houston Network of the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) and executive board member of The Honorable Artur L. Moller – David B. Foltz Jr. American Inn of Court. She also is a member of the TMA and INSOL. Ms. Caytas draws on her prior experience as a tax associate at an international law firm, where she focused on tax planning for complex transactions, including corporate restructurings, private and public mergers and acquisitions, and private equity, as well as the formation and operation of private investment funds, including those investing in energy and in digital assets and blockchain technologies. Her research on blockchain was cited by the European Parliament. Previously, Ms. Caytas served as a judicial law clerk to Hon. Danny J. Boggs on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, sitting by designation also on the Ninth and Eleventh Circuits. She also served as a judicial intern to Hon. Beryl A. Howell, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Ms. Caytas received her B.A. in mathematics summa cum laude from Columbia University, her J.D. from Columbia Law School, her LL.M. in taxation from New York University School of Law, her M.Sc. in nanotechnology with distinction from the University of Oxford, and an Advanced Certificate in Global Business Law and Governance obtained at Sciences Po and University of Paris I: Panthéon-Sorbonne.

John S. Mairo chairs the Financial Restructuring and Creditors’ Rights group at Gibbons P.C. in Newark, N.J., where he focuses his practice on commercial litigation, workouts, financial reorganizations and creditors’ rights. He has represented debtors, secured lenders, creditors’ committees, landlords, administrative agents for syndicates of lenders, foreign representatives and others. Throughout his decades-long career, Mr. Mairo has handled mid-size to multibillion-dollar bankruptcy matters on both national and international scales, securing favorable settlements, proposing beneficial recovery plans, and successfully litigating cases that have enabled his clients’ businesses to thrive and prosper. His experience has included complex restructuring and antitrust multi-district litigation. Mr. Mairo was awarded a certificate by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey in recognition of and appreciation for his pro bono service. He also was appointed to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey’s roster of mediators. Mr. Mairo has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America since 2014 for Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, and in Chambers USA since 2016. He is a member of ABI and the New Jersey Turnaround Management Association, New Jersey State Bar Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Mr. Mairo received his B.A. cum laude in 1991 from Boston College and his J.D. in 1994 from Seton Hall Law School, where he served as managing editor of the Seton Hall Journal of Sport Law and was a member of the Seton Hall Juvenile Justice Clinic.

Dan Carpenter is a senior advisor with Gibbins Advisors, LLC in West Des Moines, Iowa, and has held a number of leadership roles within the health care sector. This is hallmarked by a 30-year tenure at UnityPoint Health, where he has spent 30 years in progressively senior finance, strategy, M&A and transformation roles, including terms as Chief Business Optimization Officer, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Financial Officer. He leads the execution of enterprise transformation initiatives that drive operational optimization, improve patient satisfaction and translate data insights into intelligent decision-making. Mr. Carpenter received his B.B.A. in finance from the University of Iowa and his M.B.A. from St. Ambrose University.

Mark R. Owens is a partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP and chairs the firm’s Restructuring and Bankruptcy Department in Indianapolis, where he counsels secured and unsecured creditors, creditors’ committees, special servicers and other stakeholders in complex workouts, loan restructurings, bankruptcies and related litigation. He represents clients in multijurisdictional matters — including § 363 sales, preference and fraudulent-transfer defenses, repossessions, collections and UCC issues — and chairs the firm’s national Motorsports team, advising drivers, teams, sponsors and industry constituents on commercial contracts and related disputes. Mr. Owens has handled matters in courts and bankruptcy courts across numerous jurisdictions and is admitted in several state and federal courts. He received his B.B.A. magna cum laude in 1995 from Wilkes University, his M.Ed. in 1999 from Bloomsburg University, and his J.D. cum laude in 1999 from Widener University Delaware Law School.

Jennifer M. Meyerowitz is chief growth officer and general counsel for SAK Healthcare in Atlanta. Her experience in health care consulting, bankruptcy, restructuring, operational management and advisory services spans more than 25 years, and she has served as an estate professional and company leader. Ms. Meyerowitz is responsible for implementing SAK’s growth strategy, managing client relations, overseeing health care facilities, and supervising the human resources and legal departments of SAK, as well as providing executive-level management to the company. She regularly serves as a receiver, expert witness, board member, third-party manager and fiduciary for various health care entities, including senior living facilities, skilled nursing homes, memory care centers, behavioral health clinics and hospitals. Ms. Meyerowitz previously worked with Summit Investment Management and Keen-Summit Capital Partners, buying distressed debt, selling distressed real estate and negotiating lease portfolios in bankruptcy and restructuring processes. She also served in operations, business-development, consulting and other leadership roles, including as vice president for global legal technology and services companies, with responsibility for development, legal consulting and strategic communications, compliance and logistics, and case-management functions for the company’s bankruptcy and restructuring settlement services. Ms. Meyerowitz began her career as a practicing attorney at Alston & Bird LLP, where for nearly 10 years she represented debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, creditors’ committees, landlords and tenants, banks and trustees in complex workouts, debt-restructurings, commercial litigation and chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. She is an active participant in several industry organizations, serving on their boards, speaking on panels and publishing industry articles. Ms. Meyerowitz is a former global chair of the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation and a former chair and co-founder of its Georgia network. She currently serves on the boards of ABI and the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors, and on the global executive board of the Turnaround Management Association. She also is involved in various other professional organizations, including having served as a former chair of the Bankruptcy Section of the Atlanta Bar Association and currently serving on various boards and committees in the industry, as well as other nonprofit organizations in her community. Ms. Meyerowitz received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her J.D. from Emory University School of Law, where she was executive notes and comments editor for the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal.

William J. Schumacher is a shareholder with Winthrop & Weinstine, PA in Minneapolis, where he represents and advises secured and unsecured creditors, with a focus in the financial services industry. He also represents borrowers and debtors across sectors, concentrating on creditors’ rights, business restructuring and reorganization, including complex chapter 11 proceedings, bankruptcy litigation, liquidation, § 363 sales, out-of-court restructurings, receiverships and assignments for the benefit of creditors. Mr. Schumacher has represented clients in financial services, commercial real estate, retail, media, oil & gas and health care. He received B.S.B. in accounting in 2009 from the University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management, and his J.D. magna cum laude with a business law concentration in 2014 from the University of Minnesota Law School.

Matthew P. Sorenson is senior managing director with Development Specialists, Inc. in Los Angeles, where he leads and advises on corporate wind-downs, bankruptcy alternatives and complex asset-monetizations. He has served as assignee for the benefit of creditors in hundreds of matters, been retained to serve on boards during closures, and frequently acts as the remaining officer and director for entities navigating dissolution. Mr. Sorenson has been appointed CEO, CFO, COO and receiver in multiple wind-down engagements and has assisted chapter 11 trustees and receivers with on-site management, real property liquidation, operational and human-resources management, cash and budget oversight, valuation and sales of tangible and intellectual-property assets, preferential and fraudulent-transfer analysis, and final collections of estate receivables. He serves as treasurer of the Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum and has served on its board for more than a decade. He also is a member of ABI, the California Receivers Forum, the California Bankruptcy Forum and the Turnaround Management Association. Mr. Sorenson received his Bachelor’s degree in economics with a minor in business administration from the University of Arizona.

Thomas S. Kessler is a partner with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in its New York office, where he represents debtors, creditors and other parties-in-interest in a broad range of restructuring matters, including bankruptcy proceedings, out-of-court restructurings and bankruptcy-related transactions. He advises clients in high-profile restructuring matters, and he has worked with debtors and creditors to navigate complex, multi-billion dollar distressed situations and regularly litigates high-stakes contested matters, adversary proceedings and other complex civil cases. Mr. Kessler’s practice spans a variety of industries and geographies, with a particular focus on cross-border matters, including acting as U.S counsel in foreign restructurings and lead counsel in chapter 15 proceedings. His work on the LATAM Airlines and Garuda Indonesia restructurings has been recognized by the Turnaround Management Association, which awarded both matters 2023 “Transaction of the Year” in their respective categories. Mr. Kessler was honored in 2024 as one of ABI’s “40 Under 40,” and he was awarded the 2022 Community Excellence Award from the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York. He received his B.A. magna cum laude in 2010 from the University of Akron and his J.D. in 2013 from Columbia Law School, where he was a James Kent Scholar.

Rachel Jaffe Mauceri is a partner with Robinson & Cole LLP in Philadelphia in the firm’s Bankruptcy + Reorganizations Group and has more than 20 years of experience counseling clients in complex corporate bankruptcy and restructuring matters. She participates in all aspects of domestic and international restructurings and has significant transactional and litigation experience in a range of industries, including retail, health care, pharmaceutical, agriculture, energy, automotive, oil and gas, mortgage servicing, real estate and telecommunications. Ms. Mauceri’s recent creditor committee representations have included the chapter 11 cases of Aldrich Pump/Murray Boiler (affiliates of Trane), Mariner Health Central (for which she was named 2024 Legal Advisor of the Year by The M&A Advisor and received its 2024 “Restructuring of the Year” award ($50MM–$100MM), and was a recipient of the “Healthcare Restructuring of the Year” award by The Global M&A Network), Mallinckrodt plc and Corp Group Banking S.A. She also has represented companies in pre-negotiated and traditional bankruptcy proceedings as well as out-of-court workouts; represented pension and health plans in connection with collective bargaining issues and proceedings under §§ 1113 and 1114 of the Bankruptcy Code; advised indenture trustees and second-lien lenders; represented financial institutions in the negotiation and documentation of secured lending facilities; advised stalking-horse and other bidders in distressed and bankruptcy-related transactions; and advised vendors, contract parties and other significant creditors and parties in interest on a variety of bankruptcy-related issues. Ms. Mauceri is president‑elect of the Consumer Bankruptcy Assistance Project and is listed in Chambers and as a Notable Practitioner in the IFLR1000. She received her B.A. in journalism from Ithaca College in 1995 and her J.D. cum laude in 2001 from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif and was supervising editor of its law review.

Mark B. Joachim is co-leader of Polsinelli’s Special Situations Investing Team in Washington, D.C., and has more than 30 years of experience representing distressed businesses, boards of directors, special committees, independent directors, debtor-in-possession lenders, distressed-debt investors, official committees, ad hoc groups of creditors in connection with special situations, corporate restructurings, liquidity and liability management transactions, recapitalizations, and in- and out-of-court restructurings. He is frequently called upon to advise boards of directors, board committees and senior management of financially troubled companies on a range of issues, including corporate governance and fiduciary duties. In addition to his work in the corporate restructuring arena, Mr. Joachim also represents equity sponsors and borrowers, as well as first- and second-lien lenders, in senior debt, mezzanine and private-equity financing arrangements. His experience and capabilities on the “new money” side of his practice allows him to formulate and implement novel and creative structures and strategies in the context of financially troubled situations. Mr. Joachim received his B.A. in 1989 in political science and philosophy from Stony Brook University and his J.D. in 1992 with distinction from Hofstra University School of Law, where he is managing editor of the Hofstra Law Review.

Hon. Roberta A. Colton is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Middle District of Florida in Orlando, appointed in December 2017. Contemporaneously, she was appointed as a member of the judicial mediation team involved in the Puerto Rico PROMESA cases and served in that capacity until January 2022. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Colton practiced at Trenam Law in Tampa, Fla., where she was a shareholder and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Prior to joining Trenam, she served as a judicial law clerk for Hon. James C. Hill of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. During her more than 30 years in practice, Judge Colton was active in service to the legal profession and has been recognized for her accomplishments. Among others, she was listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights from 1995-2016 and named one of the top 10 Super Lawyers in Florida from 2011-16. Judge Colton served as Eleventh Circuit Regent for the American College of Bankruptcy and as chair of the Grievance Committee of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. She also is the former chair of the Florida Bar Business Law Section’ Bankruptcy/UCC Committee, as well as the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association. Judge Colton received her B.A. in commerce with distinction from the University of Virginia in 1979 and her J.D. from William & Mary Law School in 1982, where she served on its law review and was a national moot court finalist.

Kara E. Casteel is a partner at ASK LLP in St. Paul, Minn., and heads its Bankruptcy Litigation group. She practices in the areas of bankruptcy, creditors’ rights and litigation, and has successfully litigated preference and fraudulent-transfer matters in multiple jurisdictions, including the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Delaware, Southern District of New York, Southern District of Texas and the Southern District of Indiana. In 2022, Ms. Casteel obtained a judgment in excess of $3.5 million in a preference trial. Her representative matters include the prosecution of avoidance actions in such large bankruptcies as Dean Foods Co., Sears Holdings Corp., Quebecor World (USA), WP Steel Venture LLC, NewPage Corp., RS Legacy Corp. (f.k.a RadioShack) and hhgregg, Inc. Prior to joining ASK LLP, Ms. Casteel clerked for Hon. Casey Christian and Hon. Joseph Bueltel in the Third Judicial District of Minnesota. She is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association, the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), ABI and the Turnaround Management Association (TMA). In 2013, she helped found the IWIRC’s Minnesota chapter, and she is a past co-chair of the IWIRC-Minnesota Network. Ms. Casteel received her B.A. in 2005 in political science and legal studies from the University of Wisconsin, and her J.D. in 2008 from the University of Minnesota Law School.

Hon. Judith K. Fitzgerald is a shareholder with Tucker Arensberg, P.C. in Pittsburgh and a former member of its board of directors. She has a trial background and frequently served as a settlement judge and mediator. Judge Fitzgerald retired from her position as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania after more than 25 years on the bench, having presided over matters in the Western District of Pennsylvania (where she was chief judge for five years) as well as in the District of Delaware (20 years), the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (eight years) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (nine years). During her tenure as a bankruptcy judge, Judge Fitzgerald presided over many significant corporate cases and adjudicated more mass tort bankruptcies than any other bankruptcy judge in the country. Since joining Tucker Arensberg in 2013, she has served as a mediator and arbitrator in bankruptcy, consumer and commercial transaction-related proceedings. Judge Fitzgerald has been retained as an expert witness and consultant in cases throughout the country involving bankruptcy issues, insurance and reinsurance issues, fee disputes, bankruptcy-related malpractice matters, asbestos trust issues, and various commercial and contract disputes. She has represented both debtors and creditors in bankruptcy cases and works with clients on complex bankruptcy, insolvency and commercial issues. Among her many recognitions, in 2016 Judge Fitzgerald received an honorable mention by Law360 as one of The Ten Most Influential Bankruptcy Judges in History. She served as president of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, sat on ABI’s Board of Directors, and is part of the education and other committees of several professional associations. In addition, she designed the Around the Circuits ethics program for the American Inns of Court. Judge Fitzgerald is an elected member of the American Law Institute and the American College of Bankruptcy, as well as other professional organizations. Before being appointed as a bankruptcy judge in 1987, she was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Pennsylvania, with a concentration in complex frauds and criminal tax cases. Judge Fitzgerald received her B.S. in psychology and B.A. in English writing from the University of Pittsburgh, and her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Anne R. Vanderkamp is a director with AlixPartners, LLP in Chicago and provides financial advisory, litigation support and investigative services for boards of directors, law firms, general counsel, debtors, and court-appointed examiners and trustees. She has experience in calculating damages in expert-witness assignments with regard to construction claims, fraud allegations, lost profits, postmerger and acquisition disputes, and shareholder disputes. Ms. Vanderkamp also leads forensic investigations in bankruptcy-related litigation, including investigations involving allegations of fiduciary breaches and fraudulent transfers, analysis of related-party and other intercompany transactions, analysis of third-party asset transfers and quantification of damages. She has provided expert reports and trial testimony in federal and state courts. Most recently, Ms. Vanderkamp was a managing director at Baker Tilly and Mesirow Financial. She received her B.B.A. in finance from the University of Notre Dame.

Lisa S. Tsai is the managing partner and co-founder of Reid Collins & Tsai in Austin, Texas. She represents plaintiffs in complex business disputes, including financial fraud, professional liability, legal malpractice, fiduciary duty litigation and intellectual property matters, securing hundreds of millions of dollars in recoveries and winning a Top 50 U.S. verdict against Credit Suisse that was affirmed after appeals. Ms. Tsai has been named in The Best Lawyers in America for her work with private and hedge funds and is a Lawdragon Legend and multiple-time Lawdragon 500 honoree. In addition, she has been recognized by Law360, the National Law Journal and Benchmark Litigation. Active in professional and community organizations, she has served as chair of the State Bar of Texas Asian Pacific Interest Section (which awarded her the Justice David Wellington Chew Award), president of the Austin Asian American Bar Association, chair of the Austin Bar Association Bench Bar Committee, vice chair of the City of Austin Ethics Review Commission and board secretary of the Texas Fair Defense Project, and she serves on boards for the University of Texas Law School Foundation and the Texas Law Review Association while mentoring law students. She also has been honored as a Pathfinder by the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association and received the Judge Suzanne Covington Pro Bono Service Award for her legal work on behalf of domestic violence victims. Ms. Tsai is licensed in Texas and California and admitted to federal courts in both states, as well as to the Fifth and Ninth Circuits. She received her A.B. in politics with highest honors from Princeton University, and her J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif and served on the Texas Law Review.

Aneca E. Lasley is a partner with Ice Miller LLP in Columbus, Ohio, and has more than 20 years of complex commercial litigation experience representing Fortune 100 and 500 companies, health care providers, global retailers, pharmaceutical manufacturers and financial institutions. Her practice spans product liability, insurance coverage, intellectual property and trade secret disputes, and she has secured multimillion-dollar verdicts and decisive defense wins in courts across the country. Ms. Lasley’s trial skills extend to class action and multi-district litigation, where she has led the defense of large-scale disputes stemming from data breaches, digital-tracking and consumer privacy claims. She routinely advises on risk management, product recalls, regulatory compliance and litigation preparedness. She also is frequently retained as an expert witness on attorneys’ fees, offering authoritative insight grounded in her extensive litigation experience and deep understanding of fee structures and reasonableness standards. Ms. Lasley is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. She has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA and Ohio Super Lawyers. In 2025, she was named “Lawyer of the Year” for Product Liability Litigation – Defendants. Ms. Lasley received her B.A. in 1997 from Ohio Northern University and her J.D. in 2000 from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

Dana L. Robbins-Boehner is an associate with Burr & Forman LLP in Tampa, Fla., where she serves in its Creditors’ Rights and Bankruptcy Practice Group. She represents a diverse array of clients, including banking institutions, municipalities, real estate developers, title insurance groups and retail shopping centers in commercial bankruptcy cases, as well as in business litigation, commercial litigation, appeals and general civil litigation. Ms. Robbins-Boehner’s practice includes all aspects of corporate restructuring, bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings, including § 363 sales, and preference and fraudulent transfer litigation. Prior to joining Burr & Forman, she clerked for the Chief Judge Caryl E. Delano in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida, where she assisted with complex bankruptcy and state law issues. She has also served as a trial court staff attorney in the Office of Court Counsel for the Sixth Judicial Circuit of Florida, where she advised circuit court judges on substantive and procedural issues in trial and appellate cases. Ms. Robbins-Boehner is actively involved in several professional organizations, including serving on the boards of the Federal Bar Association’s Tampa Bay Chapter, and the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation. She has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America as one of its “Ones to Watch” since 2021, and for Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation - Banking and Finance for 2023, and she was listed as a Florida Super Lawyers “Rising Star” from 2021-22. Ms. Robbins-Boehner received her B.S. from the University of Tampa, her M.B.A. from Stetson University and her J.D. from Stetson University College of Law. She also studied abroad at the University of Oxford.

Hon. Daniel P. Collins is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Arizona in Phoenix, appointed on Jan. 18, 2013. He served as chief judge from 2014-17 and as a conflicts judge in the Districts of Guam, Hawaii and Southern California. Previously, Judge Collins was a shareholder with the Collins, May, Potenza, Baran & Gillespie, P.C. in Phoenix, practicing primarily in the areas of bankruptcy, commercial litigation and commercial transactions. Judge Collins was the 2023 president of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, is on the Ninth Circuit’s Trial Improvement Committee, sits on the JCUS’s Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Group, served on ABI’s Board of Directors and is currently a Business Court Representative in the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section. In addition, he was a founder of the Arizona Bankruptcy American Inn of Court chapter, served as the board chair for the Foundation for Senior Living, was on the St. Teresa Parish Finance Committee and Parish Council, received the St. Thomas More Award for the St. Thomas More Society, was named a Significant Sig by the Sigma Chi fraternity and was named to the Sigma Chi’s Beta Phi Chapter Hall of Fame. Judge Collins received both his B.S. in finance and accounting in 1980 and his J.D. in 1983 from the University of Arizona.

Jason Wright, MAFF, CFE, CRC is managing director at Stout Risius Ross, LLC in Chicago and has more than 20 years of experience in forensic accounting, fraud investigations and litigation consulting. He advises trial lawyers, in-house counsel, audit committees and stakeholders on anti-corruption and anti-bribery matters, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act issues, complex forensic accounting investigations, revenue-recognition and other GAAP disputes, and damage, bankruptcy and contract-compliance matters. Mr. Wright has supported the U.S. Department of Justice on asset-tracing and money-laundering matters (including tracing cryptocurrencies), assisted in global resolutions for major multinational enforcement matters, and testified in federal and state courts and arbitrations. His practice focuses on complex business litigation, compliance services, investigations and shareholder disputes across such industries as automotive, consumer, retail, food and beverage, energy and utilities, government agencies, and health care and life sciences. He has advised his clients on various fraud issues, including embezzlements, procurement fraud, kickback schemes, securities fraud, false financial reporting, Ponzi schemes, and other complex accounting issues. He holds the Master Analyst in Financial Forensics designation, is a Certified Fraud Examiner and Chainalysis Reactor Certified, and is a Candidate Affiliate member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, as well as a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, National Association of Certifed Valuators and Analysts and ABI. Mr. Wright received his B.A. in political science and criminal justice from Indiana University, his J.D. from Chicago‑Kent College of Law, and an accounting certificate from UCLA Extension.

Jared M. Tully is vice chair of Frost Brown Todd, LLP’s Business Litigation Practice Group in Charleston, W.Va., and a leader of the firm’s Finance Industry Team. He concentrates his practice on commercial litigation and bankruptcy, routinely representing businesses through complex debt restructurings and adversary proceedings and advising blockchain and fintech companies on a range of litigation issues. Mr. Tully received his B.A. magna cum laude in mathematical economics from Hampden–Sydney College in 2000 and his J.D. from West Virginia University College of Law in 2003.

Adam Meislik is co‑founder of Force 10 Partners in Irvine, Calif., and is a seasoned restructuring and corporate finance professional with 25 years of experience serving companies, lenders, creditors, buyers, sellers and litigation stakeholders. He has advised on and executed more than 100 M&A, capital, restructuring and litigation-support engagements, and he routinely provides expert testimony on valuation, solvency, intangible assets and related transaction issues. Before founding Force 10 Partners in 2016, Mr. Meislik was senior managing director at GlassRatner Advisory & Capital Group and co‑president and Chief Compliance Officer of GlassRatner Securities. He also held senior roles at XRoads Solutions Group and spent a significant portion of his career at CIBC World Markets (and Oppenheimer), where he helped establish the Houston energy and software practices, with earlier experience at Jefferies and Howard Weil. Mr. Meislik received his B.S. in management from Tulane University in 1993.