NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK AROUND THE WORLD IN 75 MINUTES — INTERNATIONAL JUDICIAL TRAINING IN A PANDEMIC
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | On-Line & in Grand Ballroom 1-4 • 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm
DR. BOLANLE ADEBOLA
BOLANLE is an Associate Professor of International Commercial Law at the University of Reading, UK. She is a leading expert in International Corporate Law, Governance and Restructuring, which she actively teaches and researches.
She is actively engaged in capacity building and the development of modern corporate and commercial law practices in emerging markets. She was awarded the prestigious Arts and Humanities Research Council Grant, through which she established the Commercial Law Research Network Nigeria (CLRNN) – a network that promotes research and knowledge exchange on matters relating to the development and reform of commercial law in emerging economies such as Nigeria. The network responds to the challenges that emerging economies like Nigeria face in designing commercial laws that fit both their realities and the interconnected global systems. She has contributed the training of judges, regulators and practitioners on corporate and insolvency law in Nigeria. She is a member of the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER, Nigeria) Expert Network.
Bolanle obtained her LLB from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye (Nigeria), BL from the Nigerian Law School, LLM from the University of Wales (Bangor, UK), and PhD from University College London. She is an Associate of the Corporate Governance Institute, an academic member of INSOL International, INSOL Europe and the Insolvency Lawyers Association, as well as a member of the Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Institute and a contributing editor to the Lexis Nexis Encyclopedia of Banking Law.
Bolanle loves football, and is proudly 3rd and inching up in her first Fantasy Premier League. She is particularly proud to carry the flag as the only female member of her league.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 1 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
CHANGING UP THE CODE
Friday, Oct 8, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 11:15 am – 12:15 pm
HON. CHRIS ALSTON
CHRIS ALSTON was sworn in as bankruptcy judge on June 30, 2015 and maintains chambers in Seattle, Washington. Prior to taking the bench, Chris was a Member of Foster Pepper PLLC (now Foster Garvey) in Seattle, where he practiced since graduating from law school. He was the Chair of the firm’s Creditors’ Rights and Bankruptcy group, and focused his practice on all aspects of Chapter 11 reorganization, bankruptcy litigation and commercial litigation emphasizing creditor/debtor rights, collections and realization proceedings.
Chris is active in both the ABA, currently serving as Chair of the Business Bankruptcy Committee of the Business Law Section, and in the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, having recently served as the Co-Chair of the Diversity Committee. He has been and remains active in his community; he currently works with the Center for Children and Youth Justice, and received the United Way of King County’s Volunteer of the Year award in 2007.
Chris received his J.D. from the University of Michigan in 1989 and received his A.B. from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 1985. Between college and law school, he was on the staff of U.S. Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ), serving as Special Projects Assistant. In his spare time, he likes to travel with his two children to various spots in the Pacific Northwest and around the world.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 2 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN THE BANKRUPTCY PROFESSION
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • Noon – 1:00 pm
PROF. ANGELA M. BANKS
ANGELA M. BANKS is a legal scholar who specializes in membership and belonging in democratic societies. Her research explores this topic in the areas of immigration, citizenship, law school curriculum, and professional development for faculty. She is the Charles J. Merriam Distinguished Professor of law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Her scholarship has appeared in leading American law review journals and her book Reimagining Civic Education in the Age of Mass Migration is forthcoming with Teachers College Press.
Prior to joining the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law faculty, Professor Banks was a Professor of Law at William & Mary School of Law. She has also served as the Reginald F. Lewis Fellow for Law Teaching at Harvard Law School, a legal advisor to Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald at the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal; an associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, DC (now WilmerHale); and a law clerk for Judge Carlos F. Lucero of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Professor Banks is a graduate of Harvard Law School, where she served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review and the Harvard International Law Journal. Prior to attending law school Professor Banks received a Master of Letters degree in sociology from the University of Oxford, where she studied as a Marshall Scholar, and a B.A. in sociology from Spelman College summa cum laude.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 3 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
EVEN THE CIRCUITS CAN’T AGREE
Friday, Oct 8, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:45 am – 9:45 am
LUKE A. BAREFOOT
LUKE A. BAREFOOT is a partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. His practice focuses on bankruptcy litigation, insolvency, corporate restructuring and related litigation matters, with a particular focus on cross- border and international bankruptcy disputes. Luke joined the firm in 2004 and became a partner in 2013.
Luke has advised on notable matters for creditors and debtors, corporates and sovereigns in complex, high-profile matters. He is currently advising various parties in two major airline restructurings including representing LATAM Airlines Group and its affiliates in the voluntary reorganization and restructuring of their debt under Chapter 11 protection in the United States and advising multiple parties in connection with the Grupo Aeroméxico bankruptcy proceedings. Luke’s other recent representations include representing ESL and Eddie Lampert as largest shareholder and creditor (with over $2.8 billion in claims) in the Sears Holdings Chapter 11 proceedings, including structuring and negotiating a complex credit bid and advising on prepetition transactions and related investigations; an ad hoc group of bondholders in the contested Chapter 15 proceedings for the QGOG/Constellation entities in their cross-border restructuring; Odebrecht S.A. and certain of its affiliates in Chapter 15 proceedings to seek recognition of their Brazilian restructuring plans in the United States; and representing the Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnerships Authority and other Commonwealth instrumentalities in various litigation matters relating to Puerto Rico’s debt crisis.
Luke has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by Law360 and an “Outstanding Young Restructuring Lawyer,” by Turnarounds & Workouts. He was also inducted into the International Insolvency Institute’s Next Generation. Luke received a J.D. degree, with distinction, from Stanford Law School and a B.S. degree, with honors, from Cornell University.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 4 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
YOU BE THE RACE DIRECTOR
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 1-4 • 11:00 am – Noon
CAMILLE C. BENT
CAMILLE C. BENT is a Bankruptcy and Restructuring Partner at BakerHostetler LLP. Camille focuses her practice on corporate bankruptcy, restructuring, and commercial litigation. She specializes in disputes and transactions arising out of corporate insolvencies, including asset sale, fraudulent transfer, negligent misrepresentation, and wrongful redemption cases. Camille has represented debtors, creditors, trustees, committees, and other interested parties in several industries.
Camille is passionate about mentoring and supporting junior attorneys. She is a founding member and advisor of the Black Biglaw Pipeline, where she plans programming content, including the annual Junior Associate Bootcamp. Camille is also a board member of Directions for Our Youth, Inc., a Bronx-based non-profit organization that provides educational enrichment to young children in the Bronx and Harlem, including students at Pablo Casals M.S. 181, Camille’s alma mater.
As an active member of the legal community, Camille serves in several leadership roles, both internally and externally. At the firm, Camille is Co-Chair of BakerHostetler’s New York Diversity Committee, and she is a member of its Recruiting and Women’s Steering Committees. Camille is a member and past board member of the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation. She also serves on the Bankruptcy & Restructuring Committee at the New York City Bar Association, and on the NCBJ 2020- 2021 Education Committee.
Camille earned her J.D./M.B.A. from Emory University and her B.A. from Johns Hopkins University.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 5 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN THE BANKRUPTCY PROFESSION
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • Noon – 1:00 pm
MICHAEL BERNSTEIN
MICHAEL L. BERNSTEIN is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Arnold & Porter, where he served for more than a decade as chair of the Firm’s national bankruptcy and restructuring practice and also established the Firm’s corporate governance practice. He represents parties in a wide variety of bankruptcy and restructuring matters and in related litigation throughout the United States. Mr. Bernstein is a co-author of ABI’s Bankruptcy in Practice, now in its Fifth Edition, and Chapter 11-101: The Nuts and Bolts of Chapter 11 Practice. A Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, he has written numerous articles, lectured on bankruptcy law topics and been interviewed by major newspapers and on television and radio. He has also testified before Congress as an independent expert, on several occasions, regarding proposed bankruptcy reform legislation. Mr. Bernstein currently serves as co-chair of ABI's Diversity and Inclusion Working Group. He has been recognized as a leading practitioner by numerous publications, including Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers. Mr. Bernstein received his A.B. with honors from Brandeis University and his J.D. with honors from Northwestern University School of Law.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 6 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK ANATOMY OF SECTION 523 ACTIONS
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Room 209 • 10 am & 12:15 pm
EDWARD BOLTZ
EDWARD BOLTZ is the managing partner at the Law Offices of John T. Orcutt, P.C., where he has represents clients in not only Chapter 7 and 13, but also in related consumer rights litigation, including fighting abusive mortgage practices and developing solutions for student loans.
Mr. Boltz received his B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis in 1993 and his J.D. from George Washington University in 1996. He is a member of the NC State Bar, where he has been certified as a specialist in consumer bankruptcy law. He is admitted to practice before the Districts Courts in both the Eastern and Middle Districts of North Carolina.
Mr. Boltz served as the President of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) from 2013 through 2016, and remains on its Board of Directors, as the co-chair of the Legislative Committee. Mr. Boltz was a commissioner on the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Consumer Bankruptcy Commission from 2017-2019.
Mr. Boltz is a frequent speaker on bankruptcy issues at both national and local seminars, including at NACBA Conventions and Workshops, past NCLC Workshops, and the North Carolina Bankruptcy Institute.
In June 2019, Mr. Boltz testified on behalf of NACBA in Congress regarding the need for changes to the Bankruptcy Code to make student loans dischargeable and to disabled veteran’s from the harsh results of the Means Test.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 7 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK STREAMLINED AND SPEEDY: DRIVING THE SUB V VEHICLE
Saturday, Oct 9, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 7-9 • 10:00 am – 11:00 am
HON. PAUL W. BONAPFEL
PAUL W. BONAPFEL has been a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Georgia since 2002. Prior to his appointment, he practiced law in Atlanta, Georgia, with Lamberth, Bonapfel, Cifelli & Stokes, P.A., now known as Lamberth, Cifelli, Ellis & Nason, P.A. As an attorney, Judge Bonapfel represented all types of parties in bankruptcy cases, including consumer and business debtors in liquidation cases, business debtors in reorganization cases, chapter 7 and 11 bankruptcy trustees, creditors’ committees, and creditors in both consumer and business cases.
Judge Bonapfel is a co-author, with Judge W. Homer Drake, Jr., and Adam M. Goodman, of Chapter 13 Practice and Procedure (Thomson Reuters). A fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, he has served as chairperson of the Bankruptcy Sections of the State Bar of Georgia and the Atlanta Bar Association and was a director and president of the Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute, which presents an annual seminar on bankruptcy law and procedure. He teaches a course at Mercer Law School in Macon, Georgia, on consumer bankruptcy practice.
Judge Bonapfel received his B.A. cum laude from Florida State University in 1972 and his J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1975, where he was Notes Editor of the Georgia Law Review. He was a judicial law clerk for United States District Judge Wilbur D. Owens, Jr., in Macon, Georgia.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 8 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
EVEN THE CIRCUITS CAN’T AGREE
Friday, Oct 8, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:45 am – 9:45 am
HON. ELIZABETH E. BROWN
JUDGE ELIZABETH E. BROWN was appointed as a bankruptcy judge in 2001 for the District of Colorado and reappointed in 2015. She served on the Tenth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel from 2003 to 2013. She is a graduate of The Colorado College and the University of Colorado Law School, with honors from both institutions. She served as the Managing Editor of the University of Colorado Law Review. Following law school, Judge Brown engaged in private practice from 1986 through 2001, primarily in the area of corporate insolvency and restructuring. Immediately prior to joining the bench, she was a partner and chair of the Bankruptcy Department at Holme, Roberts & Owen, an international law firm, in their Denver office, now known as Bryan Cave LLP. She has served as an adjunct professor at both the University of Colorado Law School and the University of Denver Sturm College of Law for many years. She was the Judicial Chair of the Rocky Mountain American Bankruptcy Institute Conference from 2001 to 2015. Judge Brown frequently lectures at regional and national programs of various organizations. She has served on various committees of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. She is the current Editor-in-Chief of the American Bankruptcy Law Journal. Judge Brown is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 9 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN THE BANKRUPTCY PROFESSION
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • Noon – 1:00 pm
PAULETTE BROWN
PAULETTE BROWN is the first woman of color to lead the American Bar Association (ABA), as its president in its history. As the leader of this 400,000 voluntary member organization, Brown was responsible for governance, advocacy and serving as the voice and face of the ABA. Her presidential initiatives, through her Diversity & Inclusion 360 Commission, resulted in seven major policies developed and �approved by the ABA, having a long lasting impact on diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and the justice system. Brown simultaneously served as the first person of color to Chair the Labor & Employment Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association.
Brown is also a past president of the National Bar Association (NBA). Brown is currently a Partner and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at Locke Lord LLP. She is nationally recognized for her dedication and efforts relating to diversity, equity & inclusion, including the impact of implicit bias and is a frequent speaker and educator on both. Since the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the murder of George Floyd, she has been called upon to speak as a keynote or as a panelists in excess of 200 times. Brown is the co-author of two ground-breaking Reports, “Visible Invisibility: Women of Color in Law Firms” and “Left Out and Left Behind: The Hurdles, Hassles and Heartaches of Achieving Long-Term Legal Careers for Women of Color”. She has also authored several articles relating to diversity and inclusion.
Brown is a graduate of has won numerous awards and honors, including the Margaret Brent Woman of Achievement Award from the ABA and the C. Francis Stradford Award, highest award conferred by the NBA. Brown holds three honorary doctorate degrees.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 10 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
CHANGING UP THE CODE
Friday, Oct 8, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 11:15 am – 12:15 pm
G. ERIC BRUNSTEDT
G. ERIC BRUNSTAD, JR. is a partner at Dechert, LLP. He has argued 10 cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, including matters involving bankruptcy, the First Amendment, fee-shifting, taxation, the Commerce Clause, statutory interpretation, jurisdiction, and arbitration. He has also argued and briefed numerous cases in most of the federal courts of appeals, and has argued two en banc matters in the Third and Eighth Circuits. In addition to his practice, he is a Visiting Lecturer in Law at the Yale Law School and a Professor (Adjunct) of Law at New York University School of Law, teaching courses on bankruptcy, argument and reason, federal jurisdiction, commercial transactions, secured transactions, and international insolvency law. He has also taught at the Harvard Law School and Georgetown University Law Center. He received his J.S.D. and LL.M. from the Yale Law School, and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, where he served on the Michigan Law Review. He clerked for the Hon. T. Emmet Clarie, U.S. District Court, D. Conn. He is a contributing author for the Collier treatise and a co-outhor of a textbook on Secured Transactions. He is the 2019 recipient of the American Bar Association Business Law Section National Public Service Award for his pro bono work, and the 2019 recipient of the Commercial Law League's Lawrence P. King award for excellence.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 11 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – THE BANKRUPTCY OF 1656 – THE ART, LOVES AND INSOLVENCY OF A GREAT ARTIST
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Room 101/102 • 10 am & 12:15 pm
HON. SCOTT C. CLARKSON
SCOTT C. CLARKSON has served as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Central District of California since January 20, 2011. His undergraduate degree is from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana and he received his J.D. degree from George Mason University School of Law, Arlington, Virginia.
From 1977 to 1982, Judge Clarkson was legislative assistant to a United States Congressman in Washington, D.C., assigned to the United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, where he was a direct observer of and participant in the creation of the 1978 Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Prior to his appointment, Judge Clarkson practiced bankruptcy law and bankruptcy litigation for more than 20 years in Los Angeles, and served as chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Section from 2008 to 2009.
With respect to his work on the historical background on the 17th Century bankruptcy of the famous artist Rembrandt van Rijn, see www.rvrbk.com.
Judge Clarkson is also an established documentary photographer. As a photojournalist, he has documented events throughout the United States, Southeast and Central Asia and South America for over 20 years. Some of his photography may be seen here - http://scottclarksonphotography.com/
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 12 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
MINORITY BANKS AND LENDING
Saturday, Oct 9, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:30 am – 9:30 am
ROBERT COOPER, ESQ.
PROBERT PATRICK COOPER is the chief legal strategist for OneUnited Bank, the largest and fastest growing African-American owned bank in the nation. As Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Mr. Cooper directs all the bank’s legal, regulatory and external affairs. Under his tenure, OneUnited has earned “Financial Company of the Year” from Black Enterprise magazine and received the prestigious CDFI Bank Enterprise Award ten times for its lending in distressed communities. A leading expert on minority banking affairs, Mr. Cooper is a frequent speaker on the topic of access to capital in America’s inner city communities. He is committed to empowering inner city and minority communities by expanding the availability of critical resources such as technology and financial investment. A corporate attorney for over 30 years, Mr. Cooper practiced at the law firm of Hale and Dorr, and was Associate General Counsel for Battenfeld GmbH in Germany. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Yale College and a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School. As a Rotary Scholar, he conducted post-graduate research at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica. Mr. Cooper is a Past Chairman and current co-chair, legislative committee, for the National Bankers Association, the nation’s oldest and largest trade association representing minority and women-owned banks. Since 2003, he has served as Secretary and board member of the Community Development Bankers Association. Mr. Cooper served as Vice President of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association and as co-chair of the commercial finance subsection for the Bankruptcy Section of the Boston Bar Association. He currently serves on the United States Bankruptcy Court Diversity Task Force. Mr. Cooper resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts with his wife and two children.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 13 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
YOU BE THE RACE DIRECTOR
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 1-4 • 11:00 am – Noon
HON. BESS M. PARRISH CRESWELL
BESS CRESWELL was appointed to serve as United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Middle District of Alabama on April 16, 2018, and became Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the Middle District of Alabama on October 17, 2020. Prior to her appointment to the bench, she was a partner in Burr & Forman LLP’s Creditors’ Rights & Bankruptcy Group where she represented debtors, creditors, and committees in workouts, debt restructuring, and bankruptcy cases. She earned her J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law, her M.B.A. from the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business, and her B.A. from Campbell University. After law school, she served as law clerk to the Honorable Ray C. Mullins in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia. She presently serves on the Policy and Procedure Committee and the Endowment Committee for the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and is a member of the Alabama Bankruptcy Assistance Project Advisory Board. She and her husband, Michael, have two children.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 14 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK RETAIL & REIT BANKRUPTCIES: A PIT STOP OR A PILE UP?
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Giffin Ballroom • 10 am & 12:15 pm
HON. MELANIE L. CYGANOWSKI (ret.)
Former Chief Bankruptcy JUDGE MELANIE CYGANOWSKI joined Otterbourg P.C. as a partner in 2008, after serving a full term as a Bankruptcy Judge in the Eastern District of New York and as Chief Judge from November 29, 2005 through the end of her term. She graduated magna cum laude from the School of Law at SUNY at Buffalo. She then served as law clerk to the late Hon. Charles Brieant (SDNY), a litigation associate at Sullivan & Cromwell, and a senior attorney in litigation at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, before joining the bench.
Ms. Cyganowski practices in insolvency and bankruptcy litigation, and is also an active mediator, having mediated cases in bankruptcy and federal courts throughout the country. Ms. Cyganowski represents debtors, creditors’ committees and has also been appointed to various fiduciary positions in several large and complex bankruptcy cases. Ms. Cyganowski has developed particular expertise in contract interpretation and enforcement, breach of fiduciary duty, examination of transactions, fraudulent conveyance and the pursuit of claims in bankruptcy.
Melanie is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, on the Editorial Advisory Board of Norton Journal of Bankruptcy Practice & Law, and an adjunct professor at St. John’s University School of Law in the Bankruptcy LL.M. Program. She is active in philanthropic organizations, including Tina’s Wish.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 15 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
TO ADMIT, OR NOT TO ADMIT – THAT IS THE QUESTION
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 7-10 • 11:00 am – Noon
SEAN B. DAVIS
SEAN B. DAVIS is Shareholder at Winstead PC and a member of Winstead's Business Restructuring/Bankruptcy Practice Group in Houston, Texas. Mr. Davis's practice has touched on a host of commercial bankruptcy matters in several different industries, including commercial and residential real estate, heavy machinery and equipment financing, construction, maritime shipping, oil and gas, and private condemnation. Mr. Davis's representative experience focuses on a host of issues pertinent to secured and unsecured creditors primarily in chapter 7, 11 and 15 cases, as well as commercial litigation stemming from the bankruptcy context. Mr. Davis was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 2009 and the State Bar of New York in 2018, and is admitted to practice before the United States Bankruptcy and District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas, and the Southern District of New York, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Mr. Davis holds Bachelor of Arts degrees from Rice University and received his Doctor of Jurisprudence from Cornell Law School. Mr. Davis has practiced at Winstead PC in Houston since 2009 and is a member of the American Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Turnaround Management Association, the Houston Young Lawyer's Association, the Arthur L. Moller/David B. Foltz, Jr. America Inn of Court, Bankruptcy Sections of the State Bar of Texas and the Houston Bar Association, the Houston Association of Young Bankruptcy Lawyers, and was a participant in NCBJ's 2019 NextGen Program.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 16 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
EVEN THE CIRCUITS CAN’T AGREE
Friday, Oct 8, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:45 am – 9:45 am
SHELLY A. DEROUSSE
SHELLY A. DEROUSSE is Leader of the Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring Practice Group and Equity Partner of Freeborn & Peters, LLP.
Her legal practice focuses on the areas of bankruptcy, reorganization, litigation and asset sales. She works on every side of bankruptcies and workouts, including the representation of debtors, secured creditors, unsecured creditors, lessors, lessees, guarantors, trustees and creditors’ committees.
As lead counsel, Shelly is one of the most experienced counsel in the Midwest for official committees of creditors and equity holders in chapter 11 bankruptcy cases of middle market companies. Additionally, she represents companies and high earning individuals in their restructurings or workout negotiations with their lenders and other creditors. She has litigated to judgment many trials and hearings on issues including mismanagement and fraud, fraudulent transfers, relief from the automatic stay, use of cash collateral, commercial contract disputes, assessment of lease value, benefit to a bankruptcy estate, and breach of fiduciary duty.
Shelly is ranked on the distinguished of Bankruptcy and Restructuring legal rankings for Illinois by Chambers and Partners. Shelly is the ex officio President of the Women's Bar Foundation of Illinois and previously served as President for four years. She currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Turnaround Management Association's Breakfast Event Committee for Midwest Region and on the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Central States Conference Planning Committee. Shelly is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and was one of six women in the nation named in 2018 as finalist for the Chambers award for “Inspiring Role Model in Promoting Gender Diversity in the Legal Profession.”
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 17 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN THE BANKRUPTCY PROFESSION
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • Noon – 1:00 pm
HON. BERNICE B. DONALD
HONORABLE BERNICE B. DONALD is a Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit. She received her J.D. from the University of Memphis School of Law, a LLM from Duke Law, and an honorary Doctors in Law from Suffolk University. Prior to the U.S. Court of Appeals, she served on the U.S. District Court. Judge Donald is a member of the American Law Institute (“ALI”). Judge Donald is a contributing author for an implicit bias resource book for judges and practitioners: Enhancing Justice: Reducing Bias. She previously chaired the American Bar Association (“ABA”) Center for Human Rights and the ABA Criminal Justice Section, focusing on implicit bias and collateral consequences of incarceration.
Judge Donald has presented on implicit bias at numerous institutions including, Third and Ninth Circuit Judicial Conferences, Fordham Law, and Yale Law.
Judge Donald has served as faculty at the University of Georgia, National Judicial College, Federal Judicial Center, the National Advocacy Center, and for the Federal Magistrate Judges Conference. She has participated in over 20 international programs.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 18 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
EVEN THE CIRCUITS CAN’T AGREE
Friday, Oct 8, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:45 am – 9:45 am
ALEXANDRA DUGAN
ALEX DUGAN regularly represents financial services and mortgage company clients with compliance matters, including risk management and remediation, state investigations, regulatory compliance, and operational implementation of legal guidelines. Alex's practice focuses on the bankruptcy compliance and regulatory concerns that her clients face. She is also a member of the firm's Auto Finance and Payment Systems industry teams.
With this experience and perspective, Alex provides daily guidance to clients on bankruptcy-related regulatory and compliance matters, supervises large-scale remediation projects, designs and presents bankruptcy training programs, implements changes to business practices that are required as a result of new statutes and regulations, and works through operational matters that arise daily in a client's bankruptcy department. She works directly with her clients' internal legal department and business leaders to identify the most efficient and effective measures to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local requirements and mitigate risk. Alex also routinely responds to inquiries from government entities, including the Department of Justice (DOJ), on behalf of her clients.
In addition to her compliance work, Alex represents mortgage companies in litigation matters across the country-including advising clients and local counsel concerning best practices.
Alex's practice also includes representation of debtors and secured creditors in Chapter 11 cases, out-of-court workouts, reorganizations, restructurings and liquidations. Her practice spans a wide range of industries, including bank and non-bank lenders, investors in distressed assets, legal, automotive and commercial real estate.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 19 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK MAKE-WHOLE PREMIUMS IN BANKRUPTCY — DRY HOLE OR GUSHER?
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Room 202 • 10 am & 12:15 pm
UCHECH EGEONUIGWE
UCHECHI EGEONUIGWE is an associate in Brown Rudnick’s Bankruptcy & Corporate Restructuring Practice Group. Egeonuigwe represents creditor groups, investors, equity holders, and individual borrowers in all aspects of restructuring stressed and distressed companies. Prior to joining Brown Rudnick, Egeonuigwe served as a Judicial Law Clerk in the District of Utah and as a Judicial Extern in the Central District of California. Egeonuigwe was recently named to The Best Lawyers in America© as “Ones to Watch” for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law and the Lawyers of Color Hot List, which honors the nation’s rising stars excelling in the legal industry.
The National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges selected Egeonuigwe as a 2018 Honorable Cornelius Blackshear Fellow, which recognizes attorneys for their legal excellence in the practice of bankruptcy law and commitment to principles of civility, ethics, and professionalism. Egeonuigwe also currently serves in various leadership capacities through the ABA Business Bankruptcy Committee and American Bankruptcy Institute.
Egeonuigwe maintains an active pro bono practice through her work with Lawyers Alliance and New York Legal Assistance Group. She was honored by the Public Counsel, the nation’s largest pro bono law firm, with the Judge William J. Lasarow Award, which recognizes the outstanding contributions of attorneys who volunteer pro bono services. Egeonuigwe also serves as a mentor in her community and is a member of the Honorable Tina Brozman Foundation for Ovarian Cancer Research (Tina’s Wish) junior advisory board.
Prior to practicing law, Egeonuigwe was an All-American 400-meter hurdler at her alma mater University of California Riverside, where she currently holds the school record, and a professional track and field athlete.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 20 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK LITIGATION FINANCE IN BANKRUPTCY: A POTENTIAL GAME-CHANGER
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Room 103/104 • 10 am & 12:15 pm
KENNETH R. EPSTEIN
KEN EPSTEIN is an investment manager and legal counsel at Omni Bridgeway, responsible for leading the company’s investments in bankruptcy and insolvency-related matters.
He serves as a resource for debtors, creditors (including hedge funds, private equity funds and alternative asset managers), bankruptcy estate representatives and other stakeholders seeking to maximize the value of litigation claims.
Ken has extensive experience advising and managing debtors-in-possession, individual creditors and creditor groups (ad hoc and official committees) and financial institutions in insolvency and bankruptcy-related litigation matters nationally and internationally. He began his career as a lawyer in the financial restructuring group of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. Prior to joining Omni Bridgeway, he was managing director in the restructuring and remediation group at MBIA, a publicly listed financial institution.
Ken has taught bankruptcy law as an adjunct professor at Cardozo Law School and has served as a panelist and author on bankruptcy-related topics. He earned his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 2000, where he graduated cum laude after serving on the Journal of Law and Public Policy. Ken is recognized in Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders – Third Party Funding 2020 Guide and LawDragon Global Restructuring Advisors & Consultants Guide (2020).
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 21 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
CHANGING UP THE CODE
Friday, Oct 8, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 11:15 am – 12:15 pm
HON. MICHAEL FAGONE
MICHAEL A. FAGONE is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Maine in Bangor, appointed in April 2015. He is also a member of the United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the First Circuit, appointed in April 2016. He attended the University of Maine School of Law, graduating summa cum laude in 1997. During law school, he served on the Law Review, and was an articles editor in his third year. After graduation, Judge Fagone worked as a law clerk for Associate Justices Leigh I. Saufley and Robert W. Clifford of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Following his clerkship, Judge Fagone joined Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson in Portland. He was a member of Bernstein Shur’s Business Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Group from 1998 to 2000, and from 2001 to 2015. Judge Fagone currently serves on the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Board of Directors, and is a volunteer with the ABI’s financial literacy program, Credit Abuse Resistance Education (or CARE), teaching students about the responsible use of credit and the dangers of credit abuse. Judge Fagone has also volunteered for several years, as a coach and an evaluator, for Maine Law’s teams in the Conrad B. Duberstein Moot Court Competition.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 22 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK SPEEDING OUT OF THE PANDEMIC: COURTS, PRACTITIONERS AND THE ROAD AHEAD
Saturday, Oct 9, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 2-4 • 10:00 am – 11:00 am
MATTHEW FELDMAN
MATTHEW A. FELDMAN is Chairman of the firm, a member of the firm's Executive Committee and a partner and Co-Chair of the Business Reorganization & Restructuring Department. He has been significantly involved in numerous complex chapter 11 cases and non-judicial restructurings, both U.S. and cross-border matters, including recently acting as counsel to Momentive in its landmark chapter 11 cases, Core Media, the owner of American Idol, in its complex cross-border filing, and the COFINA Agent in the title III cases for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. He represents hedge funds, such as Centerbridge Capital, TPG Special Situations, Silver Point Capital, Black Rock and Twin Haven Capital, in all aspects of judicial and non- judicial restructurings. He also represents investors seeking to acquire assets or businesses from companies operating in chapter 11.
In March 2009, Mr. Feldman served as Chief Legal Advisor to the Obama administration's Task Force on the Auto Industry. This cabinet-level Treasury Department task helped develop the overall strategy to restructure and recapitalize General Motors Corporation and Chrysler LLC, resulting in groundbreaking legal proceedings that implemented a comprehensive financial solution for both companies. In 2014, Mr. Feldman was named a Law360 MVP in Bankruptcy and was selected by Turnarounds & Workouts as an "Outstanding Restructuring Lawyer," an honor he won in 2009 as well. Since 2003 he has been recognized by Chambers and Partners as one of the leading restructuring attorneys internationally and in the U.S. In addition, Mr. Feldman has been listed in Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America, the International and Domestic Who's Who Legal, and is recognized in The Best Lawyers in America. He is also consistently recognized in Benchmark Litigation.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 23 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK PARTICIPANTS, START YOUR ENGINES! JEOPARDY, THE BROKEN BENCH EDITION
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:45 am – 9:45 am
HON. CATHERINE J. FURAY
CATHERINE J. FURAY is the Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Wisconsin. Prior to appointment, she practiced bankruptcy, commercial law, and business litigation.
She has a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Wisconsin Law School and guest lectures in the Bankruptcy course.
She is a member of the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Group of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and the Advisory Process Review Working Group.
Cate is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Ginsberg & Martin on Bankruptcy.
Judge Furay is a member of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. She has served on its Board of Governors and on various committees, and she currently chairs the Finance Committee.
She is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and has served on various ABI committees. Judge Furay is a member of the Turnaround Management Association, a member of the Board of Trustees, and Past President of the Certification Oversight Committee.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 24 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK SPEEDING OUT OF THE PANDEMIC: COURTS, PRACTITIONERS AND THE ROAD AHEAD
Saturday, Oct 9, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 2-4 • 10:00 am – 11:00 am
STUART A. GOLD
STUART A. GOLD is a shareholder in the law firm of Gold, Lange, Majoros & Smalarz, P.C. He is board certified by The American Board of Certification in both Consumer and Business Bankruptcy law, a fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, has been appointed a Life Delegate by the Federal Court of Appeal for the Sixth Circuit and currently serves on its Board. He has served as the Chair of the Advisory Education Board for the American Bankruptcy Institute's Central States Conference, past Co-Chair of the ABI Ethics and Professional Compensation Committee and has been recognized for his pro bono services.
Mr. Gold received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan. His J.D. was earned at Thomas M. Cooley Law School, where he graduated with distinction. He has served on the Local Rules Committee - Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division and has twice been a member of the Sixth Circuit Merit Selection Panel and is currently a U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee and mediator for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Mr. Gold is the past President of the Consumer Bankruptcy Association, co-chair of the Advisory Committee of the Eastern District of Michigan Bankruptcy Court and past chairman of the OCBA Bankruptcy Committee. He frequently lectures for the Institute for Continuing Legal Education, American Bankruptcy Institute, Oakland University, and other professional organizations and is a co-editor of the ICLE publication, Handling Consumer and Small Business Bankruptcies in Michigan and co-author of the ICLE publication Bankruptcy and Insolvency in Divorce Cases, Michigan Family Law. Mr. Gold has been honored and recognized by his peers in various publications and in November, 2020, received the Barbara J. Rom Excellence in Bankruptcy Award from the Federal Bar Association.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 25 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
TO ADMIT, OR NOT TO ADMIT – THAT IS THE QUESTION
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 7-10 • 11:00 am – Noon
STEPHEN HACKNEY
MR. HACKNEY is a partner with Kirkland & Ellis and a trial lawyer with extensive experience in bankruptcy litigation. Mr. Hackney served as lead litigation counsel in a number of high-profile bankruptcies, including iHeart Radio, Edison Mission Energy, GenOn, Patriot Coal, and BCBG. Mr. Hackney rose to prominence during the City of Detroit's bankruptcy case as lead trial counsel for Syncora Holdings, a bond insurer who vigorously contested the City's plan of adjustment. His exploits were detailed in the book Detroit Resurrected by Detroit Free Press journalist Nathan Bomey and in multiple documentaries on the subject.
Mr. Hackney also has an active non-bankruptcy practice. In 2003, Mr. Hackney co-led Conseco's trial effort to regain control of the General Motors Building from Donald Trump. After winning an arbitration that allowed it to buy out Trump's equity interest, Conseco removed Trump's name from the side of the building. The garish golden "T" now sits in Mr. Hackney's office. The building was subsequently sold for $1.2 billion — at the time, the largest sale of commercial real estate in history, but only after the sale process itself became embroiled in litigation in Delaware with real estate billionaire Sheldon Solow, which Mr. Hackney and his partners succeeded in beating back.
Mr. Hackney resides in Evanston, Illinois with his wife Allison and their three daughters. He is the Chairman of the Board of LINK Unlimited, a Chicago area non-profit focused on college graduation rates among African-American youth, and a commissioner of the Illinois Medical District. Mr. Hackney graduated from Rice University in 1994 and got his law degree from the University of Chicago in 1997.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 26 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK SPEEDING OUT OF THE PANDEMIC: COURTS, PRACTITIONERS AND THE ROAD AHEAD
Saturday, Oct 9, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 2-4 • 10:00 am – 11:00 am
HON. M. ELAINE HAMMOND
M. ELAINE HAMMOND is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of California in San Jose. A native of North Carolina, she received her undergraduate degree from Duke University, and her JD with honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law. Prior to taking the bench in 2012, Judge Hammond’s practice focused on representing debtors and creditors in commercial bankruptcy cases and out-of-court restructurings. She was a partner with the San Francisco firm Friedman Dumas and Springwater LLP. Prior to that she was an associate with Murphy, Sheneman, Julian & Rogers LLP. Judge Hammond began her legal career as a law clerk for the Judge Edward D. Jellen (ret.), also of the Northern District of California.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 27 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK AROUND THE WORLD IN 75 MINUTES — INTERNATIONAL JUDICIAL TRAINING IN A PANDEMIC
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | On-Line & in Grand Ballroom 1-4 • 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm
HON. SUSANA HIDVEGI-ARANGO
JUDGE HIDVEGI took office as Superintendent of Bankruptcy Proceedings in Colombia (Chief Judge of the Business Bankruptcy Court of the entire country of Colombia) in December of 2018. She is the Delegate to represent Colombia at the UNCITRAL–Working Group V (Insolvency Law). As Superintendent of Bankruptcy Proceedings, she participated in the drafting process of the reforms to the bankruptcy regime to address the effects of the Covid-19 crisis. Susana was included in the American Bankruptcy Institute’s “40 under 40” 2020 class. Prior to becoming Superintendent, Mrs. Hidvegi developed a specialty in business bankruptcy for 12 years with the largest law firm in Colombia where she was a director and headed the bankruptcy practice. Mrs. Hidvegi also clerked for the ICC in Paris, and worked at Dechert LLP, New York. Susana obtained her law degree as well as a specialization in finance law degree from Universidad del Rosario. She pursued an LL.M. in Business and Bankruptcy Law at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Mrs. Hidvegi has been a professor of bankruptcy law in several postgraduate programs and has participated in numerous conferences as lecturer and panelist on insolvency, and has published various papers and articles on bankruptcy law. Judge Hidvegi is a member of International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) where she is the Academic Director of IWIRC Latin America, INSOL where she is a member of the Legislative and Regulatory Group. Mrs. Hidvegi also regularly participates in projects with organizations such as the World Bank, INSOL and the International Association of Insolvency Regulators (IAIR). Mrs. Hidvegi is admitted to practice law in Colombia and the State of New York.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 28 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
EVEN THE CIRCUITS CAN’T AGREE
Friday, Oct 8, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:45 am – 9:45 am
HON. WHITMAN L. HOLT
WHITMAN L. HOLT has served as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Washington in Yakima since November 1, 2019. Before taking the bench, Judge Holt was a partner of Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP in Los Angeles, where his bankruptcy practice included briefing multiple matters before the Supreme Court of the United States and during which time he received public recognition for his legal abilities from numerous sources. Judge Holt is the co-author (with Kenneth N. Klee) of Bankruptcy and the Supreme Court: 1801-2014 (West Academic 2015) and of a series of commentaries about bankruptcy and the Supreme Court for the LexisNexis Emerging Issues Analysis project. Judge Holt also is a contributing author for the Collier on Bankruptcy treatise and related standalone publications. Since 2015, Judge Holt has been a Conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, which is an invitation- only organization dedicated to advising Congress about the operation of bankruptcy and related laws. Judge Holt is a graduate of Bates College (B.A., 2002, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa) and Harvard Law School (J.D., 2005, cum laude).
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 29 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
EVEN THE CIRCUITS CAN’T AGREE
Friday, Oct 8, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:45 am – 9:45 am
HON. JEFFERY P. HOPKINS
JEFFERY P. HOPKINS was appointed to the bankruptcy court in Cincinnati in April of 1996. Judge Hopkins graduated from Bowdoin College with degrees in government and legal studies and anthropology-sociology (1982) and earned his J.D. (1985) from The Ohio State University, Michael E. Moritz College of Law. Upon graduation, he clerked for the Honorable Alan E. Norris on the Sixth Circuit and later became an associate with the law firm, n.k.a., Squire, Patton & Boggs, specializing in complex commercial litigation. In 1990, Judge Hopkins was appointed as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and rapidly advanced to become Chief of the Civil Division. Judge Hopkins was elected President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges in 2007. He served in several leadership roles including chair of the NCBJ-NBA Liaison committee where he founded the Blackshear Lecture series and NCBJ Presidential Blackshear Fellowship program in order to attract underrepresented minorities to bankruptcy law practice. Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. appointed Judge Hopkins to the Committee for the Judicial Branch and more recently to the Judicial Conference of the United States as the Bankruptcy Judge observer. In 2010, Judge Hopkins received the William K. Thomas Distinguished Jurist Award from Ohio State. Currently Judge Hopkins serves as board chair of the iconic Cincinnati Museum Center, president of the Law and Leadership Institute, co-convener of the BLAC-CBA Round Table and board member of The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
Judge Hopkins is married to Michelle. They are proud parents of one daughter who is the law clerk for the Honorable Wende C. Cross and a son attending Ohio State.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 30 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
TO ADMIT, OR NOT TO ADMIT – THAT IS THE QUESTION
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 7-10 • 11:00 am – Noon
HON. BARBARA J. HOUSER
BARBARA J. HOUSER is a United States Bankruptcy Judge in the Northern District of Texas, now serving on recall status since her retirement in May, 2020. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska in 1975 with high distinction and her doctor of laws from Southern Methodist University School of Law in 1978, where she was an editor of the Law Review.
She was elected a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy in 1994, served as an officer and member of its Board of Directors, and remains active in the College. In 1996, she was elected a conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, an organization of nationally recognized scholars and experts in the bankruptcy field, and remains active in the Conference. After becoming a bankruptcy judge in 2000, she joined the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and served as its President in 2009-2010. Judge Houser currently serves as the President of the American Bankruptcy Institute and is a member of the Executive Committee of its Board of Directors.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 31 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK STREAMLINED AND SPEEDY: DRIVING THE SUB V VEHICLE
Saturday, Oct 9, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 7-9 • 10:00 am – 11:00 am
HON. BENJAMIN A. KAHN
BENJAMIN A. KAHN was appointed as a Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina effective February 3, 2014. He is certified as a specialist in business and consumer bankruptcy law by the American Board of Certification, for which he served as a member of the Board of Directors until his appointment to the bench. Judge Kahn currently serves as Chair of the Committee on Bankruptcy Judge Education for the Federal Judicial Center and is one of the instructors for Phase I and Phase II Orientation for Newly Appointed Bankruptcy Judges. He serves as the Judicial Chair of the Southeastern Bankruptcy Workshop for the American Bankruptcy Institute. He is a Conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, for which he serves on the Executive Committee and as Chair of the Committee on the Court System and Bankruptcy Administration. He is a contributing author to Collier on Bankruptcy. He previously was a member with Nexsen Pruet, PLLC, where he was recognized as among the Top 10 North Carolina Super Lawyers across all practice areas for the two years immediately preceding his appointment, elected to the Legal Elite Hall of Fame by Business North Carolina Magazine in 2014 as the category winner in North Carolina for Bankruptcy, and included among Band 1 bankruptcy practitioners in North Carolina in Chambers and Partners USA. Judge Kahn received his BA in 1990 and his JD with Honors in 1993 from UNC-Chapel Hill.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 32 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK STREAMLINED AND SPEEDY: DRIVING THE SUB V VEHICLE
Saturday, Oct 9, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 7-9 • 10:00 am – 11:00 am
RICHARDO I. KILPATRICK
RICHARDO I. KILPATRICK is the managing partner of Kilpatrick & Associates, P.C. in Auburn Hills, Mich., and specializes in creditors' rights and insolvency law while focusing on corporate, consumer and commercial litigation and bankruptcy, real property remedies for creditors, real property transactions and general corporate counseling. He is a past president of the ABI and has served on the Board of Directors for the American College of Bankruptcy. Mr. Kilpatrick is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. He was inducted as a Fellow into the American College of Bankruptcy in March 1999 and appointed to its Board of Directors in July 2001. In October 2008, Mr. Kilpatrick was invited to be a conferee at the National Bankruptcy Conference. As a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference, Mr. Kilpatrick worked with Judge Thomas Small on the NBC’s Small Business Proposal, a portion of which was incorporated into the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019. Mr. Kilpatrick also served as a member of the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules from August 2011 to 2017 where he worked to directly craft, tweak, update, and change bankruptcy rules in an ongoing effort to improve the practice of bankruptcy for all involved. He is Board Certified in Consumer Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification, and he received his B.A. in economics in 1973 from Harvard University and his J.D. in 1982 from the University of Michigan Law School.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 33 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK PICKIN’ UP THE PIECES — THE COLLISION BETWEEN BANKRUPTCY AND ARBITRATION
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Room 204 • 10 am & 12:15 pm
JANE KIM
JANE KIM is a partner of Keller Benvenutti Kim LLP, a boutique law firm in San Francisco that focuses on bankruptcy and restructuring law, as well as bankruptcy and general commercial litigation. Jane represents debtors in possession, distressed companies, secured lenders, creditors, including members of official committees, prospective investors, and directors and officers of corporations.
Jane’s recent engagements include representing In-Shape Health Clubs, LLC, a premier regional fitness club chain in California, and Ravn Air Group, Inc., a regional airline in Alaska, in both of their chapter 11 cases filed in Delaware. Jane also serves as bankruptcy co-counsel for Pacific Gas & Electric Company in its chapter 11 case, the largest chapter 11 filing in the Northern District of California in over a decade, which emerged from its chapter 11 cases in July 2020 through a confirmed, largely-consensual plan of reorganization.
Before moving to California and joining Keller Benvenutti Kim in 2014, Jane practiced in New York at the law firm Cleary Gottlieb for over a decade.
Jane received her JD from Harvard Law School in 2002 and her BA from Columbia College, Columbia University in 1999.
Jane was selected to serve as a lawyer representative for the Northern District of California and has been recognized as a noted star in the bankruptcy practice area by Benchmark Litigation California and included in Lawdragon’s inaugural list of the 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers. She will be inducted as a fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy in March 2021.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 34 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
CHANGING UP THE CODE
Friday, Oct 8, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 11:15 am – 12:15 pm
METTE KURTH
METTE H. KURTH is a currently partner with Culhane Meadows PLLC, America's largest full-service, national, women-owned law firm. She has been named one of the leading bankruptcy and restructuring attorneys in California and Delaware by Chambers USA.
Clients have praised Mette’s skill in the insolvency world, referring to her as “a pit bull in heels” and a “rock-hard…negotiator.” Others note Mette is:
• “Very direct, has a plan of action and goes on the attack with it.” • “A dynamic attorney. She is smart and thinks outside the box.” • “Professional, articulate and one of the brightest bankruptcy attorneys I know.” • “An extremely skilled bankruptcy attorney who has the ideal balance of being technically skilled and practically balanced, always with one eye on delivering value to her clients.” • “A tireless and creative advocate.” • “Particularly effective and rare as an attorney due to her experience and people skills in navigating tricky distressed investing deals.”
Mette regularly speaks for industry groups and client programs. She has been deeply involved with the national Turnaround Management Association, serving previously on its national Board of Directors and Executive Committee, as Vice President of Conferences, as Vice President of Communications, and in numerous other national and local leadership positions. Mette has also served in leadership roles with the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Financial Lawyers Conference, the California Bankruptcy Forum and Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum, and the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Conference (IWIRC).
Fun Fact: Mette’s husband, Jeff, currently works with Hamboards, which was featured on Season 5, Episode 4 of Shark Tank.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 35 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK PARTICIPANTS, START YOUR ENGINES! JEOPARDY, THE BROKEN BENCH EDITION
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:45 am – 9:45 am
HON. RENE LASTRETO II
JUDGE LASTRETO was sworn as a United States Bankrptcy Judge in September 2015. His assignment is the Eastern District of California-Fresno Division. He has served the NCBJ on the Newsletter Committee and the Education Committee.
Before becoming a judge, Judge Lastreto was in private practice for thirty four years. He was a business litigator and tried many different disputes including contract disputes, construction disputes, commercial code issues, bankruptcy issues and other business disputes.
He represented all constituencies in bankruptcy cases including creditors, debtors, trustees, creditor's committees, lessors and asset purchasers. His bankruptcy practice emphasized creditor rights and secured creditor issues. He was also on the business panel of arbitrators for the American Arbitration Association
He was the managing partner of the regional law firm Lang, Richert & Patch before taking the bench.
Judge Lastreto is a frequent speaker on bankruptcy topics.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 36 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
LIQUIDATING TRUSTS
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Room 308 • 10 am & 12:15 pm
YOOJIN LEE
YOOJIN is an associate attorney at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in their Atlanta office. She focuses her practice on bankruptcy, creditors’ rights, restructuring, and commercial finance transactions. Prior to joining the firm, she served more than two years as a judicial law clerk with bankruptcy courts in the Northern District of Georgia for the Honorable Sage M. Sigler and in the District of New Jersey for the Honorable Andrew B. Altenburg. She received her B.A. in criminal justice from University of Colorado and J.D. from Walter F. George School of Law. During law school, she worked in the United States Attorney’s Office, assisting federal prosecutors with insolvency matters.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 37 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK PARTICIPANTS, START YOUR ENGINES! JEOPARDY, THE BROKEN BENCH EDITION
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:45 am – 9:45 am
DEMETRA LIGGINS
DEMETRA LIGGINS is a Partner in McGuirewoods’ Restructuring & Insolvency practice in the Firm’s Houston office. She has two decades of experience in business finance and restructuring for a variety of large and small public and private companies. As a trusted business advisor, Demetra partners with her clients to identify and achieve their goals in the bankruptcy process, navigating through complex corporate reorganizations and distressed acquisitions. A thoughtful and creative problem solver, she is highly regarded for her ability to quickly and efficiently help clients assess the effects of a bankruptcy on their corporate and financial transactions. Her clients include health care systems, retail corporations, financial institutions, oil and gas companies, partnerships, and private-equity funds, among others. Demetra is a frequent speaker on bankruptcy and finance-related topics, in addition to speaking on career goals, branding, and mentorship to minority and female audiences ranging from established professionals to students.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 38 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
MINORITY BANKS AND LENDING
Saturday, Oct 9, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:30 am – 9:30 am
JOSIAH LINDSAY
JOSIAH LINDSAY is a Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group, focusing on portfolio management of energy investments across the capital structure in the power, midstream and upstream sectors. Mr. Lindsay is currently a member of the board of T1 Power Holdings LLC and Birchwood Renewables, LLC.Prior to joining Fortress, he was a Senior Vice President within the Debt Products Group of GE Energy Financial Services. Prior to the Debt Products Group, he concentrated on project equity investments in the US power and midstream sectors.Josiah received a B.S in mechanical engineering from North Carolina A&T and M.S. in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech. In addition, he has a M.B.A and J.D. from the University of Virginia.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 39 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
MINORITY BANKS AND LENDING
Saturday, Oct 9, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:30 am – 9:30 am
HON. CHRISTOPHER M. LOPEZ
JUDGE CHRIS LOPEZ was appointed to serve as a bankruptcy judge for the Southern District of Texas in August 2019. Before his appointment, Chris was a member of the Business, Finance & Restructuring Group of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.Chris earned a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law, a Master of Arts in Religion from Yale Divinity School, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Houston.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 40 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK CYBERSECURITY 2021: THE CAUTION FLAG REMAINS OUT
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | White River J Room 107 • 10 am
JOHN G. LOUGHNANE
JOHN G. LOUGHNANE is a partner in the Corporate and Transactions Department of Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP in Boston. Clients working with John have the benefit of his in-house corporate experience at PTC as well as his mediation training and practice.
For over thirty years, he has helped clients navigate the accelerating pace of technology and digital transformation. He advises on a variety of business transactions such as financings, licensings, and acquisitions. Clients benefit especially from John’s insight into distressed circumstances in anticipating issues and obtaining meaningful remedies.
Fast moving developments in privacy and security led him to earn the Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) designation from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). He is also a member of Infragard, serves on his firm’s Cybersecurity Committee, and speaks and writes regularly on planning for and dealing effectively with disruption.
John serves as a leader in national organizations including the American Bar Association (ABA) (Steering Committee Member, Legal Technology Resource Center), the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) (Co-Chair, Mediation Committee and former Co-Chair, Emerging Industries and Technology Committee), and the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) (former Trustee, TMA Global and past President, Northeast Chapter). John is also an active member of the Boston Bar Association and past Co-Chair of its Bankruptcy Section.
John has also served as a board member of the George Washington University Law Alumni Association, president of the Holy Cross Club of Boston and president of the Holy Cross Lawyers Association. Following his graduation from law school, John served as a law clerk for the Honorable Ronald R. Lagueux of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island.
His admissions include Massachusetts, New York, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 41 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
CHANGING UP THE CODE
Friday, Oct 8, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 11:15 am – 12:15 pm
HON. STACEY MEISEL
THE HONORABLE STACEY L. MEISEL is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of New Jersey; the first African American selected for this position in New Jersey.
Before joining the bench, at 29 years old, Judge Meisel co-founded Becker Meisel LLC. She co-chaired the bankruptcy, insolvency and creditors’ rights practice until her appointment.
Prior to her appointment, Judge Meisel also served on the NJ Panel of Bankruptcy Trustees and was the first African American woman to do so. She thrice served on the committee that recommends candidates to the Third Circuit for NJ bankruptcy judgeship. Judge Meisel served on the NJ Court Registry of Mediators and the Lawyers Advisory Committee to the Board of Judges of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of NJ.
Judge Meisel is a co-author of the Consumer Bankruptcy Manual and the Consumer Bankruptcy Handbook, Thomson Reuters publications. She recently completed a three- year term on the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges’ Rules Committee, and now serves as a Governor-at-Large. She currently serves on the National Association of Women Judges’ Color of Justice Program Committee, the United States District Court, District of NJ. Committee on Court Security as well as the Newark Vicinage Facilities Security Committee, and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of NJ, Information Technology Committee. She is a Judicial Advisor to the Historical Society of the United States District Court for the District of NJ. and the Association of the Federal Bar of NJ. For the past three years she has also served as a Judicial Co-Chair for the ABI Mid-Atlantic Bankruptcy Workshop.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 42 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
EVEN THE CIRCUITS CAN’T AGREE
Friday, Oct 8, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:45 am – 9:45 am
ROBERT W. MILLER
EXPERIENCE: Manier & Herod, P.C. Nashville, TN Bankruptcy and Restructuring Partner March 2013 – Present
• Counsel for the Chapter 11 Trustee of large behavioral health clinic network, including multiple appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, culminating in confirmed plan of reorganization providing 100% distribution to unsecured creditors
• Counsel for issuers of surety bonds in recent cases including Katerra Inc., Exide Technologies, Hertz Corporation, Blackjewel, LLC, California Resources Corp., Chesapeake Energy Corp., Specialty Retail Shops Holding Corp., Payless Holdings LLC (I & II), ITT Educational Services, Inc., SunEdison, Inc., Peabody Energy Corporation, Abengoa S.A., Patriot Coal Corp. (I & II), Walter Energy, Inc., and Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.
• Counsel for Receiver of Automasters LLC and its affiliates
• Counsel for directors, unsecured creditors committees, governmental authorities, and landlords, including Oasis Petroleum, Inc., MTPC, LLC, MBH Highland, LLC, Curae Healthcare, Inc., Edwin Watts Golf Shops, LLC, and Universal Cooperatives, Inc.
• Counsel for Chapter 11 Trustee and Chapter 7 Trustee in liquidation of network of sleep clinics
• Counsel for Chapter 11 Trustee for security and alarm services provider
• Counsel for Chapter 11 Trustee of real estate investment company culminating in confirmed plan of reorganization providing 100% distribution to unsecured creditors
• Selected decisions: Alpha Visions Learning Academy, Inc. v. Carranza (In re James Jerry Skefos), Adv. No. 20-00071, 2020 WL 2893413 (Bankr. W.D. Tenn. June 2, 2020); Collins v. Tennessee Dep't of Revenue, 555 B.R. 670 (W.D. Tenn. 2016); Hanover Ins. Co. v. Cape Fear Paving, LLC, 531 B.R. 573 (E.D.N.C. 2015); In re Acor, 510 B.R. 588 (Bankr. W.D. Tenn. 2014); In re Living Hope Southeast, LLC, 509 B.R. 649 (Bankr. E.D. Ark. 2014); In re Living Hope Southeast, LLC, 505 B.R. 237 (Bankr. E.D. Ark. 2014)
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 43 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
YOU BE THE RACE DIRECTOR
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 1-4 • 11:00 am – Noon
HON. CYNTHIA A. NORTON
JUDGE CYNTHIA A. NORTON graduated summa cum laude from the University of Kansas in 1981 with a double major in French and Art History. She received her law degree from the same institution in May 1984. She clerked for the Hon. John E. Rees of the Kansas Court of Appeals and for the Hon. James A. Pusateri, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Kansas. Judge Norton was a partner at Lewis Rice & Fingersh in Kansas City before establishing her own law firm in 1995. As a member of Grimes & Rebein, L.C., Judge Norton practiced in bankruptcy and related fields in Kansas and Missouri until being sworn in as a bankruptcy judge in the Western District of Missouri on February 1, 2013. A frequent writer and lecturer, Judge Norton is the recipient of the Michael R. Roser Excellence in Bankruptcy Award and the Robert L. Gernon Award for Outstanding Contribution to CLE. She is also a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and is a member of the FJC's Bankruptcy Education Committee. She previously taught bankruptcy law as an adjunct law professor at the University of Kansas Law School.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 44 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK PARTICIPANTS, START YOUR ENGINES! JEOPARDY, THE BROKEN BENCH EDITION
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:45 am – 9:45 am
HON. PAMELA PEPPER
PAMELA PEPPER received her undergraduate degree in theater from Northwestern University and her J.D. from Cornell Law School, where she was a notes editor on the Cornell Law Review and co-winner of the Sutherland Moot Court competition. She clerked for Frank M. Johnson, Jr. on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Between 1990 and 1997, she was a federal prosecutor in Chicago and Milwaukee. From 1997 to 2005, she was a solo criminal defense practitioner. She holds a graduate certificate in dispute resolution from Marquette University, and is a former adjunct professor at Marquette Law School. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals appointed her to the bankruptcy bench for the Eastern District of Wisconsin on July 5, 2005, and she served as chief judge from July 1, 2010 to December 8, 2014. In May 2014, President Barak Obama nominated her to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin; she was confirmed by the Senate on November 20, 2014 and sworn in to the district court bench on December 8, 2014—the first woman to be appointed to an Article III seat in that district. She became chief judge on November 1, 2019.
Pam is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, and formerly served as education director and chair of its Consumer Bankruptcy Committee, a member of the board of directors and a member of the education committee. She belongs to the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, having served a term as the Seventh Circuit representative on the Board of Governors, and a term as secretary for the 2013-14 year. She also has served on the national conference education committee and chaired that committee for the 2014 conference in Chicago. She completed two terms as an associate editor of the American Bankruptcy Law Journal. She has served on the Human Resources Advisory Council of the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts and currently serves on the OSCAR working group. She is a former member of the Judicial Data Working Group for the Administrative Office and a former member of the Bankruptcy Rules Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. She is a member of the Seventh Circuit Judicial Council. She speaks at Federal Judicial Center programs and is a former member of the Center’s Bankruptcy Judges’ Education Advisory Group. She has spoken at bar associations across the country on topics such as the rules of evidence in bankruptcy, the intersection of criminal and bankruptcy law and litigation skills.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 45 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
CHANGING UP THE CODE
Friday, Oct 8, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 11:15 am – 12:15 pm
JOHN RAO
JOHN RAO is an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center focusing on consumer credit, mortgage servicing, and bankruptcy issues. Mr. Rao has served as a panelist and instructor at numerous bankruptcy and consumer law conferences, has served as an expert witness in court cases, and has testified in Congress on consumer matters. Mr. Rao is a contributing author and editor of NCLC's Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice; and a co-author of NCLC’s Mortgage Servicing and Loan Modifications, and Home Foreclosures. He is also a contributing author to Collier on Bankruptcy and the Collier Bankruptcy Practice Guide.
Mr. Rao served as a member of the federal Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules from 2006 to 2012, appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts. He served as Commissioner on the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission of Consumer Bankruptcy, from 2017 to 2019. He is a conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, member of the editorial board of Collier on Bankruptcy, board member of the National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center, and former board member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys and the American Bankruptcy Institute. In 2017, Mr. Rao received the Excellence in Education Award from the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 46 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK PARTICIPANTS, START YOUR ENGINES! JEOPARDY, THE BROKEN BENCH EDITION
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:45 am – 9:45 am
PROF. NANCY B. RAPOPORT
NANCY B. RAPOPORT is 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. After receiving her B.A., summa cum laude, from Rice University in 1982 and her J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1985, she clerked for the Honorable Joseph T. Sneed III on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and then practiced law (primarily bankruptcy law) with Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco from 1986-1991. She started her academic career at The Ohio State University College of Law, served in three deanships, one stint as Acting Provost (UNLV), one stint as Acting CFO (also UNLV), and one stint as Special Counsel to the President of UNLV. Her specialties are bankruptcy ethics, ethics in governance, law firm behavior, and the depiction of lawyers in popular culture. She is the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement (the Mob Museum) and a Trustee of Claremont Graduate University. She is also a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. 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.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 47 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
EVEN THE CIRCUITS CAN’T AGREE
Friday, Oct 8, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:45 am – 9:45 am
BILL ROCHELLE
BILL ROCHELLE joined the American Bankruptcy Institute in 2015 as its Editor-at-Large, writing every day on developments in consumer and reorganization law. For the prior nine years, he was the bankruptcy columnist for Bloomberg News.
Bill got his undergraduate and law degrees from Columbia University, where he received Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar awards from the law school. 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, Bill travels the country for ABI, speaking to bar groups and professional organizations on hot topics in the turnaround community and trends in consumer bankruptcies.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 48 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
TO ADMIT, OR NOT TO ADMIT – THAT IS THE QUESTION
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 7-10 • 11:00 am – Noon
HON. PETER RUSSIN
JUDGE RUSSIN graduated from George Washington University Law School (J.D. 1988) having won the Jacob Burns Prize for outstanding appellate advocacy and the Van Vleck Advanced Moot Court Competition. Judge Russin also interned for the Honorable Lawrence S. Margolis, United States Court of Federal Claims Judge during law school. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Tulane University where he majored in History and graduated with departmental honors (B.A., 1985). Judge Russin practiced in the areas of Bankruptcy and Commercial Litigation from 1988 to 2020, when the Eleventh Circuit appointed him to serve as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Florida.
Judge Russin was a co-founder and shareholder of Meland Russin & Budwick, P.A. since 1993. He routinely represented corporate debtors, secured lenders, creditors’ committees and trustees in insolvency proceedings as well as asset purchasers in bankruptcy. He also counseled clients through out-of-court workouts and private debt restructuring. Judge Russin was also a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator. Throughout his career, he has written and lectured extensively on insolvency and commercial litigation topics. Judge Russin is also a past president of the Bankruptcy Bar Association of the Southern District of Florida.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 49 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK SPEEDING OUT OF THE PANDEMIC: COURTS, PRACTITIONERS AND THE ROAD AHEAD
Saturday, Oct 9, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 2-4 • 10:00 am – 11:00 am
HON. BRENDEN L. SHANNON
BRENDAN LINEHAN SHANNON is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Delaware. Judge Shannon received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University, and his law degree from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Shannon was a partner with Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP in Wilmington, Delaware. At Young Conaway, Judge Shannon primarily represented corporate debtors and official committees in Chapter 11 cases.
Since his appointment in 2006, Judge Shannon has managed a full Chapter 11 docket, and also handles all Chapter 13 consumer bankruptcy cases filed in the State of Delaware. He served as Chief Judge of the Bankruptcy Court from 2014 through 2018.
Judge Shannon is an adjunct professor in the Bankruptcy L.L.M. Program at St. John’s University School of Law in New York, and at Widener School of Law in Delaware. He serves on the Board of Editors of Collier on Bankruptcy (16th ed.) and is a contributing author for Collier Forms and for several chapters covering the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. Judge Shannon also serves on the Advisory Board for the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review.
In 2011, Judge Shannon was appointed to serve as a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference. The Conference was created in the 1930's at the request of Congress and serves as a resource to Congress on bankruptcy legislation. In 2020, Judge Shannon was inducted as a member of the American College of Bankruptcy.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 50 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
EVEN THE CIRCUITS CAN’T AGREE
Friday, Oct 8, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:45 am – 9:45 am
CAMISHA L. SIMMONS
CAMISHA L. SIMMONS is the founder of the law firm Simmons Legal PLLC. She founded the firm after practicing in New York and Dallas for over 7 years as an attorney for the global law firms of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, DLA Piper and Norton Rose Fulbright.
She has extensive experience representing companies in chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and related litigation, transactional and restructuring matters.
In 2020 and 2019, she was selected by The National Black Lawyers for inclusion in its list of the top 100 African American attorneys in Texas, The National Black Lawyers Top 100. In 2018, she was recognized as one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Dallas by the Texas Diversity Council. In 2013, the Texas Lawyer named her one of Texas’s up-and- coming 25 Legal Leaders on the Rise. She has also been named a Super Lawyer, Texas Rising Star and a New York Metro Rising Star by SuperLawyers®, a Thomson Reuters rating service, and a “Top 40 Under 40” attorney by the National Black Lawyers.
In addition to practicing law, she is a frequent author and speaker on various bankruptcy, restructuring, creditors’ rights and litigation topics. She currently serves on the Editorial Board of the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal.
From 2006-2007, Ms. Simmons was a law clerk to the Honorable Mary F. Walrath, Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Chief Judge from 2003- 2008).
She holds a J.D., magna cum laude and an M.B.A. from Texas Tech University, an M.Ed. from the University of Maryland, College Park and a B.B.A. from Campbell University. She served on active duty in the United States Army from 1999 to 2003.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 51 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
YOU BE THE RACE DIRECTOR
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 1-4 • 11:00 am – Noon
HON. CHRISTOPHER S. SONTCHI
CHRISTOPHER S. SONTCHI is former Chief Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and is a frequent speaker in the United States and abroad on issues relating to corporate reorganizations. He is a Lecturer in Law at The University of Chicago Law School and teaches corporate bankruptcy to international judges through the auspices of the World Bank and INSOL International. He is also a member of the International Insolvency Institute, Judicial Insolvency Network, National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, American Bankruptcy Institute, and INSOL International. He was recently appointed to the International Advisory Council of the Singapore Global Restructuring Initiative and the Founders’ Committee of The University of Chicago Law School’s Center on Law and Finance.
Judge Sontchi has testified before Congress on the safe harbors for financial contracts. He has also published articles on creditors’ committees, valuation, asset sales and safe harbors.
Judge Sontchi attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and obtained a B.A. with distinction in Political Science. He received his J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School, after which he returned to his native Delaware to serve as a law clerk in the Delaware Supreme Court.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 52 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK AROUND THE WORLD IN 75 MINUTES — INTERNATIONAL JUDICIAL TRAINING IN A PANDEMIC
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | On-Line & in Grand Ballroom 1-4 • 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm
HON. ELIZABETH S. STONG
JUDGE STONG is a US Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of New York. Previously, she was a litigation partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher and law clerk to US District Judge David Mazzone. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Council of the American Law Institute, the Advisory Committee to Columbia University’s Committee on Global Thought, and the Board of the ABA Center for Innovation. She holds leadership roles in the Practising Law Institute, PRIME Finance, and the ABA’s Business Law Section, International Law Section, and Judicial Division.
Her past positions include Harvard Law School Association President, NCBJ International Judicial Relations Committee Chair, Co-Chair of the American Bar Foundation New York Fellows, and New York City Bar ADR Committee Chair. She also served on the ABA’s Standing Committees on Pro Bono and Public Service, the American Judicial System, and Continuing Legal Education, and Commissions on Women in the Profession, and Homelessness and Poverty.
Judge Stong is an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School and has trained judges in more than twenty-five countries on five continents, with ABA-ROLI, INSOL, the World Bank, and US Commerce Department. She has received many awards for her work to improve access to justice. She received her AB magna cum laude and her JD from Harvard University.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 53 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK STUDENT LOAN LITIGATION IN BANKRUPTCY
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Room 205 • 10 am & 12:15 pm
HON. KATHY A. SURRATT-STATES
KATHY A. SURRATT-STATES was sworn in as U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri on March 17, 2003 and was appointed Chief Judge on February 1, 2013. Judge Surratt-States was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She received her B.A., cum laude, from Oklahoma City University in 1988. She received her J.D. from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis in 1991. Judge Surratt-States began her legal career as law clerk to now retired Bankruptcy Judge James J. Barta. In 1993, she was an associate at Campbell & Coyne, P.C. where her work focused on bankruptcy, commercial litigation and foreclosures. She moved to Ziercher & Hocker, P.C. in 1998, where she became partner. This firm later merged with Husch Blackwell, where she was a partner in the insolvency practice group until her appointment to the Bankruptcy Court. In 1997, she was appointed to the Panel of Bankruptcy Trustee for the Eastern District of Missouri. In 1999, she served as the Chapter 7 Trustee for Family Company of America, then the third largest grocery store chain in St. Louis.
Judge Surratt-States serves on the Board of Catholic Charities of St. Louis. She is also a member of Altrusa International, Inc. of St. Louis, an international association of professionals dedicated to serving their community. Judge Surratt-States is a member of Missouri Bar, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, Mound City Bar Association, National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and American Bankruptcy Institute.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 54 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK SPEEDING OUT OF THE PANDEMIC: COURTS, PRACTITIONERS AND THE ROAD AHEAD
Saturday, Oct 9, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 2-4 • 10:00 am – 11:00 am
HON. LAURA S. TAYLOR
JUDGE TAYLOR has served as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of California since January 2008. She ended a seven year term as Chief Judge in October of 2019.
In January 2013, Judge Taylor was appointed to a seven year term on the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel; she was reappointed December 31, 2019. In August of 2019, she became its Chief Judge.
In March 2019, Judge Taylor was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.
Judge Taylor served as the Conference Chair for the 2012 Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference and as Program Chair for the 2011 Conference. She previously served on the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Judges Education Committee and the Ninth Circuit Pro Se Committee.
She also served on the Federal Judicial Center's Chief Judge Education Committee.
She actively participates in educational programs in the area of bankruptcy law.
From 1983 – 1995 and from 1998 to 2007, Judge Taylor was an associate and partner at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP where she practiced in the Finance and Bankruptcy practice group. For most of her career she was resident in the San Diego office. From June 2005 to November 2007, she served as the San Diego office’s Administrative Partner.
From January 1995 to February 1998, Judge Taylor practiced pro bono law. She was the founder of the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program’s Special Education Project (the “Project”). The Project provided pro bono legal services to disabled foster youth and low income families with disabled children.
Judge Taylor received her B.A. with Highest Honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her J.D. with Honors from Duke University.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 55 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK KEEPING CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY APPEALS ON THE TRACK
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Room 107 • 10 am & 12:15 pm
TARA T WOME Y
TARA T WOME Y is currently Of Counsel to the National Consumer Law Center and the Executive Director for the National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center. Ms. Twomey focuses on bankruptcy and consumer credit issues, with an emphasis on home mortgage origination and servicing and more recently student loans. She has taught numerous programs in these areas, served as an expert witness, and testified before Congress on mortgage servicing problems. Ms. Twomey is a contributing author of several books published by the National Consumer Law Center, including Mortgage Servicing and Loan Modification. She is a conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference and also a contributing author to the Collier Bankruptcy Practice Guide.
Ms. Twomey has been a Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School, Harvard Law School and Boston College Law School. She is a former Clinical Instructor at the Hale and Dorr Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School where her practice focused, in part, on sustainable homeownership for low- and moderate-income homeowners. This practice area included foreclosure prevention and chapter 13 bankruptcy. Ms. Twomey earned her J.D. from Boston College Law School, summa cum laude and received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego. After law school, she served as a law clerk for Chief Justice Herbert P. Wilkins of the Massachusetts Supreme Court. Subsequently, Ms. Twomey received a two-year Skadden Fellowship to work at the Legal Services Center.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 56 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK STREAMLINED AND SPEEDY: DRIVING THE SUB V VEHICLE
Saturday, Oct 9, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 7-9 • 10:00 am – 11:00 am
AMY E. VULPIO
AMY E. VULPIO is a Partner at White and Williams LLP in Philadelphia, PA, where she focuses her practice on creditor and debtor representation, bankruptcy appellate work and bankruptcy-related commercial litigation. Counseling clients that range from small local businesses to large multinational corporations, Amy’s experience representing both debtors and creditors gives her the broad perspective needed to understand and anticipate the priorities and motivations of the party across the courtroom or conference table. Amy has represented debtors from the manufacturing, technology, and service industries in traditional Chapter 11 proceedings as well as Subchapter V cases and out-of-court workouts. On the creditor side, Amy’s clients include financial institutions and other secured lenders, insurance companies, lessors, contract counterparties, and trade creditors. Amy also represents creditors’ committees and Chapter 11 trustees.
In addition to her work with clients, Amy chairs the Steering Committee of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference and is immediate past President of the Board of Directors of the Consumer Bankruptcy Assistance Project (CBAP), a non-profit that provides pro bono bankruptcy representation to low-income Philadelphians. Amy also serves on the Board of Directors of the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) as Communications Co-Director.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 57 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK WHEN KEEPING SOMETHING MEANS DOING NOTHING: THE AUTOMATIC STAY AND RETENTION OF ESTATE PROPERTY Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Room 201 • 10 am & 12:15 pm
CARL N. WEDOFF
MR. WEDOFF is a member of the Restructuring & Bankruptcy and Bankruptcy Litigation practice groups in the New York office of Jenner & Block LLP. He has represented a range of clients in corporate, municipal, and international bankruptcy, restructuring, and commercial matters, and maintains an active pro bono practice focused on individual bankruptcy appeals and Freedom of Information Act litigation. Mr. Wedoff received his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School, B.A. from Macalester College, and LL.M. in Bankruptcy from St. John’s University School of Law. Before joining Jenner & Block, Mr. Wedoff was a law clerk to the Honorable Stuart M. Bernstein of the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Wedoff is a member of the New York Bar and the American Bankruptcy Institute. Mr. Wedoff lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife and daughter.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 58 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK AROUND THE WORLD IN 75 MINUTES — INTERNATIONAL JUDICIAL TRAINING IN A PANDEMIC
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | On-Line & in Grand Ballroom 1-4 • 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm
HON. MICHAEL G. WILLIAMSON
JUDGE MICHAEL G. WILLIAMSON was appointed on March 1, 2000 as a bankruptcy judge for the Tampa Division of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida —one of the largest districts in the United States with courthouses in Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, and Ft. Myers. From 2015-2019 he served as Chief Judge of the Middle District. Judge Williamson graduated from Duke University in 1973 and from Georgetown University Law Center in 1976. He began his bankruptcy practice in 1976 serving as a Chapter 7 panel trustee from 1977 to 1979, and thereafter principally representing parties in Chapter 11 corporate reorganizations. Before becoming a bankruptcy judge in 2000, he was managing partner of one of Florida’s oldest law firms, Maguire, Voorhis & Wells, P.A., until the firm’s merger with Holland & Knight in 1998. In 1993, Judge Williamson was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. He is also a member of the American Law Institute, an institution responsible for drafting the Restatements of the Law and various model codes used in the U.S. In addition to serving as a bankruptcy judge, Judge Williamson currently serves as Co- Author of West’s Bankruptcy Law Manual and is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Florida’s oldest law school, Stetson University College of Law, where he teaches bankruptcy law. He has also worked extensively in the area of commercial law development conducting field assessments, recommendations for improvement of the World Bank Doing Business Indicators, and educational programs in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Bahrain, Georgia, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Russia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 59 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK STRUCTURED PAYMENT OF CH. 7 LEGAL FEES
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 | Room 203 • 10 am & 12:15 pm
HON. TRACEY N. WISE
TRACEY N. WISE was appointed United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky on March 31, 2010. She served as Chief Judge from October 1, 2011 until September 30, 2019.
Judge Wise was appointed to the Sixth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel in 2016, and was elevated to Chief Judge on October 1, 2019.
Judge Wise is a 1980 graduate of Indiana University (B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude) and a 1983 graduate of the Indiana University School of Law (J.D., Order of the Coif) where she served as a Note Editor for the Indiana Law Journal (1982-1983).
Judge Wise is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy (12th Class - 2001), a member of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and has served as the bankruptcy representative on various U.S. District Court (EDKY) and Sixth Circuit Committees.
Prior to her appointment, Judge Wise practiced in the areas of bankruptcy and debt restructuring, served on numerous court-appointed committees, chaired the Bankruptcy Sections of the Fayette County and Kentucky Bar Associations, served as a Trustee of the Kentucky Bar Association Client’s Security Fund, and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Lexington Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Breast Cancer Foundation.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 60 NCBJOctober 6-9 2021 INDIANAPOLIS BACK ON TRACK
EVEN THE CIRCUITS CAN’T AGREE
Friday, Oct 8, 2021 | Grand Ballroom 5-6 • 8:45 am – 9:45 am
KEITH H. WOFFORD
KEITH H. WOFFORD is a partner in the Firm's Financial Restructuring and Insolvency Practice and is based in the New York office. He focuses on bankruptcy and creditors' rights. Keith primarily acts on behalf of investment funds specializing in distressed debt, and potential acquirers of assets of distressed companies. He regularly represents ad hoc committees of secured and unsecured creditors in Chapter 11 cases and in out-of-court workouts, and he also represents official committees in Chapter 11 cases. Keith has been particularly active with respect to inter- creditor disputes, credit-bidding transactions and other acquisitions of company control through debt positions. In addition, he regularly represents clients in bankruptcy courts and other venues. Keith was named a Fellow by the American College of Bankruptcy in 2019. He maintains an active pro bono practice and serves and supports numerous charitable and public interest organizations. He is on the Board of Trustees of The New York Historical Society and ran for New York State Attorney General in 2018.
Accelerating the Insolvency Conversation | Speaker Bios | Page 61