hon. frank bailey · certification board), registered family law mediator, trained family law...

Hon. Frank Bailey U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of MA

Boston, MA

Frank J. Bailey was appointed on January 30, 2009 and he

served as Chief Judge from December 2010 until December

2015. His chambers are in Boston and he is assigned to the

Eastern Division. He was born in Kingston, New York, received

his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University, School

of Foreign Service (BSFS) in 1977 and his JD from Suffolk

University School of Law (Boston) in 1980. He also serves on the

First Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. Judge Bailey taught

legal writing and research at Boston University School of

Law from 1981 to 1993. In addition, he currently teaches the

course in Business Bankruptcy at Suffolk University School of Law.

Judge Bailey served as judicial law clerk to the Honorable

Herbert P. Wilkins of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

in 1980-81. He was an associate at the Boston office of Sullivan

& Worcester LLP where he practiced in the litigation and

corporate restructuring departments. He spent the twenty-two

years as a partner at the firm of Sherin and Lodgen LLP where

he served as the Chairman of the Litigation Department and as

a member of the firm’s management committee. His practice

focused on complex business litigation and business

bankruptcy. He often represented clients in the medical device,

pharmaceutical and high technology businesses.

Judge Bailey was appointed by the First Circuit to oversee the

financial restructuring of the City of Central Falls, Rhode Island,

a rare Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy case. The City of

Central Falls filed a contested plan of readjustment that was

confirmed in a little more than a year from filing.

Judge Bailey serves on the Board of Governors of the National

Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and was the chair of the

National Conference of Federal Trial Judges of the American

Bar Association ion 2016-17. In addition, he has served on the

Standing Committee on Diversity in the American Judiciary of

the Judicial Division of the American Bar Association.

Speaker

(Almost) Everything You

Wanted to Know About

Planning and

Conducting an

Evidentiary Hearing in

Bankruptcy Court

Wednesday, Oct 30

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Location: Capitol

Leslie Berkoff Morritt Hock & Hamroff LLP

New York, NY

Leslie A. Berkoff is a Partner with the firm where she serves as Co-

Chair of the firm's Litigation and Bankruptcy Practice Group, as

well as Co-Chair of the firm's Alternative Dispute Resolution Group.

Ms. Berkoff concentrates her practice in the area of bankruptcy

and restructuring litigation and corporate workouts both

nationally and locally. Ms. Berkoff is a contributing editor for the

ABA publication Business Law Today. In addition, Ms. Berkoff

serves on the Board of Editors of Pratt's Journal of Bankruptcy Law.

Prior to joining Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP, Ms. Berkoff served as a

law clerk to the Honorable Jerome Feller, United States

Bankruptcy Judge in the Eastern District of New York, from 1991 to

1993 and to the Honorable Allyne R. Ross, Federal Magistrate

Judge in the Eastern District of New York, from 1990 to 1991.

Ms. Berkoff speaks and publishes extensively and is a recognized

leader in her field.

Program Chair



Planning and

Conducting an


Bankruptcy Court

Wednesday, Oct 30

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Location: Capitol

Martin Bienenstock Proskauer

New York, NY

Martin Bienenstock is chair of the Firm's Business Solutions,

Governance, Restructuring & Bankruptcy Group. Martin provides

clients with multidisciplinary solutions that draw on his combined

experience in restructuring, corporate governance,

reorganization, litigation, Dodd-Frank, and Sarbanes-Oxley.

Martin’s restructuring practice focuses on restructuring troubled

companies to benefit their investors or creditors. Martin’s

governance practice is targeted at keeping healthy companies

healthy and growing, and saving distressed companies, while

protecting directors and officers with cutting edge best practices.

Martin is repeatedly retained to solve momentous problems.

General Motors retained him to formulate the section 363 strategy

that he presented to the U.S. Auto Task Force, which deployed it

to save General Motors and Chrysler. He represented Enron in its

chapter 11 case that has now paid multiple creditors in full.

Recently, Martin developed the Colombian-U.S.-Canadian

reorganization plan for Pacific Exploration, supported by its bank

creditors and bond creditors. Martin routinely provides legal and

strategic advice to directors, businesses, investors and creditors,

advising on complex restructurings, acquisitions, trials and

appeals. Currently, Martin represents the statutory creditors’

committee representing unsecured claimholders in the Caesars

chapter 11 case. He handled the Owens Corning appeal,

reversing substantive consolidation to increase the value of his

bank clients' claims against Owens Corning from $600 million to

more than $2.2 billion. He charted the takeover of troubled

Finova for a joint venture between Berkshire Hathaway and

Leucadia National Corp and achieved the successful

reorganizations of companies such as Enron and Republic

Engineered Products over multiple objections. Martin developed

successful reorganizations for Capmark and AMBAC. He also

prepared the initial draft of what became Ireland’s

reorganization statute. Martin is currently representing, among

other entities, the Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico

and the statutory creditors' committee of SIGA Technologies.

For the last nine years, The National Law Journal listed Martin as

one of the "100 Most Influential Lawyers in America." He has been

listed at the top of his field by other leading legal publications

and organizations, including Turnarounds & Workouts, The

International Who's Who of Business Lawyers and Euromoney

Legal Media Group's "The Best of the Best."

Program

Chair/Moderator

Current Developments

Friday, Nov 1

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM

Location: Archives

Andrew Bloch Cross, Pennamped, Woolsey, & Glazier

Carmel, IN

Andrew R. Bloch is a Certified Family Law Specialist (Family Law

Certification Board), Registered Family Law Mediator, Trained

Family Law Arbitrator, Trained Guardian Ad Litem, and Trained in

Collaborative Family Law (CIACP). He received his B.S.B.A. in

Information Systems from Xavier University and his J.D. from Robert McKinney School of Law, where he was also awarded the

Norman Lefstein Award of Excellence. Since graduating from law

school, Drew has been named a "Super Lawyer" in 2019 as well as

a “Rising Star” in the area of Family Law in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013,

2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018, as published in Indianapolis

Monthly. He is a member of the: Hamilton County Bar Association

(Family Law Local Rules Committee); Indianapolis Bar Association

(Family Law Executive Committee); Indiana State Bar Association

(Family Law Executive Committee); and the American Bar

Association (Chair of the Bankruptcy Committee- Family Law

Section). He previously served as a member of the Muncie Bar

Association (Executive Committee) and was a member of the

Ratliff-Cox Inns of Court.

Drew also serves on the Board of the Indiana Continuing Legal

Education Forum (ICLEF). Drew is a sought-after presenter for a

number of bar associations and a featured

speaker on a variety Family Law topics across the state of

Indiana. As a Partner at Cross, Pennamped, Woolsey & Glazier,

P.C., he devotes 100% of his practice to family law. Before joining

Cross, Pennamped, Woolsey & Glazier, P.C.

Drew served as a Commissioner in the Marion Circuit Court –

Paternity Division, hearing custody, visitation, and child support

cases. In addition to his service on the Board of ICLEF, Drew serves

as the Indianapolis Alumni Chapter President for Xavier University

and is a member of the Lew Hirt Society. He also is Board Member

at the Indianapolis Academy of Excellence, where he serves on

the Governance Committee.

Speaker

When Worlds Collide:

How to Represent the Pro

Bono Client When

Bankruptcy is Only Part of

the Solution

Wednesday, Oct 30

3:45 PM – 5:15 PM

Location: Archives

Ogonna Brown Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie

Las Vegas, NV

Ogonna Brown is a partner in the firm's Bankruptcy and

Litigation practice group, focusing her practice on creditors’

rights, secured party representation, trustee and receivership

matters and commercial litigation. Since 2002, after she

completed her clerkship for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals,

Ogonna has been involved as counsel in complex business

and bankruptcy disputes, and she often appears in both state

and bankruptcy court for the same case when one of the

party’s seeks bankruptcy relief, resulting in efficiency for her

clients. Ogonna’s bankruptcy practice includes motions to

terminate the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362,

defending claim objections, oppositions to plans of

reorganization, competing plans, trustee representation in

Chapter 11 matters, motions to protect her clients’ cash

collateral, and objecting to the dischargeability of creditor’s

debts under 11 U.S.C. § 523 and various other adversary

matters.

Ogonna also enjoys community outreach through her pro

bono efforts, and likewise serves on the Bankruptcy local rules

committee, and recently served on the Merit Screening

Committee for Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Nevada in

2019.

Speaker


Friday, Nov 1

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM

Location: Archives

Hon. Kevin J. Carey United States Bankruptcy Court

Wilmington, DE

Judge Carey was first appointed to the Bankruptcy Court for the

Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 2001, and, since 2005, has

served on the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (as

chief judge from 2008-2011). Judge Carey is on the Executive

Committee of the Board of the American Bankruptcy Institute

and serves as Vice President of Membership. He is a past Global

Chairman of the Turnaround Management Association and is an

honorary member of the Turnaround, Restructuring and

Distressed Investing Hall of Fame. Judge Carey is a Fellow of the

American College of Bankruptcy. He is a member of the

National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and also serves as

an associate editor for the American Bankruptcy Law Journal. He

is the Third Circuit representative on the Administrative Office’s

Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Group and a member of the Third

Circuit Judicial Council’s Facilities and Security Committee. He is

a contributing author to Collier on Bankruptcy and Collier Forms

Manual. Judge Carey is also a part-time adjunct professor in the

LL.M. in Bankruptcy program at St. John’s University School of

Law in New York City, New York and at Temple University’s

Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He began

his legal career in 1979 as law clerk to Bankruptcy Judge Thomas

M. Twardowski, and then served as Clerk of Court of the

Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Judge

Carey received his J.D. in 1979 from the Villanova University

School of Law and his B.A. in 1976 from The Pennsylvania State

University.

Speaker

Shopping for Debt: Buyer

Beware of Good Deals

Friday, Nov 1

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Location: Archives

Sidney Cherubin Brooklyn Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project

Brooklyn, NY

Sidney Cherubin, Esq., is the Director of Legal Services of the

Brooklyn Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project. He is also

an Adjunct Professor at Brooklyn Law School where he teaches

the NY Civil Consumer Law Clinic. He was an Attorney, Brooklyn

Site Director and Acting Legal Director while employed at The

Family Center from August 2002 until August 2007 where he

gained a great deal of experience representing families

affected by a terminal illness with regard to all aspects of

planning for the future well-being of the children in the families.

These services include drafting guardianship and standby

guardianship papers and representing parents and caregivers

in court; executing wills, powers of attorney, health care proxies,

living wills, uncontested divorces and Article 17A Guardianships.

As the Director of Legal Services of the VLP, Sidney supervises

the Family Law, Bankruptcy, Guardianship, Matrimonial,

Foreclosure and Consumer Debt practice. Sidney oversees and

supervises the Kings County Civil Court CLARO and Volunteer

Lawyers for the Day Projects. He is an active member of the

Civil Law Advice and Referral Office (CLARO) Council, a co-

chair of Brooklyn Bar Association Pro Bono Committee and

Special Events Committee and Brooklyn Bar Association

Judiciary Committee, member of the New York City Bar

Association Civil Court Committee.

Speaker



Bono Client When


the Solution

Wednesday, Oct 30

3:45 PM – 5:15 PM

Location: Archives

Michael R. Enright Robinson & Cole

Hartford, CT

Mike Enright co-chairs Robinson & Cole LLP’s Bankruptcy and

Creditors’ Rights Team. For over 35 years, he has represented

debtors, committees, creditors, and other interested parties in

the business bankruptcy and workout process and in

bankruptcy litigation. In the insolvency area, his work also

includes preference, fraudulent transfer, and other bankruptcy

litigation analysis and defense. Mr. Enright has extensive

experience guiding clients through bankruptcy filings, including

reorganization and liquidation.

Mr. Enright recently represented a global fuel oil supplier in its

Chapter 11 case, including negotiation and confirmation of its

plans, which included providing for a substantial distribution to

creditors. Mr. Enright also routinely represents secured creditors,

creditors’ committees, and other creditors. He recently assisted

a major global corporation in safeguarding its financial interests

following a customer’s Chapter 11 filing.

Mr. Enright participates as a member of the American Bar

Association's (ABA) Business Bankruptcy Committee, speaking

annually on current developments in bankruptcy for the Task

Force on Current Developments. He writes frequently on

bankruptcy related topics, including for practice guides and

legal treatises.

Mr. Enright has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America© in

the areas of Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law /

Insolvency and Reorganization Law since 2006 and Litigation -

Bankruptcy since 2011. He has been selected to the

Connecticut Super Lawyers list since 2006.

A resident of Connecticut since 1992, Mike previously practiced

for over ten years in Chicago, his hometown. He is licensed to

practice law in Connecticut, New York and Illinois. His J.D. is

from Loyola in Chicago (1981), and his B.A. degree is from the

University of Illinois (1978).

Last but not least, he is a middle-of-the-pack distance runner,

and will run (and hopefully complete, but not win) the NYC

Marathon on November 3, which is his 63rd birthday.

Speaker/Program

Materials Coordinator


Friday, Oct 31

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM

Location: Archives

Leah Fiorenza McNeill Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP

Atlanta, GA

Leah Fiorenza McNeill is an associate in the firm’s Restructuring

& Insolvency Practice Group. Her restructuring and bankruptcy

experience includes representation of distressed companies,

Chapter 11 liquidating trustees, creditors’ committees, DIP

Lenders, stalking horse bidders, secured and unsecured

creditors. Leah's experience includes litigation and appeals in

bankruptcy and insolvency matters in federal and state courts

across the East Coast, with particular experience in Delaware,

Florida, Georgia, and Texas. She has participated in large, multi-

party mediations and has led commercial arbitration

proceedings. On the transactional side of her Restructuring

practice, she has substantial experience in complex out-of-

court workouts and liquidations.

Leah also represents lenders, financial institutions, and

businesses in complex finance disputes, including loan defaults,

real estate transactions, and breach of contract claims. She is

experienced in all stages of litigation, including motions

practice, mediation, discovery, trial preparation, appellate

briefing, and oral argument.

Leah has particular expertise in the Food and Beverage

industry, having been involved in several transactions and

litigation matters for restaurants, food distributors, and other

industry players. Leah also has a wealth of experience in the

healthcare industry, and in particular dealing with distressed

regional hospitals, rural hospitals, and skilled nursing facilities.

She is also a contributing editor to Norton’s Bankruptcy Law and

Practice, the leading treatise in her field.

Program Materials

Coordinator



Friday, Nov 1

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Location: Archives

Elliot Ganz Loan Syndications & Trading Association

New York, NY

Elliot Ganz is the General Counsel and Chief of Staff of the

LSTA. In that capacity he manages all aspects of the LSTA’s

legal affairs, manages its staff, coordinates its strategic

initiatives, and co-heads its Public Policy Group. Mr. Ganz began his long association with loan trading and

securitization at Citibank, N.A., where, from 1986 through

1991, he supervised the commercial and real estate Loan

Syndications and Trading units of the Investment Bank. He

also supervised the securitization and the par and distressed

loan trading businesses at ING Barings Securities from 1991

through 1996, and the entire U.S. loan and securitization

platforms at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from 1996

until he joined the LSTA, in May 2005.

Mr. Ganz began his legal career in 1980 as an associate at

the law firm of Lord Day & Lord where he focused on film and

media finance and moved to Chase Manhattan Bank in 1983

where he concentrated on secured lending.

Mr. Ganz received his J.D. in 1980 from the New York University

School of Law where he served as Research Editor of the

Annual Survey of American Law.

Mr. Ganz was the first chairman of the Legal Advisory

Committee of the LSTA and has served as a member of its

board of directors. He served as a member of the Steering

Committee of the Joint Market Practices Forum on Credit

Derivatives that produced the “Statement of Principles and

Recommendations Regarding the Handling of Material

Nonpublic Information by Credit Market Participants” and was

the principal draftsman of the LSTA’s “Statement of Principles

for the Use, Communication and Distribution of Confidential

Information in the Loan Market.” Mr. Ganz was elected as a

Fellow of the American College of Commercial Finance

Lawyers in April 2011, was admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court

bar in April 2012 and served from 2012 through 2014 as a

member of the Advisory Committee on Financing Chapter 11

of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission to Study

the Reform of Chapter 11.

Speaker



Friday, Nov 1

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Location: Archives

Craig Goldblatt WilmerHale

Washington, DC

Craig Goldblatt is an experienced bankruptcy litigator, with a

focus on complex bankruptcy disputes and bankruptcy

appeals. The core of his practice has been protecting the

interests of secured creditors, financial institutions and

insurance companies in bankruptcy-related disputes, though

he has also represented leading technology, transportation

and communications industry clients in bankruptcy matters. Mr.

Goldblatt joined the firm in 1994. Mr. Goldblatt represents parties in all stages of bankruptcy

proceedings. The core of his practice involves bankruptcy and

insolvency related trial-level matters and appeals—particularly

the representation of financial institutions and other

commercial creditors in bankruptcy litigation. He has argued

three bankruptcy cases before the Supreme Court of the

United States, and one before the en banc Third Circuit. He

has testified before a congressional committee on issues of

bankruptcy law and policy. He has also developed a

particular expertise on consumer bankruptcy matters,

representing several major mortgage servicers, holders of

credit card and other unsecured debt, and bankruptcy

trustees in a variety of regulatory investigations, bankruptcy

disputes and appeals.

Outside of his bankruptcy practice, Mr. Goldblatt participated

in WilmerHale's representation of the University of Michigan,

from the district court to the Supreme Court, in Grutter v.

Bollinger, 539 US 306 (2003). The Supreme Court's decision in

that case held that institutions of higher education may

consider race as a factor in admissions decisions. He has also

represented an array of pro bono clients in civil rights, criminal

and constitutional litigation.

Mr. Goldblatt is a conferee of the National Bankruptcy

Conference and is the chair of the ABA Business Bankruptcy

Committee's Subcommittee on Bankruptcy Litigation. He

previously served as Chair of the Subcommittees on

Bankruptcy Appeals and on Environmental and Mass Tort

Claims. He is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy,

and chairs the College's Fourth Circuit Education

Committee. He has taught as an adjunct professor at the

Georgetown University Law Center. He is a regular speaker at

ABA, ABI and other conferences on bankruptcy matters. Mr.

Goldblatt also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Lawyers'

Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Program Co-

Chair/Moderator



Friday, Nov 1

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Location: Archives

M. Ruthie Hagan Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC

Memphis, TN

M. Ruthie Hagan works in the Bankruptcy and Commercial

Restructuring group of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell &

Berkowitz, P.C. in its Memphis, Tennessee office.

Ms. Hagan primarily handles sophisticated business workouts,

and complex commercial bankruptcy. She has represented

debtors, creditors, trustees, unsecured creditors committee, and

equity holders in a variety of proceedings in bankruptcy court,

as well as complex transactional work in the context of

commercial restructurings and workouts. Ms. Hagan has

represented more than a dozen healthcare debtors in complex

bankruptcy cases, but the majority of her practice has been

dedicated to representation of secured and unsecured

commercial creditors in a variety of matters, including

liquidating and reorganizing Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases,

section 363 sale issues, cash collateral issues, lien priority and

avoidance actions, preference actions, rejection/assumption of

executory contracts, stay relief actions, discharge and

dischargeability actions, asset recovery and disposition,

contested confirmation hearings, adversary proceedings,

bankruptcy appeals to district court and BAP, as well as

representation of secured creditor in single asset bankruptcy

proceeding.

Ms. Hagan graduated cum laude from the University of

Arkansas School of Law where she served as Managing Editor of

the Arkansas Law Review and was the recipient of the

American Bankruptcy Institute Medal of Excellence. She has a

master's degree in Higher Education (University of Arkansas) and

a BS in Chemistry (University of Kansas).

She served as Co-Chair of the Bankruptcy Section of Memphis

Bar Association, Executive Council Member of the Tennessee

Bar Association Bankruptcy Section, Director of the Mid-South

Commercial Law Institute, member of the American Bankruptcy

Institute, and has been named to Mid-South Rising Stars in

Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights for several years.

Speaker



Friday, Nov 1

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Location: Archives

Monique Hayes Goldstein & McClintock

Miami, FL

Monique D. Hayes practices in the areas of business

transactions, commercial litigation, creditors rights and

corporate restructuring. She has extensive experience

advising fiduciaries, corporate and non-profit board

members, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. Monique has

successfully represented clients in a broad range of

bankruptcy matters including claim prosecution, asset sales

and acquisitions; finance transactions, bankruptcy plan

confirmations, avoidance actions, directors and officers

claim litigation, Ponzi scheme and other fraud litigation. She

also has substantial experience representing franchisors in

franchisee bankruptcy proceedings. In the innovation and

technology sector Monique has represented start-ups,

entrepreneurs, and founders in corporate formations and

restructuring, due diligence, and related transactional

matters.

Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Hayes served as law

clerk to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurel Myerson Isicoff and as

a consumer bankruptcy attorney for Legal Services of

Greater Miami, Inc. She was an attorney at the law firm

Genovese, Joblove & Battista, P.A. before moving on to join

Goldstein & McClintock, LLLP.

Speaker


Friday, Nov 1

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM

Location: Archives

Whitman L. Holt Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP

Los Angeles, CA

Whitman L. Holt is a partner of Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff &

Stern LLP in Los Angeles, California, and has represented

clients across the bankruptcy spectrum. Mr. Holt’s active

bankruptcy-related appellate practice includes briefing

multiple matters before the Supreme Court of the United

States, most recently as counsel of record for the National

Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys and the

National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center in Midland

Funding, LLC v. Johnson. Mr. Holt is the co-author (with

Kenneth N. Klee) of Bankruptcy and the Supreme Court:

1801-2014 (West Academic 2015) and of a periodic series of

commentaries about bankruptcy and the Supreme Court for

the LexisNexis Emerging Issues Analysis project. Mr. Holt also is

a contributing author to the Collier bankruptcy treatise. In

2015, Mr. Holt was elected as 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. In 2017, Mr. Holt

was included in the American Bankruptcy Institute’s

inaugural list of “40 Under 40” bankruptcy, insolvency, and

restructuring professionals from around the world. Mr. Holt is

a graduate of Bates College and Harvard Law School.

Speaker



Friday, Nov 1

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Location: Archives

Hon. Mary Jo Heston United States Bankruptcy Court for Western Dist. of WA.

Tacoma, WA

Mary Jo Heston currently is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for

the Western District of Washington. She previously was a

shareholder in the Seattle and Portland Offices of Lane Powell

PC where her practice involved commercial litigation and

transactional matters with an emphasis on business

reorganizations, Canadian/US cross-border cases and the

acquisition of troubled businesses. Between 1988 and 1993 Ms.

Heston served as the first Region 18 United States Trustee,

overseeing bankruptcy cases and fiduciaries in Washington,

Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and Montana. She also is a former law

clerk to a bankruptcy judge and a district judge as well as a

former estate administrator of the federal bankruptcy court

where she now sits as Bankruptcy Judge. Judge Heston taught

bankruptcy courses for over twenty years at both Seattle

University School of Law and University of Washington Law

School. She is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy

and an active participant in both professional organizations and

community service organizations currently serving or having

served in leadership/board positions for the American

Bankruptcy Institute, INSOL International, the Washington State

Bar Association - Debtor Creditor Section, the Turnaround

Management Association and CENTS (the local pro

bono/financial education organization) Judge Heston is a

frequent international, national and regional speaker and

author on topics including international insolvency issues,

creditors’ rights issues, commercial and consumer insolvency

issues and best practices for insolvency judges.

Speaker

Chapter 11 Trustees and

Chief Financial Officers,

Can They Peacefully

Exist?

Thursday, Oct 31

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Liberty

Henry Kevane Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP

San Francisco, CA

Henry Kevane has represented both debtors and creditors in

bankruptcy matters nationwide for over thirty years. He is the

managing partner of the San Francisco office of Pachulski

Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP. Mr. Kevane has worked with clients

from a wide variety of industries, including the debtors in the

Chapter 11 cases of Deltagen, Yipes Communications and

Worlds of Wonder, and the creditors’ committees in the

Chapter 11 cases of SeraCare Life Sciences, America West

Airlines and Guy F. Atkinson Company. He has also

participated in several Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy

cases, including the Mendocino Coast Health Care District,

County of Orange, Adair County Hospital District (Kentucky),

West Contra Costa Healthcare District and Palm Drive Health

Care District. Mr. Kevane has written and lectured on

numerous cross-border, intellectual property, federal asset

forfeiture and municipal restructuring topics. He is an author

of the book CHAPTER 9 BANKRUPTCY STRATEGIES published in

2011 by Thomson Reuters/Aspatore and also contributed to

the book DEBTOR-IN POSSESSION FINANCING: FUNDING A

CHAPTER 11 CASE published in 2012 by the American

Bankruptcy Institute. In 2015, he was inducted as a Fellow in

the American College of Bankruptcy. He is a past chair of

two committees of the State Bar of California, the Insolvency

Law Committee of the Business Law Section (1995-1999) and

the Committee on Federal Courts (1996-2001). Mr. Kevane is

a graduate of Brown University and Southwestern Law

School. He is a member of the Board of Directors and the

Treasurer of the Ocean Avenue Association, a California

public benefit corporation.

Program Chair

The Bankruptcy Slave

Trade: A Conversation

with Professor Rafael

Pardo

Thursday, Oct 31

3:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Mint

Gary Klausner Levene, Neale, Bender, Yoo & Brill, LLP

Los Angeles, CA

Gary Klausner joined LNBYB as a senior partner in May 2014,

from a senior shareholder position at Stutman, Treister & Glatt,

P.C. Mr. Klausner has exclusively practiced in the field of

corporate restructuring and bankruptcy since 1976. He

represents Chapter 11 debtors, secured and unsecured

creditors, creditors' committees, trustees and receivers,

licensors and franchisors, purchasers of assets out of

bankruptcy cases and parties involved in litigation and

appeals in connection with bankruptcy cases. He has

handled cases involving a broad range of businesses and

industries including real estate development, hospitality and

restaurants, aerospace, entertainment, retail, health care

and transportation. He also has expertise in Chapter 9 of the

Bankruptcy Code, which is designed for the reorganization of

municipalities. He currently co-chairs the American Bar

Association's Business Bankruptcy Committee’s Chapter 11

Sub-Committee. Mr. Klausner was recognized in 2012 as

“Bankruptcy Lawyer of the Year” by the Century City Bar

Association, and was elected a Fellow of the American

College of Bankruptcy in 2009. He is also a past president

and member of the Board of Governors of the Financial

Lawyers Conference and a past president and board

member of the Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum.

Program Co-Chair



Can They Peacefully

Exist?

Thursday, Oct 31

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Liberty

Mette H. Kurth Fox Rothschild LLP

Wilmington, DE

Mette represents clients facing complex, financially distressed

situations and bankruptcy issues, and is a certified mediator for

the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Named

one of the leading bankruptcy and restructuring attorneys in

California and Delaware by Chambers USA, Mette has a

reputation for providing unwavering and dogged

representation in sophisticated workouts, restructurings,

distressed M&A transactions and bankruptcy matters to help

ensure her clients attain the best possible outcome.

Clients hailing from a range of industries – retail, restaurant,

hospitality, agriculture, fitness, financial services, health care,

real estate, and media and entertainment – praise Mette’s skill

in the insolvency world, referring to her as “a pit bull in heels”

and a “rock-hard…negotiator.”

Utilizing her razor-sharp business acumen and a practical

approach to her clients’ financial challenges, Mette represents

debtors, creditors, investors, creditor committees and other

parties in all areas of reorganization, distressed sales and

acquisitions, liquidations and bankruptcy-related litigation.

With a high degree of emotional intelligence, Mette also

possesses a keen ability to adeptly and effectively manage

the most challenging people and situations that often arise in

bankruptcy. With this trait, she has gained a reputation for

successfully and smoothly handling confrontational

negotiations in her client representations.

Mette completed the American Bankruptcy Institute/St. John’s

University School of Law Bankruptcy Mediation Training

Program in 2018.

Program Co-

Chair/Moderator



Can They Peacefully

Exist?

Thursday, Oct 31

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Liberty

Corali Lopez-Castro Kozyak Tropin & Throckmartin LLP

Miami, FL

Corali Lopez-Castro has been a partner at Kozyak Tropin &

Throckmorton, LLP since 1998. She was Managing Partner of the

firm from 2011 through 2012. She concentrates her practice on

bankruptcy and commercial litigation matters. Cori’s practice

reflects her extensive experience and expertise with bankruptcy

reorganizations and liquidations, receiverships, debt

restructuring, and creditors’ rights. She has been involved with

the liquidation of four bank holding companies in bankruptcy

courts around the country and state court. Cori served on the

panel of Trustees for the Southern District of Florida between

1998 and 2002, during which she was responsible for the

liquidation of assets in bankruptcy cases filed in the United

States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida. She

has also been appointed a receiver in several cases.

In 2018, Cori was inducted into the International Academy of

Trial Lawyers (IATL). In 2014, Cori was inducted as a Fellow into

the 25th Class of the American College of Bankruptcy. The

College recognizes individuals for their professional excellence

and contributions to the field of restructuring and insolvency. In

2006, she was elected the second woman president of the

Cuban American Bar Association, the largest voluntary bar

association in Florida. Cori has devoted most of her career

promoting diversity in the legal profession.

Program Co-Chair



Friday, Nov 1

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Location: Archives

Robert Millner Dentons

Chicago, IL

Robert B. Millner is a senior counsel at Dentons U.S. LLP, where

he practices in bankruptcy and commercial litigation.

Among other things, he represents financial institutions and

insurance companies in significant bankruptcy litigation and

complex real estate matters. Robert has represented insurance carriers in most of the

major asbestos-related bankruptcies filed in the United States

in the last twenty years and in several Catholic Church

bankruptcies and has restructured a vast amount of

mortgage debt on behalf of lenders. Robert is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy,

where he chairs the International Committee. He also chairs

the Mass Tort Subcommittee of the Business Bankruptcy

Committee of the American Bar Association and is a former

chair of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Committee of the

Section of Litigation of the ABA. Robert is also a member of

the International Insolvency Institute. Robert is a frequent

lecturer at major seminars and is author of numerous articles

and papers on bankruptcy topics, including Insurance Issues

in Bankruptcy, a Collier Monograph, Lexis Nexis, 2014. Robert is a graduate of Wesleyan University (B.A.) and

University of Chicago Law School. He is a member of Phi Beta

Kappa and clerked for the late George C. Edwards of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Robert

has been ranked in Chambers USA since 2004, including 2017

(Bankruptcy/Restructuring - Illinois, Band 2), Robert is noted as

“highly regarded by clients and peers, who say: ‘He is one of

the most intelligent, far-seeing and academic attorneys I’ve

ever met. He’s a brilliant person.’”

Speaker


Friday, Nov 1

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM

Location: Archives

Rafael Pardo Emory University School of Law

Atlanta, GA

Rafael Pardo is the Robert T. Thompson Professor of Law at

Emory University. His research and teaching interests are in

bankruptcy and commercial law. Professor Pardo received his

BA in history from Yale College and his JD from New York

University School of Law, where he served as an executive

editor of the New York University Law Review and was a

recipient of the Judge John J. Galgay Fellowship in Bankruptcy

and Reorganization Law. He is an elected member of the

American Law Institute and has testified as a bankruptcy

expert before both houses of Congress. In 2015, he received

the Emory Williams Distinguished Teaching Award, the highest

university honor for teaching given by Emory University to a full-

time faculty member.

Speaker




Pardo

Thursday, Oct 31

3:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Mint

Larry Perkins SierraConstellation

Los Angeles, CA

Larry Perkins, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of

SierraConstellation Partners, has more 20 years of

management and advisory experience with companies

undergoing transition. Larry has enhanced business

performance for numerous companies on projects ranging

from interim management, profit improvement and working

capital management to and transaction execution. Prior to founding SCP, Larry was a senior managing director

and regional leader of a national consulting firm where he

was responsible client service delivery, business

development, staffing, and general management of the

firm’s western region. Larry joined the firm in 2010 when it

acquired El Molino Advisors, a company he founded in

January, 2007 and led as the CEO.

Mr. Perkins has served in a variety of senior level positions

including Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO), CEO, CFO,

Turnaround Advisor, Strategic Consultant, Investment Banker,

Financial Executive, and Crisis Manager to numerous middle

market companies and is particular skilled at assisting clients

through challenging situations.

Larry is frequent public speaker, and has been cited as an

expert on the topics of restructuring, corporate governance,

and M&A in publications including the Wall Street Journal,

the New York Times, CNN, CNBC, and the Washington Post.

Larry began his career in the strategic consulting group of

Arthur Andersen after graduating from the University of

Southern California Marshall School of Business. He is

currently on the board of several non-profits, and three

corporate boards, and is a member of the Young Presidents

Organization.

Speaker



Can They Peacefully

Exist?

Thursday, Oct 31

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Liberty

Clay Roberts White & Case LLP

Miami, FL

Clay B. Roberts is an associate in the Financial Restructuring

and Insolvency Practice of White & Case LLP. He has

experience in domestic and international restructuring

matters, representing debtors, creditors, and other parties in

interest, both in and out-of-court. Clay also has substantial

experience litigating insolvency-related disputes. Clay is the

Co-Chair for the Chapter 11 Subcommittee in the American

Bar Association's Business Law Section. He also frequently

writes articles on restructuring and bankruptcy issues. Prior to

joining White & Case, Clay served as law clerk to the

Honorable Laurel M. Isicoff, Chief Judge for the United States

Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Program Co-Chair



Can They Peacefully

Exist?

Thursday, Oct 31

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Liberty

Nan Roberts Eitel U.S. Department of Justice

Washington, DC

Nan Roberts Eitel joined the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees

as Associate General Counsel for Chapter 11 in July 2010.

Working with other members of the General Counsel’s

office, Ms. Eitel advises the program’s 90 field offices and 21

regions on complex chapter 11 issues and coordinates with

them and others in the Executive Office to develop and to

promote consistent positions on chapter 11 issues significant

to the program. In 2015, Nan received the Attorney General’s Award for

Outstanding Contributions by a New Employee, which

recognizes exceptional performance and notable

accomplishments toward the Department of Justice’s

mission by an employee with fewer than five years of

federal service. In 2018, the Attorney General recognized

Nan with a Distinguished Service Award, the Department’s

second highest honor for employee performance. Before joining the Executive Office, Ms. Eitel was a partner in

the Jones Walker law firm, where she practiced in the

bankruptcy and commercial litigation groups for 21 years

(16 in New Orleans and 5 in Washington, DC). Ms. Eitel

received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of

Law in 1989 and her B.A., cum laude, from Georgetown

University in 1984.

Speaker



Can They Peacefully

Exist?

Thursday, Oct 31

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Liberty

Grace Robson Markowitz Ringel Trusty & Hartog, PA

Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Grace E. Robson is a partner with the law firm of Markowitz

Ringel Trusty & Hartog, P.A. and resident of the firm’s Fort

Lauderdale office. She is a Board-Certified Business

Bankruptcy attorney with 20 years of experience

representing corporate debtors, trade and institutional

creditors, trustees, receivers, and creditors’ committees. She

focuses her practice on corporate reorganization and

bankruptcy, debtor-creditor relations and litigation. Grace

has been involved in all facets of reorganization-related

representations, including pre-filing consultation, filing

complex corporate bankruptcy cases, post-bankruptcy

financing, and asset purchase agreements. Representative

clients include public and privately-held corporations in the

technology, food-service, travel and hospitality industries.

Ms. Robson is a member of the American Bar Association, the

American Bankruptcy Institute, the Bankruptcy Bar Association

for the Southern District of Florida, the International Women’s

Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), and the

Business Law Section of the Florida Bar.

Ms. Robson was born in Queens, New York, received her law

degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (New

York City) in 1997 and her undergraduate degree, cum laude,

from the University at Albany in 1994.

Program Co-

Chair/Moderator/

Program Materials

Coordinator



Bono Client When


the Solution

Wednesday, Oct 30

3:45 PM – 5:15 PM

Location: Archives

Michael Sabella Baker & Hostetler LLP

New York, NY

Michael Sabella focuses his practice on the areas of

bankruptcy, restructuring, creditors’ rights and complex

commercial litigation. Drawing upon his clerkship and prior

legal experience, Michael combines his understanding of the

transactional and litigation sides of bankruptcy for a

thorough and proactive approach to all client situations. He

assists debtors, creditors and interested parties in a variety of

industries on all aspects of representation on bankruptcy

issues, including claims recovery, secured transactions, real

estate, international insolvency, and corporate insolvencies.

Michael also represents corporate officers and directors in

litigation that challenges their actions and roles in

connection with the management and operations of

businesses. Michael has spoken and written about a wide

range of bankruptcy issues, including case-specific appellate

decisions, preference issues and interpretations of

components of the Bankruptcy Code. Michael also devotes

time to assist pro bono clients with LGBTQ+ issues, asylum

applications, post-conviction relief, and amicus briefs for

different human rights and interest groups.

Program Materials

Coordinator




Pardo

Thursday, Oct 31

3:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Mint

David Skeel University of Pennsylvania Law School

Philadelphia, PA

David Skeel is the S. Samuel Arsht Professor of Corporate Law

at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He is author of

True Paradox: How Christianity Makes Sense of Our Complex

World (InterVarsity, 2014), The New Financial Deal:

Understanding the Dodd-Frank Act and its (Unintended)

Consequences (Wiley, 2011); Icarus in the Boardroom: The

Fundamental Flaws in Corporate America and Where They

Came From (Oxford, 2005); Debt's Dominion: A History of

Bankruptcy Law in America (Princeton, 2001); and numerous

articles on bankruptcy and financial distress, corporate law,

Christianity and law, law and literature, and other topics. His

commentary has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street

Journal, Weekly Standard, Books & Culture, and elsewhere. In

August, 2016, he was appointed by President Obama to serve

on the oversight board for Puerto Rico.

Moderator




Pardo

Thursday, Oct 31

3:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Mint

James H.M. Sprayregen Kirkland & Ellis, LLP

Chicago, IL

James H.M. Sprayregen is a Restructuring partner in the

Chicago and New York offices of Kirkland & Ellis and served on

Kirkland’s worldwide management committee from 2003-2006

and 2009-2019. Mr. Sprayregen is recognized as one of the

outstanding restructuring lawyers in the United States and

around the world and has led some of the most complex

Chapter 11 filings in recent history. He has extensive

experience representing major U.S. and international

companies in restructurings out of court and in court around

the globe and has handled matters for clients in industries as

varied as manufacturing, technology, transportation, energy,

media, retail, and real estate. He has extensive experience

advising boards of directors, and generally representing

debtors and creditors in complex workout, insolvency,

restructuring, and bankruptcy planning matters worldwide.

Chambers & Partners has praised Mr. Sprayregen for his

“outstanding reputation for complex Chapter 11 cases” noting

he is a “great clients’ lawyer, admired for his unflustered ways.”

Chambers said that clients it spoke to noted that he is

“probably the best restructuring lawyer in the world.” Most

recently, sources commented that Mr. Sprayregen is “a

premier restructuring expert” and “in a class of his own” with

“unbelievable technical capabilities” and “deep experience

he can draw upon.” He was praised for his ability “to take

extraordinarily complex issues and make them understandable

for boards and executive management teams.” Prior editions

of Chambers guides have described Mr. Sprayregen as “a

world-class practice leader,” “one of the deans of the Bar,”

and “a restructuring genius and one of the best strategists in

the country” noting that clients look to him as someone who is

“providing leadership and strategic guidance on the big

issues.” Sources commended Mr. Sprayregen for his

“incredible work ethic and skill” and for his ability to “bring a

mastery of the law to practical application.” Clients are

“impressed by his boundless energy to work on issues” and

note that Mr. Sprayregen is “very good in complicated and

difficult situations.”

Speaker



Can They Peacefully

Exist?

Thursday, Oct 31

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Liberty

Hon. Elizabeth Stong U.S. Bankruptcy Court, E.D.N.Y.

Brooklyn, NY

Judge Elizabeth S. Stong is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the

Eastern District of New York. Previously, she was a partner at

Willkie Farr & Gallagher, associate at Cravath, Swaine &

Moore, and law clerk to U. S. District Judge David Mazzone.

She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the

Council of the American Law Institute, and the ABA Center

for Innovation and holds leadership roles in the International

Insolvency Institute, Practising Law Institute, P.R.I.M.E. Finance,

American Bar Foundation, and ABA Business Law Section and

Judicial Division.

Her past positions include President of the Harvard Law

School Association, Chair of the NCBJ International Judicial

Relations Committee, and Chair of the New York City Bar ADR

Committee. She also served on the ABA’s Standing

Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, Standing

Committee on the American Judicial System, Standing

Committee on Continuing Legal Education, Commission on

Women in the Profession, and Commission on Homelessness

and Poverty.

Judge Stong has trained judges in Central Europe, North,

Central and West Africa, the Middle East, and the Arabian

Peninsula with the U.S. Commerce Department, the World

Bank, and INSOL. She has consulted with the Supreme Court

of China and People’s High Courts in Beijing and Guangzhou,

the Supreme Judicial Council in Bahrain, and led judicial

workshops in Cambodia, Argentina, Brazil and Chile. She

received the ABA Glass Cutter Award, the NYIC Hon. Cecelia

Goetz Award, the Brooklyn Bar Association’s Freda Nisnewitz

Award for Pro Bono Service, and the MFY Legal Services

Scales of Justice Award. Judge Stong is an adjunct professor

at Brooklyn Law School and St. John’s University School of

Law. She received her A.B. magna cum laude and her J.D.

from Harvard University.

Program Co-

Chair/Speaker



Bono Client When


the Solution

Wednesday, Oct 30

3:45 PM – 5:15 PM

Location: Archives

Clare Thomas New York Law School

New York, NY

Claire R. Thomas is an attorney, advocate, and professor

interested in migration, statelessness, human rights, and

empowerment for women and girls facing poverty and

gender-based violence. She graduated from the University of

Chicago and also studied at the Université de Paris X,

Nanterre. She holds a graduate degree from New York

University’s Center for Global Affairs, a law degree from New

York Law School, and was a Visiting Scholar at The New

School’s Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility. She is an

Adjunct Professor of Law at New York Law School, where she

directs the Asylum Clinic, a year-long immigration law clinic

for adults and children facing removal from the United

States, as well as teaches the introductory immigration law

course. Ms. Thomas provides legal assistance for

naturalization applicants through bi-monthly immigration

clinics with CUNY Citizenship Now! and supervises two

attorneys as a consultant with The Door’s Legal Services

Center. In addition, Ms. Thomas volunteers assisting refugee

mothers and children with the CARA Pro Bono Project in

Dilley, Texas and asylum-seekers with Al Otro Lado in Tijuana,

Mexico.

Ms. Thomas is a member of the Immigration & Nationality

Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of

New York. Her writings have appeared in various law journals

and she is frequent Op-Ed contributor for news outlets. She

was an opinion columnist for Anthropology News, a

publication of the American Anthropological Association.

She speaks French fluently and is learning Spanish.

Speaker



Bono Client When


the Solution

Wednesday, Oct 30

3:45 PM – 5:15 PM

Location: Archives

Tamara Van Heel Agentis PLLC

Miami, FL

Tamara Van Heel is an associate at Agentis PLLC in Miami,

Florida and is a member of the firm’s restructuring and

insolvency practice group. Ms. Van Heel concentrates her

practice in the areas of bankruptcy, restructuring, and

insolvency, and has represented creditors, committees,

debtors, trustees, and purchasers of assets in a variety of

matters both in and out of court.

Prior to joining Agentis, Ms. Van Heel worked in a large

international law firm representing creditors, debtors,

committees, and purchasers in complex corporate Chapter

11 bankruptcy proceedings in Delaware, New York, and

New Jersey.

Moderator/Program

Materials Coordinator



Planning and

Conducting an


Bankruptcy Court

Wednesday, Oct 30

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Location: Capitol

Sharon Weiss Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP

Los Angeles, California

Sharon Weiss brings an exceptional breadth of local, state,

and national level bankruptcy community ties to her

insolvency practice. Through these substantive relationships,

including those with co-counsel, adversaries, and clients, Ms.

Weiss has attained a base of experience from which she

serves as a true client advocate. She offers her clients the

personal attention and warmth of her small firm background

combined with the added benefits of the firm’s wide array of

department resources.

Ms. Weiss has extensive experience in a wide area of

insolvency matters from various perspectives, including

representation of creditors, individual and corporate debtors,

trustees, franchisors, and creditors’ committees. She has

served as lead trial counsel in bankruptcy and commercial

litigation, including alternative dispute resolution, and has

considerable experience in handling fraud and Ponzi

scheme litigation and bankruptcy appeals, which have

resulted in published Ninth Circuit opinions. Her clients

include parties engaged in banking, real estate, consumer

electronics, healthcare, restaurant, garment, entertainment,

and retail sales industries. Ms. Weiss has served as lead

counsel in out-of-court workouts and in the bankruptcy

courts in cases involving such varied issues as disputed asset

sales, financing, secured creditor rights, the avoiding powers,

executory contracts, pension plans, claims priority, plan

confirmation, surcharges, and the court’s inherent powers.

Ms. Weiss was recognized as one of the “Top Women

Lawyers” in California by the Daily Journal in 2013 and as a

notable practitioner in Chambers USA since 2012 in the

California bankruptcy and restructuring practice area. She

frequently speaks on panels regarding insolvency-related

topics. Ms. Weiss has organized dozens of programs and

panels and delivered presentations to industry groups such

as the California Society of CPAs and The Alternative Board.

She is also invited annually to speak to the Women in the Law

Seminar Class at Southwestern University School of Law in Los

Angeles, California.

Speaker



Planning and

Conducting an


Bankruptcy Court

Wednesday, Oct 30

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Location: Capitol

Program Co-chair



Friday, Nov 1

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Location: Archives

hon. frank bailey · certification board), registered family law mediator, trained family law...

Documents