Agenda

Thomas S. Kessler is an associate with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in its New York office, where his practice focuses on restructuring and other complex civil litigation. He has represented a wide variety of clients, including debtors and creditors in bankruptcy proceedings, and parties in restructuring-related suits, contractual disputes and securities litigation. He joined the firm in 2013. Mr. Kessler’s areas of expertise include banking and financial institutions, bankruptcy and restructuring, intellectual property, litigation and arbitration, securities, and M&A litigation. He was awarded the 2022 Community Excellence Award from the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York. Mr. Kessler received hisB.A. magna cum laude in 2010 from the University of Akron and his J.D. in 2013 from Columbia LawSchool, where he was a James Kent Scholar.

Hon. Daniel P. Collins is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Arizona in Phoenix, appointed on Jan. 18, 2013. He served as chief judge from 2014-18 and is presently a conflicts judge in the Districts of Guam, Hawaii and Southern California. Previously, Judge Collins was a shareholder with the Collins, May, Potenza, Baran & Gillespie, P.C. in Phoenix, practicing primarily in the areas of bankruptcy, commercial litigation and commercial transactions. He is a past president of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, served on ABI’s Board of Directors, is on the board of the Phoenix Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, is a member of the University of Arizona Law School’s Board of Visitors, and serves as an American Bar Association Business Court representative. He also is a founding member of the Arizona Bankruptcy American Inn of Court. Judge Collins received both his B.S. in finance and accounting in 1980 and his J.D. in 1983 from the University of Arizona.

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

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

Hon. Judith K. Fitzgerald is a shareholder with Tucker Arensberg, P.C. in Pittsburgh and formerly a member of its board of directors. She served as President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, sat on the ABI Board and is part of the education and other committees of several professional associations. She has a trial background and frequently served as a settlement judge and mediator. Judge Fitzgerald retired from her position as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania after more than 25 years on the bench, having presided over matters in the Western District of Pennsylvania (where she was chief judge for 5 years) as well as in the District of Delaware (20 years), the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (9 years). During her tenure as a bankruptcy judge, Judge Fitzgerald presided over many significant corporate cases and adjudicated more mass tort bankruptcies than any other bankruptcy judge in the country. Since joining Tucker Arensberg in 2013, she has served as a mediator and arbitrator in bankruptcy, consumer and commercial transaction-related proceedings. Judge Fitzgerald has been retained as an expert witness and consultant in cases throughout the country involving bankruptcy issues, insurance and reinsurance issues, fee disputes, bankruptcy-related malpractice and professional responsibility matters, asbestos trust issues, and various commercial and contract disputes. She has represented both debtors and creditors in bankruptcy cases and works with clients on complex bankruptcy, insolvency and commercial issues. She participates in educational programs for a variety of professional associations and designed the Around the Circuits ethics program for the American Inns of Court. Among her many recognitions including professionalism awards from the Bankruptcy Inn Alliance of the American Inns of Court and the Commercial Law League of America, in 2016 Judge Fitzgerald received an honorable mention by Law360 as one of The Ten Most Influential Bankruptcy Judges in History. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute and the American College of Bankruptcy, as well as other professional organizations. Before being appointed as a bankruptcy judge in 1987, Judge Fitzgerald was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Pennsylvania, with a concentration in complex frauds and criminal tax cases. She received her B.S. in psychology and B.A. in English writing from the University of Pittsburgh, and her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

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

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

Robert Fishman serves as Vice Chairman of Algon Group, bringing decades of experience as a business bankruptcy and insolvency attorney to his work in corporate restructurings and asset liquidations. Over the course of his legal career, he has represented a wide range of clients — including debtors in possession, trustees, creditors’ committees, secured creditors, litigants in bankruptcy proceedings, and buyers of distressed assets — giving him a comprehensive perspective on complex financial challenges. In his current role, Robert leverages this breadth of experience to guide businesses and stakeholders through reorganizations, workouts, and strategic asset dispositions. He is also recognized for his extensive work as a bankruptcy mediator and fee examiner, helping parties navigate disputes and ensure the integrity of bankruptcy processes.

Mark B. Joachim is a shareholder with Polsinelli in Washington, D.C., and has more than 25 years of experience representing clients on complex financing arrangements. In the restructuring arena, he regularly represents distressed businesses, boards of directors, special committees, independent directors, debtor-in-possession lenders, distressed-debt investors, official committees, ad hoc groups of creditors in connection with bankruptcy proceedings and out-of-court restructurings. Mr. Joachim has represented first- and second-lien senior lenders, mezzanine investors, and equity sponsors and borrowers in senior debt, mezzanine and private-equity financing arrangements. He also has successfully closed dozens of leveraged finance transactions for lenders utilizing cash-flow, asset-based, and hybrid structures. Mr.Joachim is a member of the Turnaround Management Association and is an associate editor of the ABIJournal. He received his B.A. in 1989 in political science and philosophy from Stony Brook University and his J.D. in 1992 with distinction from Hofstra University School of Law, where he is managing editor of the Hofstra Law Review.

Jessica Liou is a partner in the Restructuring Department at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in New York, where she represents debtors, creditors, lenders, investors and asset-purchasers in all aspects of distressed situations. She has served as debtors’ counsel in several of the largest and most significant chapter 11 cases in history, including PG&E, Sears and Westinghouse. Ms. Liou has extensive experience advising private-equity funds, portfolio companies and Fortune 500 companies in out-of-court workouts, in-court proceedings and cross-border restructurings across various industries, including cryptocurrency, power, oil & gas, and retail. Her other recent debtor representations include Sears Holdings Corp., Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC, Catalina Marketing Corp., Claire’s Stores, Inc., Fieldwood Energy LLC, Basic Energy Services Inc. and Paragon Offshore plc. In 2019, Ms. Liou was recognized by The M&A Advisor as one of its “Emerging Leaders” and named among Turnarounds & Workouts’ Outstanding Young Restructuring Lawyers in the same year. She is one of the editors of the Weil Bankruptcy Blog, has served on the firm’s task force focused on Dodd-Frank financial legislation, and practices pro bono in the areas of family law and criminal appeals, where she successfully argued before the New York State Appellate Division to uphold an order of protection and was part of a team that successfully overturned a death penalty conviction for a mentally impaired defendant after 19 years. She has been recognized for her pro bono contributions by Sanctuary for Families Center for Battered Women’s Legal Services as a recipient of its 2012 Pro Bono Achievement Award. Ms. Liou received her B.A. magna cum laude from New York University, where she was awarded the Albert Gallatin Scholarship and Founder’s Day Award, and her J.D. from Boston College Law School, where she served as a legal writing teaching assistant and articles editor of the Third World Law Journal and was awarded the inaugural Commitment to Change Award.

Adam leverages his accomplished career, spanning twenty-five years in restructuring and corporate finance, into various roles for his clients, including financial advisor, investment banker, CRO, expert witness, and fiduciary. His clients have run the gamut, including companies, bank lenders and other secured and unsecured creditors, buyers, sellers, bankruptcy counsel, and litigators, all in the context of workouts, insolvency proceedings, fundraising, M&A, and litigation. He provides expert testimony concerning transactions, intangible/intellectual assets, valuation, solvency, and reasonably equivalent value issues. Adam has a proven record in advising, structuring, and executing in excess of 100 mergers, acquisitions, capital transactions, restructurings, and litigation support assignments. Prior to co-founding Force 10 Partners in 2016, Adam was a Senior Managing Director at GlassRatner Advisory & Capital Group and Co-President and Chief Compliance Officer of GlassRatner Securities. Adam was also a Principal with XRoads Solutions Group. He spent half his career at CIBC World Markets and its predecessor, Oppenheimer & Company, where he led numerous multi-disciplinary teams on large capital markets, M&A, and restructuring assignments. He also co-established CIBC’s Houston-based energy practice and helped establish CIBC’s software practice. Prior to CIBC, Adam worked in the energy groups at Jefferies and Howard Weil. Adam majored in finance and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from Tulane University in 1993.

Jennifer M. Meyerowitz is chief growth officer and general counsel for SAK Healthcare in Atlanta. Her experience in health care consulting, bankruptcy, restructuring, operational management and advisory services spans more than 23 years, and she has served as an attorney, consultant, investor, advisor, real estate professional and company leader. Ms. Meyerowitz is responsible for implementing SAK’s growth strategy, managing operational reporting for facilities and client relations, overseeing the human resources and legal departments of SAK and providing executive-level management to the company. She regularly serves as a receiver, expert witness, board member, third-party manager and fiduciary for various health care entities, including senior living facilities, skilled nursing homes, memory care centers and hospitals. Ms. Meyerowitz previously worked with Summit Investment Management and Keen-Summit Capital Partners, buying distressed debt, selling distressed real estate and negotiating lease portfolios in bankruptcy and restructuring processes. She also served in operations, business-development, consulting and other leadership roles, including as vice president for global legal technology and services companies, with responsibility for development, legal consulting and strategic communications, compliance and logistics, and case-management functions for the company’s bankruptcy and restructuring settlement services. Ms. Meyerowitz began her career as a practicing attorney at Alston & Bird LLP, where for nearly 10 years she represented debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, creditors’ committees, landlords and tenants, banks and trustees in complex workouts, debt-restructurings, commercial litigation and chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. She is an active participant in several industry organizations, serving on their boards, speaking on panels and publishing industry articles. Ms. Meyerowitz is a former global chair of the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation and a former chair and co-founder of its Georgia network. She currently serves on the boards of ABI and the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors, and on the global executive board of the Turnaround Management Association. She also is involved in various other professional organizations, including having served as a former chair of the Bankruptcy Section of the Atlanta Bar Association and currently serving on various boards and committees in the industry, as well as other nonprofit organizations in her community. Ms. Meyerowitz received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her J.D. from Emory University School of Law, where she was executive notes and comments editor for the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal.

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

Jolene E. Wee, CIRA is the owner, managing director and founder of JW Infinity Consulting, LLC in New York, a financial advisory firm specialized in providing transaction advisory, interim management, litigation consulting, and forensic accounting services to distressed companies and its stakeholders. Using her mathematics and computer science background, she deploys large-scale data analytics to derive forward-looking business insights based on her professional training in accounting, finance and economics. Ms. Wee has served as an advisor to investors, fiduciaries, creditor committees, debtors, legal counsel, distressed companies, high-net-worth individuals, and public agencies on restructuring, bankruptcy, litigation, forensic, financing, merger and buyout matters. She has also performed fraudulenttransfer analyses and business valuations on bankruptcy litigation matters. Her case experience includes companies in the banking, e-commerce, financial services, health care, insurance, manufacturing, professional services, real estate and retail industries with revenues of up to $15B. Fluent in several Chinese and Southeast Asian languages, Ms. Wee was selected as a member of ABI’s 2020 “40 Under 40” class. In 2018, she was named Valuation Adviser of the Year by Finance Monthly Global Awards. Ms. Wee is a subchapter V trustee in Region 2, covering the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, and Region 4, covering Maryland, the District of Columbia and the Eastern District of Virginia. She received her bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and business administration with a focus on finance from Berea College, and her M.B.A. from Miami University of Ohio.

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

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

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

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

Robert S. Marticello is a founding partner of Smiley Wang-Ekvall, LLP in Los Angeles, where he focuses his practice on business bankruptcy matters and related litigation. He represents virtually all parties in chapter 11 bankruptcy cases and out-of-court restructurings, including debtors, committees, secured and unsecured creditors, equity holders, trustees, asset-purchasers and others. Mr. Marticello has represented clients in a broad range of industries, such as real estate, nonprofit, retail, restaurant and technology, and has represented clients in multiple forums throughout the U.S. He is also experienced in representing plaintiffs and defendants in bankruptcy avoidance actions and plaintiffs in non dischargeability actions. Mr. Marticello was honored as one of ABI’s first “40 Under 40.” In 2012, he was selected to participate in the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges’ Next Generation Program. Mr. Marticello has also been consistently selected as a “Rising Star” in Super Lawyers and has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for multiple years running. He also is a frequent speaker and author on insolvency issues and has presented on current and expected trends in real estate related bankruptcies and the hospitality industry. Mr. Marticello has served as an officer and director of a number of professional organizations. He is co-chair of the Lawyer Representatives to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, and director of both the Federal Bar Association (Orange County Chapter) and the TurnaroundManagement Association (Southern California Chapter). Mr. Marticello was the president of the California Bankruptcy Forum from 2015-16. He previously was a director of the Orange County BankruptcyForum from 2008-11 and served as its president from 2010-11. Mr. Marticello clerked for Hon. John E.Ryan in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California from August 2005 to February2007, and for Hon. Robert N. Kwan in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California from March to August 2007. Mr. Marticello received his undergraduate degree from California StateUniversity Chico and his J.D. magna cum laude from Californian Western School of Law in 2005, where he was a member of the California Western Law Review.

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

Ferve E. Khan is a full-service bankruptcy and restructuring attorney in the New York office of BakerHostetler LLP, where her practice includes both plaintiff and defense-side litigation and transactional work. She has particular experience in the financial services, energy and health care industries. She also has represented creditors, committees and fiduciaries in cases of mass torts, the recovery of the proceeds of fraud, and chapter 11. In 2020, Ms. Kahn was named one of ABI’s “40 Under 40.” In addition, she co-chairs ABI’s Legislative Committee. Ms. Khan received her B.A. in political science magna cum laude in 2005 from Brown University, and her J.D. in 2008 from Cornell University Law School, where she served as articles editor for the Cornell International Law Journal and managing editor of the Legal Information Institute Bulletin.

Hon. Catherine J. Furay is Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Wisconsin in Madison. Prior to her appointment, she practiced bankruptcy, commercial law and business litigation. Judge Furay is a frequent lecturer on bankruptcy, commercial law, ethics, marital property and litigation skills. She served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Wisconsin Law School teaching lawyering skills for 21 years and guest lectures for its bankruptcy course. Judge Furay is a member of the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Group of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the bankruptcy judge member of the Advisory Process Review Working Group, and a member of the Advisory Group for theAO’s Bankruptcy Case Weighting Study. In 2020, she became a Fellow of the American College ofBankruptcy. Judge Furay is a contributing author of Construction Law, Chapter 16, “Bankruptcy,” and is the author of several articles on various bankruptcy, collection, marital property and litigation topics.In 2019, Judge Furay became the editor-in-chief of Ginsberg & Martin on Bankruptcy. She is a member of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, for which she serves as a member of its Elections,Finance, and Online Learning Committees. She has also served as the Seventh Circuit representative on the NCBJ Board of Governors and on the NextGen and Technology Committees of NCBJ. Judge Furay is a member of ABI and currently serves on the Education Advisory Committees for the Central StatesBankruptcy Workshop and the Hon. Eugene R. Wedoff Seventh Circuit Consumer Bankruptcy Conference. In addition, she is a member of the Turnaround Management Association, a member of the Board of Trustees, past chairman of the board, and past president of the Certification Oversight Committee.Judge Furay has served on the board of governors and various committees of the State Bar of Wisconsin, including its Executive and Finance Committees. In addition to being co-author of Wisconsin BusinessAdvisors Series: Collections & Bankruptcy Vol. 4 (Pinnacle Books), she co-authored the WisconsinCivil Litigation Forms Manual (Pinnacle Books). Judge Furay received her J.D. from the University ofWisconsin-Madison Law School.

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

Donald L. Swanson is a shareholder with Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O. in Omaha, Neb., and has been practicing bankruptcy law since 1980. He grew up on a livestock farm in Nebraska’s Sandhills, became Nebraska State FFA President (1973-74), and achieved FFA’s “American Farmer Degree.” During the 1980s farm crisis, Mr. Swanson represented debtors in more than 40 chapter 12 cases, achieving a confirmed plan and discharge in all but one. In Delaware’s $1.5 billion ethanol bankruptcy (In re VeraSun), he held an ex officio seat on the creditors’ committee as counsel for the ad hoc committee of grain suppliers. Mr. Swanson is a subchapter V trustee in the District of Nebraska and serves on ABI’s Subchapter V Task Force, and he is a court-approved mediator for both the U.S. District and the U.S. Bankruptcy courts of Nebraska. He also is a member of the Nebraska Delegation to the Uniform Law Commission and serves on its Drafting Committee for a uniform law on assignments for benefit of creditors, is a court-approved mediator in both the U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts of Nebraska, and is Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification. Mr. Swanson publishes a blog on bankruptcy and mediation topics at https://mediatbankry.com, and he is rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hub-bell. In addition, he is a Fellow of the Nebraska State Bar Foundation, and he has served on the board for Legal Aid of Nebraska, providing free legal services to low-income Nebraskans, and on the board for Global Partners in Hope, which provides clean drinking water and medical centers in West Africa. In 2022, as a commissioner on the Uniform Law Commission (ULC), Mr. Swanson proposed that ULC study the need for a uniform law on assignments for benefit of creditors. That proposal was accepted, and he now serves on the ULC’s Drafting Committee on Assignments for Benefit of Creditors. Mr. Swanson is a member of the Uniform Law Commission and is licensed to practice in the states of Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota. He has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers. Mr. Swanson received his A.A. from Grace University in 1976, his B.S. in political science from the University of Nebraska - Omaha in 1977, and his J.D. from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln in 1980, where he was an associate editor of the Nebraska Law Review.

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

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

Lois R. Lupica is the Director of the Legal Innovation Lab at the Community Economic Defense Project and the Maine Law Foundation Professor of Law, Emerita at the University of Maine School of Law. She served as Director of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law Legal Innovation Lab from 2020-2024. In 2019 she received a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award where she researched access to justice and technology at the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia. Professor Lupica is an Affiliated Faculty member of the Harvard Law School Access to Justice Lab, Co-Principal Investigator of the Financial Distress Research Study, and Co-Principal Investigator of the Princeton Debt Lab. She also served as Visiting Scholar at the Colorado Law & Policy Center. Her empirical work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the Arnold Foundation, JPAL, and the American Bankruptcy Institute. She has published articles on a variety of topics including access to justice, legal design, bankruptcy, consumer finance, securitization, property and contract theory, intellectual property in commerce, secured transactions, legal ethics, as well as a leading Casebook on Bankruptcy Law & Practice. She is also a member of Sync Gallery in Denver, Colorado where she shows her Cold Wax and Encaustic paintings. Her artwork is in numerous private and corporate collections and has been featured in museums and galleries.

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