Members in the News

Journal Issue

Feb 2005

Column Name

Topic Tags

Journal HTML Content

ABI's Uniform Commercial Code Committee, which studies the UCC as it relates to bankruptcy practice, is co-chaired by Mark V. Bossi and Brent R. Cohen. For the past several years, the UCCCommittee has focused heavily on Revised Article 9.

Mark V. Bossi is a partner in the St. Louis, Mo., law firm of Thompson Coburn LLP, where he concentrates his practice in the areas of business bankruptcy, creditors' rights and commercial litigation and has served as lead insolvency counsel to virtually all parties-in-interest in chapter 11 cases, debt enforcement lawsuits, out-of-court workouts and inter-creditor disputes. He is a frequent speaker and author on bankruptcy and creditors' rights topics. Mr. Bossi is a member of the Board of Directors and a past president of the St. Louis/Tri-State Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association. He received his B.S. from the University of Kansas in 1984 and his J.D. from George Washington University in 1988, and is admitted to practice in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. He has been an ABImember since 1992 and an ABIdirector since 2000.

Brent R. Cohen is a partner with the law firm of Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons in Denver, where he is the senior member and chairman of the firm's bankruptcy department His practice includes representation of debtors and creditors' in bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings, as well as workouts and restructurings outside of bankruptcy court. Mr.Cohen is a member of the Colorado and Wyoming bars, and has written and spoken on insolvency issues before a number of banking-industry organizations throughout Colorado and Wyoming. In addition to the ABI UCC Committee, he has served as a member of the Colorado Bar Association Task Force on Revised Article 9, which reviewed Revised Article 9 legislation and made recommendations to the Colorado Legislature. He earned his B.S. cum laude in business administration from the University of Colorado and his J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law, where he served as managing editor of the University of Colorado Law Review. He has been an ABI member since 1996.

<h3>More Members in the News</h3>

Poyner & Spruill LLP announced that S. Andrew "Andy" Jurs was certified by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization in business and consumer bankruptcy law. Mr. Jurs is a partner with Poyner & Spruill's Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights practice group in its Charlotte, N.C., office. Melissa Kibler Knoll, senior managing director at Mesirow Financial Consulting in Chicago, was ranked in Chicago Business Magazine's "40 Under 40," an annual list of Chicago's rising stars in business, government and more. For the full feature on Ms. Knoll, visit <a href="http://www.chicagobusiness.com">http://www.chicagobusiness.com</a>.

Harold B. Murphy of Hanify & King PC in Boston was named a 2004 Massachusetts Super Lawyer in November's Boston Magazine. Mr. Murphy is co-founder and director of Hanify & King's Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring Group, where he specializes in bankruptcy and commercial law, including the representation of debtors, creditors' committees, trustees and creditors in chapter 11 reorganizations and chapter 7 liquidations.

Jack B. Fishman, president of Novare Inc. in Crystal Lake, Ill., was recently interviewed and quoted regarding corporate bankruptcies and preferences for the article "The Long Arm of Failure" by David Henry in the Nov. 15, 2004, issue of Business Week.

Barbara George Barton of Robinson, Barton, McCarthy, Calloway & Johnson, P.A. in Columbia, S.C., has been selected as one of the The Best Lawyers in America in the field of bankruptcy and creditor-debtor rights.

Patrick Mears, partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP in Grand Rapids, Mich., was elected to serve a three-year term on the Council of the State Bar of Michigan's Business Law Section. Mr. Mears will help oversee educational opportunities for business lawyers and strategic planning for the second-largest elective section of the Michigan State Bar. In addition, Mears is lead author of the new book Strategies for Secured Creditors in Workouts and Foreclosures, published by the American Law Institute and American Bar Association (ABA). Mears currently holds the position of vice chair of the real estate financing committee overseeing workouts, foreclosures and bankruptcy, as well as four other committees, within the ABA's Real Property, Probate and Trust Section.

Barbara Rom, a partner of Pepper Hamilton LLP's bankruptcy and restructuring group in Detroit, served on the Michigan Gaming Control Board through Dec. 31 of last year. She was appointed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

Sheldon Good & Co.'s chairman and CEO, Steven L. Good, was the only real estate executive invited to join a CEO roundtable hosted by The Wall Street Journal in November, where "critical issues of the day" were discussed among Chicago's top CEOs. Mr. Good is a national real estate industry leader, author and attorney.

Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP in Kansas City, Mo., had 15 of its lawyers listed among The Best Lawyers in America, including Scott J. Goldstein, who focuses on bankruptcy and creditor-debtor rights.

Willcox & Savage PC in Norfolk, Va., had three of its attorneys listed in The Best Lawyers in America, including John D. McIntyre, Ross C. Reeves and Peter G. Zemanian. All three attorneys specialize in bankruptcy and creditor-debtor rights.

Quarles & Brady LLP had nine of its partners listed in The Best Lawyers in America, including Roy L. Prange. Mr. Prange specializes in bankruptcy and creditor-debtor rights at the firm's Madison, Wis., office.

Kirkpatrick & Lockhart announced that its lawyers listed in the 2005-2006 The Best Lawyers in America include Jeffery N. Rich of the New York office and David A. Murdoch in the Pittsburgh office.

Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP in Los Angeles announced that Michael L. Tuchin was named one of the "Top 100 Lawyers in Southern California for 2005" by Law & Politics Media Inc. Mr. Tuchin and partner David M. Stern were also named Southern California Super Lawyers by the same company.

Cozen O'Connor member Arthur J. Abramowitz of Cherry Hill, N.J., was recently featured in "Awesome Attorneys 2004," an article that appeared in the premier issue of South Jersey Magazine. The article featured attorneys named in The Best Lawyers in America (2005-2006) that practice in the South Jersey region. Mr. Abramowitz, who co-chairs the firm's bankruptcy, insolvency and restructuring practice group, was the only attorney listed in the bankruptcy practice area. He was also listed among the best lawyers in New Jersey by New Jersey Magazine in the field of bankruptcy.

Conway MacKenzie & Dunleavy, with offices in Chicago, Grand Rapids and Birmingham, Mich., won an award as one of the 13 "Outstanding Turnaround Firms for 2004" from Turnarounds & Workouts. ABI members of the firm include Susan S. Armstrong, Jonathan M. Ball, Kevin A. Berry, Peter Bridges, Michael Cavanaugh, Gregory A. Charleston, Brian G. Connors, Van E. Conway, John H. Groustra, Kevin J. Hand, Michael J. Hausman, Jeffrey L. Johnston, David W. Jones, Glenn M. Kushiner, Kenneth T. Latz, Frank R. Mack, Donald S. MacKenzie, Charles Moore, Joseph A. Novak, Douglas A. Reich, Lisa Schrot, Christopher Sheeren, Joshua John Siano, John R. Stelte, John B. Weykamp and A. Jeffrey Zappone.

AlixPartners, an international corporate turnaround and financial advisory firm, announced the promotions of Todd Brents and Lisa Nolan Ahern as managing directors. Mr. Brents is based in Dallas and has more than 14 years of financial and accounting management in the manufacturing, distribution, technology, and retail industries. Based in Chicago, Ms. Nolan Ahern provides advisory services to clients on a wide array of financial matters, with particular expertise in the preparation and rebuttal of claims for entities involved in litigation.

Windy Cockrell Bitzer has become a member of Hand Arendall's Mobile, Ala., office, where she focuses her practice on representing and counseling businesses and financial institutions in commercial disputes, employment discrimination litigation and bankruptcy/creditors' rights matters.

ASK Financial in Prior Lake, Minn., announced that senior associate Joseph A. Hess is now a partner with the firm. ASK Financial is a national law firm specializing in avoidance claim analysis and recovery. Mr. Hess practices primarily in the areas of preference and fraudulent transfer litigation and accounts receivable collections for bankrupt companies or their successors.

Selinda Melnik, a bankruptcy attorney and partner with Edwards & Angell in Wilmington, Del., has been elected the only female lawyer from the United States chosen to serve a four-year term as member of the Council of the International Bar Association's business law arm, Legal Practice Division.

ABI Director George Kelakos joined ICMB Ocean Tomo, an integrated intellectual capital merchant bank (<a href="http://www.oceantomo.com">http://www.oceantomo.com</a>), as a managing director in Greenwich, Conn., on Feb. 1. While Mr. Kelakos expects to team up with fellow ABI members Mark Thomann and Nate Cann on domestic buy-and-sell-side distressed M&A and restructuring engagements, he will also head up the firm's international M&A and restructuring practice. He will continue to work with his colleagues at Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe LLP. Mr.Kelakos may be reached at <a href="mailto:gkelakos@oceantomo.com">gkelakos@oceantomo.com</a> or at 917.981.9630.

Piper Rudnick Gray Cary LLP, a law firm based in Washington, D.C., merged on Jan. 1 with British firm DLA LLP, creating one of the largest combinations ever of law firms from different countries. The new firm, DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, is the third-largest law firm in the world by number of lawyers in 2005, and the firms' combined 2003 revenue of $952 million would put DLA Piper in ninth place in a worldwide ranking of law firms published by American Lawyer magazine. ABI members include Mark A. Berkoff, Anne Braucher, R. Timothy Bryan, Thomas R. Califano, Daniel J. Carrigan, Maria Ellena Chavez-Ruark, Sara L. Chenetz, Steven J. Christenholz, Janice L. Duban, Jason C. Farrington, Marc I. Fenton, J. David Folds, Mark J. Friedman, Jeremy R. Johnson, Heather A. Klink, C. Kevin Kobbe, Richard M. Kremen, Regan Kreitzer La Testa, John G. McJunkin, John P. McNicholas, Eric B. Miller, Jennifer Nassiri, David M. Neff, Alan M. Noskow, Alex Rabinsky and Kurt A. Winiecki.

Stevens & Lee acquired Manhattan-based bankruptcy boutique Salomon Green & Ostrow, whose clients have included Enron, WorldCom and Adelphia. On Jan. 1, Salomon Green's name changed to Stevens & Lee, but its offices will remain at 485 Madison Ave. Salomon Green's seven attorneys, two paralegals and related support staff will be integrated into Stevens & Lee's 13-member bankruptcy group, which is principally based in Wilmington, Del. Stevens & Lee ABImembers include Walter Benzija, John D. Demmy, Richard E. Fehling, Ronald L. Glick, Joseph Grey, Joseph H. Huston Jr., David McCanney and Thomas G. Whalen Jr. Salomon Green & Ostrow ABI members includeDavid M. Green, Nicholas F. Kajon, Jocelyn Keynes, Alec P. Ostrow, Constantine Dean Pourakis and Chester B. Salomon.

Bonnie Glantz Fatell, chair of the Business Restructuring and Bankruptcy Group at Blank Rome LLP in Wilmington, Del., has been elected to become a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. She will be only the second active practitioner in Delaware to become a member of the College; Ms. Fatell joins Blank Rome partner Ray Shapiro as a members of this organization. She will be inducted on March 18, 2005, in Washington, D.C.

Journal Authors

ABI

Journal Date

Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - 12:00

Bankruptcy Rule

2005

none