Members in the News

Journal Issue

Feb 2006

Column Name

Inside ABI

Citation

ABI Journal, Vol. XXV, No. 1, p. 81, February 2006

Topic Tags

Practice and Procedure

Journal HTML Content

David
N. Phelps has been named director at Bridge Associates LLC, where he has
been employed since 2002 and currently heads the restructuring group at Torch
Offshore Inc. as Torch’s CRO. In addition, he co-heads the Bridge team
providing advisory services to International Wire Group’s Insulated Wire
Division. Richard Reighard has also been named a director at Bridge Associates
LLC. Mr. Reighard has been with Bridge since 2000 and is currently co-heading
the Bridge team working on the restructuring of International Garment Processors
in El Paso, Texas, and Mexico. Mark Stickel has been promoted to chief
administrative officer at Bridge Associates LLC. In 2001, Mr. Stickel became
a founding member and managing director of Wind Down Associates LLC, a wholly
owned Bridge subsidiary formed to manage post-confirmation trusts for emerging
chapter 11 debtors, liquidations for the benefit of creditors in out-of-court
proceedings and assignments for creditors’ committees prior to the confirmation
of debtors’ plans of reorganization. Mr. Stickel, who joined Bridge as
a principal in June 2000, will continue to manage Bridge’s wind-down services
division and will now also oversee the administrative and human resource functions.
John Pidcock has been named principal at Bridge Associates LLC. Since
joining the firm in 2002, Mr. Pidcock has participated on the team that prepared
a report on the feasibility of United Airlines Corp.’s business plan,
represented creditors’ committees of various clients, and provided high-level
analytical expertise on clients’ liquidation models.

Neal D. Colton of Cozen O’Connor in Philadelphia will serve as
a visiting professor of law for the Temple University James E. Beasley School
of Law’s 2006 spring semester study abroad program at its Tokyo campus.
Mr. Colton will teach two accelerated eight-week courses: corporate reorganization
in U.S. bankruptcy and international commercial arbitration. He currently serves
as an adjunct professor of law at the Philadelphia campus, where he has taught
a course on chapter 11 reorganizations since 1989. Mr. Colton is co-chair of
the firm’s bankruptcy, insolvency and restructuring practice group.
Melanie Gray of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in Houston has been named
to the board of trustees of the Syracuse University College of Law, from which
she graduated in 1981. Named a partner at Weil, Gotshal in 1989, Ms. Gray has
represented a variety of corporations and major banks, as well as publicly held
debtors, secured creditors and court-appointed trustees. More recently, Ms.
Gray spearheaded the firm’s representation of Enron in its chapter 11
case. She is currently one of Enron’s lead attorneys in more than 30 lawsuits
seeking recovery in excess of $1 billion due to Enron under various trading
contracts.
 The Baltimore office of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll LLP hosted a
delegation of 14 Japanese regional bankers in November. Joseph J. Bellinger
Jr. briefed the guests on U.S. bankruptcy laws as well as systems and methods
for managing the turnaround process of companies in financial trouble. Mr. Bellinger
is a partner in Ballard’s litigation department and a member of the bankruptcy,
reorganization, and capital recovery group. He has been a member since 1999.
 Francine Gordon recently joined Kurtzman Carson Consultants LLC in
Los Angeles as a senior bankruptcy consultant. In her new role, Ms. Gordon will
provide consulting services to KCC’s clients while supporting business
development for the firm. Prior to joining KCC, Ms. Gordon was vice president
of The Trumbull Group, where she provided claims consulting services since she
began with the organization as a consultant in 1999. She has been an ABI member
since 1999.

Matthew Lesnick just formed his own law firm in Santa Monica, Calif.,
specializing in commercial bankruptcy, restructuring and litigation. Mr. Lesnick
was previously a partner in the Los Angeles office of Bingham McCutchen LLP.
He has been an ABI member since 1995.
 Conway MacKenzie & Dunleavy (CM&D) has announced the opening of an
office in Shanghai, China. The firm specializes in turnaround management, operations
consulting, interim management, investment banking and litigation support services.
ABI members include Kevin A. Berry, Van E. Conway, John H. Groustra, Gregory
A. Charleston, Todd A. Eddy and Kevin J. Hand.
 Scott D. Hazlett recently joined Conway MacKenzie & Dunleavy as
the partner-in-charge of the operations consulting and interim management practice.
Prior to joining CM&D, Mr. Hazlett was president of Cequent Transportation
Accessories, a global manufacturer, marketer and distributor of a wide range
of metal fabricated, plastic and electrical products.

Todd A. Eddy has also recently joined Conway MacKenzie & Dunleavy.
As a senior associate, Mr. Eddy specializes in enhancing enterprise value for
companies through a structured approach to operations and financial improvement.
He is experienced in leading and managing manufacturing organizations and applying
lean business strategies for improvements in safety, quality, delivery and cost.
Before joining CM&D, Mr. Eddy was a principal partner with Caledonia Group.
 Peter D. Lynch is a recent addition to Conway MacKenzie & Dunleavy
in the role of senior associate. He specializes in the fields of strategic sourcing,
low-cost country supplier development, post-acquisition integration, supplier
bankruptcy management, e-commerce, and program launches, primarily for the automotive
and consumer electronics industries. Prior to joining CM&D, Mr. Lynch was
an associate director in the materials management group at Visteon Corp.
 James H. Whitney has joined Conway MacKenzie & Dunleavy as a director
in the Birmingham, Ala. office, where he focuses on turnaround consulting, business
development, and sourcing engagement opportunities. Prior to joining CM&D,
he was director of acquisitions for Summit Investment Management. Mr. Whitney
earned his M.B.A. at the University of Michigan.

Thomas H. Gordy has joined Conway MacKenzie & Dunleavy’s
management committee. The committee is responsible for establishing the strategic
direction of the firm. Mr. Gordy is the managing director of CM&D Capital
Advisors LLC, specializing in capital raising, debt restructuring, recapitalizations,
mergers and acquisitions and general corporate finance advisory. He has more
than 15 years of experience providing investment-banking assistance to middle-market
companies.
 Stephanie Wickouski of Gardner Carton & Douglas LLP has been appointed
to serve as the managing partner of the firm’s new office in New York.
She is the co-chair of the firm’s corporate restructuring and financial
institutions practice groups. Ms. Wickouski has been a partner with GCD since
2002 and managing partner of its Washington, D.C. office for the past year.
In 2004, Ms. Wickouski was recognized as one of the best bankruptcy lawyers
in Washington, D.C., by Washingtonian Magazine and by The Best Lawyers
in America. She is also the author of Bankruptcy Crimes. She has
been a member since 1999. She will be joined by partner Janice Grubin,
former chair of the bankruptcy practice of Wormser, Kiely, Galef & Jacobs
LLP in New York City. Ms. Grubin represents debtors, creditors, trustees, receivers,
examiners and official and unofficial committees in voluntary and involuntary
bankruptcy proceedings and workouts in insurance, banking, manufacturing, real
estate, energy, service and other industries in all jurisdictions. She has served
as chapter 11 operating trustee and examiner in multiple cases pending in the
U.S. Bankruptcy Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

Daniel Morse is also joining Gardner Carton & Douglas’s New
York office. Mr. Morse recently received his LL.M. in bankruptcy from St. John’s
University School of Law in Jamaica, N.Y. He is also a graduate of the University
of Iowa and the University of Iowa College of Law, and formerly practiced with
Mohr, Hackett, Pederson, Blakley & Randolph PC in Phoenix.
 Brian C. Walsh has joined the international law firm Bryan Cave LLP
as a partner in its St. Louis office, where his practice includes the representation
of debtors, secured lenders and unsecured creditors in bankruptcy cases. Mr.
Walsh received his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard University, where
he was on the editorial board of the Harvard Journal on Legislation and
earned his B.A. magna cum laude at Duke University. He has been an ABI
member since 1999.

Neil P. Olack has been tentatively selected by the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit for appointment as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge (S.D. Miss.;
Jackson). Mr. Olack is currently a partner with Duane Morris LLP in Atlanta
and serves on ABI’s Executive Committee as Vice President-Education. He
graduated from Emory University School of Law in 1981 and has been an ABI member
since 1985.
 Jared Yerian, CFA, CIRA, has been promoted to managing director at
AlixPartners LLC in Southfield, Mich., where he has been with the firm since
May 1999. Mr. Yerian has developed complex capital restructuring plans, prepared
business and asset valuations, performed portfolio rationalization analyses,
assisted creditors and debtor senior management in developing operational and
capital turnarounds. Mr. Yerian earned an M.B.A. in finance and accounting from
the University of Chicago and a B.S. from Indiana University.
 The British law firm Geldards announced that it has recently conclud-ed sponsorship
arrangements with Nottingham Trent University to sponsor a chair in corporate
and insolvency law. Prof. Adrian J. Walters will take the title “The
Geldards LLP Professor of Corporate and Insolvency Law.” Mr. Walters will
undertake a variety of training and promotional duties for the firm.
 Brenda Martin is now of counsel to the bankruptcy group of Osborn Maledon
PA in Phoenix, is a certified mediator for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and represents
individual unsecured and secured creditors, committees and others in reorganizations
and liquidations. She obtained her J.D. from Arizona State University and her
B.A. from Williamette University. She has been an ABI member since 1999.
 Bill Bensinger has joined the Charlotte, N.C., office of Kilpatrick
Stockton LLP, where he is a member of the firm’s financial restructuring
team. Mr. Bensinger received his LL.M. from the St. John’s University
School of Law and his B.S. degree in accounting from Samford University and
his J.D. from Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Ala.

Ted Burr recently formed Sierra Consulting Group LLC, a financial restructuring
and turnaround consulting firm, based in Phoenix. Sierra Consulting is comprised
of several restructuring, litigation support and business valuation professionals
and serves as examiner and trustee in bankruptcy-related matters. He has been
an ABI member since 2000.

Journal Authors

ABI

Journal Date

Wednesday, February 1, 2006 - 12:00

Bankruptcy Rule

2006

none