Featured Speakers

Hon. Robert J. Faris

Robert J. Faris is the U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Hawaii. He received a B.A. from Reed College in 1980 and his J.D. from the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, in 1983. From 1983 until 2002, he practiced with a Honolulu law firm. His practice emphasized business restructurings, insolvency, and commercial litigation. He became a bankruptcy judge in February 2002 and was appointed to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit in August 2015. He is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, and the American College of Bankruptcy.

Professor Pamela Foohey

Pamela Foohey is Professor of Law at University of Georgia College of Law. She specializes in bankruptcy, commercial law, consumer finance, and business law. Her work primarily involves empirical studies of bankruptcy and related parts of the legal system. She is a co-investigator on the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, a long-term research project studying persons who file bankruptcy. Professor Foohey’s work in business bankruptcy focuses on non-profit entities, with a particular emphasis on how churches and other religious organizations use bankruptcy. Her two in-progress book projects, forthcoming with University of Chicago Press and University of California Press, draw on data from these two research projects. She also is a co-author for Secured Transactions: A Systems Approach, a leading textbook on the topic.

Professor Foohey is the past chair of several Association of American Law Schools sections, is a co-organizer of the Law & Society Association’s Household Finance CRN, serves on the editorial advisory board of the Law & Society Review, and completed a three-year appointment to the editorial advisory board of the American Bankruptcy Law Journal. She also is an active member of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and has served as part of the ABI Diversity Working Group since its formation. In 2019, the ABI named her a “40 Under 40” Emerging Leader in Insolvency Practice.

Susan M. Freeman

Susan M. Freeman is a partner at lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP, working primarily from its Phoenix, Arizona office. She graduated from New York University School of Law in 1975 as a Root-Tilden-Snow Scholar, and holds a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College, with distinction.

Ms. Freeman is a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference. She is a Fellow and former Director, Vice-President and Secretary of the American College of Bankruptcy. She previously served as Chair of the American Bar Association Business Bankruptcy Committee, and also chaired several Subcommittees. She is a Life Member of the American Law Institute. Ms. Freeman is a frequent author and lecturer, including authoring Chapter 172 of Norton Bankruptcy Law & Practice on Professional Responsibility in Bankruptcy Cases.

In addition to her business bankruptcy law practice, Ms. Freeman is an appellate lawyer, and has briefed over 300 civil appeals and argued over 100, many of which are bankruptcy appeals, including Hall v. United States of America, 132 S. Ct. 1882 (2012). She is a Fellow and former President of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.

Daniel L. Geyser

Daniel L. Geyser is the Chair of Haynes and Boone’s U.S. Supreme Court practice and a member of its appellate group. He focuses on complex and high-stakes appellate litigation, representing clients in the Supreme Court of the United States and in courts of appeals nationwide. He was named one of Law360’s 2022 “Appellate MVPs,” an honor awarded to only four lawyers in the United States—Dan’s second time winning the award in the past four years.

Dan is widely regarded as one of the nation’s leading Supreme Court and appellate lawyers. He has argued 17 Supreme Court cases in private practice, including two arguments this past Term. He has twice had three cert. petitions granted in a 12-month period (a feat matched by few global firms), and personally handled over 5% of the Court’s merits docket in OT 2018. He has been named to the National Law Journal’s “Appellate Hot List,” earned weekly honors as a Law360 “Legal Lion,” achieved national appellate rankings in Chambers USA and The Legal 500, and been listed among the “veritable who’s who of the Supreme Court bar” (Empirical SCOTUS). His petitions are regularly featured among the “Petitions of the Week” on SCOTUSblog, and he is a three-time winner of NAAG’s Best Brief Award for excellence in brief-writing before the Court. In the past half-decade, Dan ranks among the top five lawyers nationwide for total Supreme Court arguments in private practice, notching “rare victor[ies]” (SCOTUSblog) and “huge win[s]” (Reuters) in cases that industry experts said could not be won.

Beyond the Supreme Court, Dan handles high-stakes appeals nationwide, litigating major cases (for plaintiffs and defendants) in nearly every circuit in virtually every major area of federal law. Dan also handles landmark state-court appeals, including arguing seven times before the Texas Supreme Court.

Hon. Scott M. Grossman

Judge Scott M. Grossman is a bankruptcy judge in the Southern District of Florida, Fort Lauderdale Division. Before his appointment, Judge Grossman was a shareholder with a large international law firm in its global restructuring and bankruptcy practice. He began his legal career in the Attorney General’s Honors Program at the United States Department of Justice, where he was a Trial Attorney in the Tax Division. Judge Grossman earned his J.D. with honors from the George Washington University Law School, and his B.S.Acc., with honors, and M.Acc. degrees from the University of Florida.

Monique D. Hayes

Monique D. Hayes is a renowned business attorney with the rare benefit of experience in both private and public practice. Monique centers her practice of wealth preservation and protection-including corporate restructuring, business succession and estate planning. Her experience includes claim prosecution, asset sales and acquisitions, financial transactions, fraud litigation, restructuring, due diligence, transactional matters, and more.

As a leading attorney, board-certified in Business Bankruptcy Law, Monique has been ranked by Florida SuperLawyers and Florida Trend as a “Legal Elite.” She is a member American Bar Association’s Business Law Section Council. Monique is also a best-selling author and former chair of the International Womens Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), Florida Network and past president of the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. Bar Association (a National Bar Association affiliate).

Before entering private practice, Monique served as law clerk to Hon. Laurel M. Isicoff, Chief Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Hon. Whitman L. Holt

Whitman L. Holt has served as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Washington in Yakima since November 1, 2019. Before taking the bench, Judge Holt was a partner of Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP in Los Angeles. Judge Holt is the co-author (with Kenneth N. Klee) of Bankruptcy and the Supreme Court: 1801-2014 (West Academic 2015) and of a series of commentaries about bankruptcy and the Supreme Court for the LexisNexis Emerging Issues Analysis project. Judge Holt also is a contributing author for the Collier on Bankruptcy treatise and related standalone publications. Since 2015, Judge Holt has been a Conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, which is an invitation-only organization dedicated to advising Congress about the operation of bankruptcy and related laws. Judge Holt is a graduate of Bates College (B.A., 2002, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa) and Harvard Law School (J.D., 2005, cum laude).

Sally McDonald Henry

Sally McDonald Henry is the John E. Krahmer Endowed Professor of Commercial and Banking Law the Texas Tech University School of Law, where she began teaching in 2012. Before she became a professor, she was a partner in Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP’s corporate restructuring group, where she practiced law for many years.

During the years she practiced law, Ms. Henry represented virtually all interested parties in Chapter 11 cases, including debtors, creditors, and trustees, and handled cross-border transactions involving Germany, Mexico, Israel, Argentina, and many other jurisdictions.

A graduate of Duke University and New York University School of Law, she is the author of several books and numerous articles on restructuring topics and has lectured on restructuring topics throughout the world. In 2003, Ms. Henry was the recipient of a New York city-wide award from The Legal Aid Society for her pro bono work. As a teacher, she has been the recipient of a number of awards, including, the Texas Tech Hispanic Law Students’ Professor of the Year and the Texas Tech Black Law Students’ Professor of the Year awards. In 2022, she received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, the highest award for teaching given at Texas Tech University.

Hon. Mary Jo Heston

Mary Jo Heston is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Washington. Prior to her appointment she 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, international insolvency and the acquisition of troubled businesses and assets. 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 federal district court judge and a bankruptcy judge and a former estate administrator of the federal bankruptcy court.  Ms. Heston has taught bankruptcy courses for over twenty-five years at both Seattle University School of Law.  She is a 2001 Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and an active participant in both professional organizations and community service organizations and currently serves or has served in leadership positions for the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ), the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees (NABT) International Committee, National Association of Equity Receivers’ International Committee (NAFER), INSOL International, the Washington State Bar Association – Debtor Creditor Section, the Turnaround Management Association (TMA). Judge Heston is a frequent international, national, and regional speaker and author on topics including international insolvency issues, creditors’ rights issues, and commercial and consumer insolvency issues.  Recently Judge Heston’s professional activities have focused on cross border insolvency and international mediation issues and her community service efforts have focused on military and veterans’ issues working on projects through the Pro Bono Committee of ABI’s Veterans and Servicemembers Task Force.

Jon Jay Lieberman

Jon Jay Lieberman is a Partner at Sottile & Barile LLC in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he primarily represents mortgage lenders and servicers as head of the firm’s national bankruptcy litigation and appellate practice. 

        Nationally, Jon serves as both an Associate Editor and a Coordinating Editor of the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, and is co-author of the ABI book “Thorny Issues in Consumer Bankruptcy Cases.” He is former Co-Chair of ABI’s Consumer Bankruptcy Committee for which he was designated Committee Person of the Year, former Co-Chair of ABI’s Legislation Committee, and former Education Director of ABI’s Commercial and Regulatory Law Committee.  Jon currently serves as Special Projects Leader of ABI’s Bankruptcy Litigation Committee.  A former Air Force Officer, he is Co-Chair of Outreach for ABI’s Veterans and Servicemembers Task Force, and is a former member of ABI’s 40 under 40 Selection Committee.  Jon currently serves on the Editorial Board of The Federal Lawyer, the journal of the Federal Bar Association, and is Secretary of FBA’s national Bankruptcy Law Section.

        Locally, Jon is former Co-Chair of the Consumer Bankruptcy Subcommittee of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio Attorney Advisory Committee, and is currently a member of the Chapter 11 subcommittee.  He is a Board Officer of the Southern District of Ohio Bankruptcy Bench-Bar Conference, and former leader of the Southern District of Ohio’s American Bankruptcy Law Forum.  Jon is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Cincinnati Bar Association, and is former Chair of the CBA’s Real Property Law Committee.  Jon currently serves on the Board of Directors of the World Affairs Council of Cincinnati.

       Jon was a Louise Taft Semple Classics Scholar, Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude, Distinguished Military Graduate of the University of Cincinnati, and of its College of Law.

Hon. Christopher Lopez

Judge Chris Lopez was appointed to serve as a bankruptcy judge for the Southern District of Texas in August 2019.

Before his appointment, Judge Lopez was a member of the Business, Finance & Restructuring Group of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. When in private practice, Judge Lopez focused on representations ranging from top global corporations in mega-restructurings to middle-market debtor and creditor representations.

Judge Lopez lectures across the country on bankruptcy issues. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Thurgood Marshall School of Law. Judge Lopez currently serves as a council member of the State Bar of Texas Bankruptcy Law Section, an advisor to the State Bar of Texas Young Bankruptcy Lawyers Committee, a member of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, and a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference.

Robert S. Marticello

Robert S. Marticello is a partner of Raines Feldman Littrell, LLP, focusing his practice on business reorganization and related litigation. He has extensive experience representing a wide range of parties in complex chapter 11 bankruptcy cases and out-of-court restructurings, including debtors, committees, and others. Mr. Marticello has represented clients in a variety of industries and in multiple forums across the United States.

Amy Denton Mayer

Amy Denton Mayer has more than 20 years of restructuring experience and specializes in the representation of debtors, assignors, committees, creditors, trustees, assignees, purchasers, and other parties in bankruptcy cases, assignments for the benefit of creditors, and out of court workouts. She has been particularly active in the representation of real estate developers and home builders, medical practices and physicians, agribusinesses, independent and franchised restaurant chains and other food service companies, and business entrepreneurs.

Mrs. Mayer joined Stichter, Riedel, Blain, & Postler P.A. in March of 2003 and became a shareholder in 2010. While in law school, Mrs. Mayer interned for The Honorable Paul M. Glenn and The Honorable Michael G. Williamson, Bankruptcy Judges, Middle District of Florida.

She also serves as a Subchapter V Trustee in small business cases filed under the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019, as amended. She was appointed by the Office of the United States Trustee in February 2020, and has been appointed as Subchapter V Trustee in over 85 cases to date. In her capacity as Trustee, Mrs. Mayer’s primary role is to facilitate resolution of disputes between the debtor, creditors, and other parties in interest and facilitate the expeditious and economical confirmation of a plan. While the Subchapter V Trustee role carries other statutory and fiduciary duties, which Mrs. Mayer performs, she enjoys working with the parties to find creative solutions to solve financial and legal issues and avoid protracted and expensive litigation.

Thomas T. McClendon

Thomas T. McClendon is a partner with the law firm of Jones & Walden LLC, located in Atlanta, Georgia. Tom represents all parties in Chapter 11 and Subchapter V cases, including debtors, creditors, and other interested parties, and has represented the committee of unsecured creditors and served as liquidating trustee. Tom’s practice has a particular emphasis on representing small businesses and individual business owners in Chapter 11 and Subchapter V cases. Tom obtained the first confirmed Subchapter V plan of reorganization in Georgia and has represented many Subchapter V debtors since the enactment of Subchapter V. Tom clerked for the Hon. Robert G. Mayer, Bankr. E.D. Va. (ret.).

Hon. Colleen McMahon

Colleen McMahon, a Senior United States District Judge in the Southern District of New York, has been on the federal bench since October 1998. She graduated from The Ohio State University (1973) and Harvard Law School (1976) and practiced law at Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, where she was the first woman litigator admitted to partnership (1984). She served as an Acting Justice of the New York State Supreme Court from June 1995 until she was confirmed by the Senate for her federal judgeship. She was the Chief Judge of the Southern District from June 2016 until April 2021, and a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 2016-2019.

Hon. Eric D. Miller

Eric D. Miller is a United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit. He was appointed on March 4, 2019. His chambers are in Seattle, Washington.

Prior to his appointment, Judge Miller was in private practice in Seattle, where he also served as a part-time lecturer at the University of Washington School of Law. He previously served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States, as Deputy General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission, as an attorney on the Appellate Staff of the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and as an attorney-adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Following law school, Judge Miller served as a law clerk to the Honorable Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the Honorable Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Aditi Paranjpye

Aditi represents commercial debtors, creditors and receivers in reorganizations, liquidations, receiverships, and out-of-court workouts across a wide variety of industries at Cairncross & Hempelmann P.S. in the Seattle area.

Mark A. Perry, Esq.

Mark A. Perry is Co-Head of Weil’s Appeals and Strategic Counseling practice and a member of the Firm’s Complex Commercial Litigation practice. He is a veteran U.S. Supreme Court advocate and legal strategist who focuses on complex business cases in trial and appellate courts around the United States.

Mark regularly serves as lead outside appellate counsel to major global companies in their most significant matters. His significant appeals have included most areas of business litigation, including securities, intellectual property, employment, and competition law. He has exceptional experience briefing and arguing cases in the Supreme Court of the United States – including winning landmark decisions in Lucia v. SEC, Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank, and Janus Capital Group v. First Derivative Traders – and the federal courts of appeals. Mark also regularly represents clients in federal district courts, frequently serving as litigation strategist in class actions and other complex commercial cases.*

Mark is extremely well-regarded by leading legal industry publications. He is ranked by Chambers USA, where commentators have called him a “master strategist and a brilliant writer” and a “strong advocate” who “pushes hard on the strong points in terms of his briefs and oral advocacy,” as one of the top practitioners nationally for Appellate Law. Mark is also recognized by Legal 500 as a top-ranked national “Leading Lawyer.” He has been named a National “Litigation Star” for both Appellate and General Commercial by Benchmark Litigation, which also has awarded him “Appellate Lawyer of the Year” honors. Additionally, Mark has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America®️ in the fields of Appellate Practice and Securities / Capital Markets Law, by Super Lawyers in the Appellate category, and by IAM Patent – which called him “undoubtedly one of the top appellate specialists in the country” – for his work in the Federal Circuit.

Nancy B. Rapoport

Nancy B. Rapoport is a UNLV Distinguished Professor, the Garman Turner Gordon Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and an Affiliate Professor of Business Law and Ethics in the Lee Business School at UNLV. She clerked for the Honorable Joseph T. Sneed III on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and then practiced law (primarily bankruptcy law) with Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco from 1986-1991. Her specialties are bankruptcy ethics, ethics in governance, law firm behavior, and the depiction of lawyers in popular culture. In 2001, she was elected to membership in the American Law Institute, and in 2002, she received a Distinguished Alumna Award from Rice University. She is also a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. In 2017, she received the Commercial Law League of America’s Lawrence P. King Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy. Boyd law students have honored her three times: she tied for “Faculty Member of the Year” in 2024; she was named “Faculty Member of the Year” (and faculty commencement speaker) in 2021; and she was named “Dean of the Year” in 2013. In 2022, UNLV’s Alumni Association named her the Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year.

Patricia Redmond

Patricia A. Redmond, Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights Shareholder was elected Chair of the American College of Bankruptcy Board of Regents. Trish is the first woman in the College’s history to hold this position.

Trish was inducted as a XV Class Fellow in 2003 and has served as a Regent for the 11th Circuit for the past (3) years. She has also served as Chair of the College’s Distinguished Law Student Committee and as a member of the College’s Foundation Board of Directors from 2005-2011, including as Secretary for a 3-year term.

Trish has served on the Board of Directors and held various leadership roles for the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), the American Bar Association (ABA), the Bankruptcy Bar Association for the Southern District of Florida (BBASDFL) and the Dade County Bar Association (DCBA).

Trish focuses her practice on bankruptcy and creditors’ rights. She has extensive experience representing creditors’ committees, secured creditors and debtors in Chapter 11 cases. Trish is routinely recognized by leading peer and client legal ranking publications including being recognized with the highest ranking (Band 1) in Chambers USA, as a “Top 100”, “Top 50 Women” and “Top 100 Miami” Florida Super Lawyers, and as a “Lawyer of the Year” multiple times in The Best Lawyers in America.

Jennifer Robbennolt

Jennifer Robbennolt, J.D., Ph.D, is the Alice Curtis Campbell Professor of Law, Professor of Psychology, and Co-Director of the Illinois Program on Law, Behavior and Social Science at the University of Illinois College of Law. Professor Robbennolt is an expert in the areas of psychology and law, torts, and dispute resolution. Her research integrates psychological theory and methods into the study of law, legal institutions, and legal practice, focusing primarily on legal decision making and the use of empirical research methodology in law. She is co-author of several books, including The Psychology of Tort Law; Psychology for Lawyers: Understanding the Human Factors in Negotiation, Litigation, and Decision Making; Dispute Resolution and Lawyers; and Empirical Methods in Law.

Jonathan Seymour

Jonathan Seymour is a bankruptcy scholar whose research spans topics in business and consumer bankruptcy law. Seymour’s most recent work focuses on bankruptcy procedure and the governance of bankruptcy cases, examining the distinct legal culture of bankruptcy courts and its effect on the process and practice of bankruptcy on the ground. His work has been published or is forthcoming in the University of Chicago Law Review, the Washington & Lee Law Review, the Illinois Law Review, and the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal.

Seymour joined the Duke Law faculty in July 2022 after serving for three years as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the law school. Prior to coming to Duke, Seymour was a senior associate specializing in bankruptcy litigation in the Washington, D.C. office of WilmerHale. His experience included participation in two merits-stage Supreme Court cases as well as a number of courts of appeals cases involving bankruptcy issues; representation of a trade association in connection with a major report proposing reforms to business bankruptcy law; and representation of financial institutions in consumer cases in the bankruptcy courts.

Hon. Brian C. Walsh

Brian Walsh was appointed as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri in January 2023. Before taking the bench, he practiced for more than 25 years in Atlanta and St. Louis, principally in bankruptcy, restructuring, and related fields. He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.

Judge Walsh is a graduate of Duke University and Harvard Law School. He began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Pasco Bowman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Hon. Madeleine Wanslee

Madeleine Carmel Wanslee is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Arizona in Phoenix. She has served on the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference Executive Committee since 2018 (which she currently chairs) and various committees of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. She is a former Chair of the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Judges Education Committee, the Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representatives Coordinating Committee, and the Arizona State Bar’s Bankruptcy Section. She helped to charter and is past President of the Arizona Bankruptcy American Inn of Court. Before joining the bench on March 17, 2014, Judge Wanslee was a Certified Bankruptcy Specialist (American Board of Certification), and argued a bankruptcy appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. She attended the University of Arizona (B.F.A. and B.A.) and Gonzaga University School of Law (J.D.), where she was Executive Editor of the Gonzaga Law Review. Judge Wanslee began her legal career as a law clerk for the Hon. Robert Clive Jones, Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel.

Hon. Daniel A. Bress

Judge Daniel A. Bress is a Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, with chambers in San Francisco. A native of Gilroy, California, Judge Bress graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and received his J.D. degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Virginia Law Review. Following law school, Judge Bress clerked for the Honorable J. Harvie Wilkinson Ill of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the Honorable Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States. Judge Bress was then a lawyer in private practice, first at Munger Tolles & Olson and later at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where he was a litigation partner. Judge Bress has also taught law school courses at the University of Virginia School of Law and the Columbus School of Law. Judge Bress was nominated and confirmed to the Ninth Circuit in 2019.

Hon. Jeffery P. Hopkins

Hon. Jeffery P. Hopkins was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the S.D. of Ohio on December 8, 2022. Judge Hopkins was born in southwest Georgia and raised in Ohio where he attended public schools until 8th grade. He attended high school at Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts on an academic scholarship and graduated from Bowdoin College with a dual degree in government and legal studies and anthropology-sociology. There, Judge Hopkins was elected by the College faculty to deliver the commencement address. He received the Class of 1868 Award for his speech. Judge Hopkins obtained his Juris Doctorate from The Ohio State University, Michael E. Moritz College of Law.

Upon graduation, Judge Hopkins served as senior law clerk to Hon. Alan E. Norris on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Following his clerkship, Judge Hopkins became an associate with the law firm Squire, Patton & Boggs. Judge Hopkins was appointed as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio and advanced to serve as Chief of the Civil Division. Judge Hopkins was first appointed to the Bankruptcy Court on April 1, 1996, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and was reappointed in 2010. Judge Hopkins has also served as a visiting judge in the Middle District of Florida, Ft. Myers Division by appointment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. 

Judge Hopkins has served on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College of Law as an adjunct professor and he has given lectures at numerous programs and conferences on topics such as ethics, professionalism, bankruptcy law and debt restructuring throughout the United States and in Brazil.  He has authored over 120 published opinions and served as an editor for Bloomberg Law on the Bankruptcy Law Treatise. In 2010, Judge Hopkins received the William K. Thomas Distinguished Jurist Award from The Ohio State University and gave the commencement address.  

Hon. Michelle Harner

Michelle M. Harner is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Maryland. She graduated from The Ohio State University College of Law, summa cum laude, in 1995, and from Boston College, cum laude, in 1992. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Harner served as the Francis King Carey Professor of Law and the Director of the Business Law Program at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. At UM Carey Law School, Judge Harner taught courses in Bankruptcy and Creditors Rights, Business Associations, Business Planning, Corporate Finance, and Legal Profession. She lectured frequently during her academic career on various topics involving corporate governance, financially distressed entities, risk management, and related legal issues, and her academic scholarship is widely published. Judge Harner has served as the Associate Reporter to the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, the Reporter to the ABI Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11, and the Robert M. Zinman ABI Resident Scholar for the fall of 2015. She most recently served as the Chair of the Dodd-Frank Study Working Group for the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, and she is currently serving as a member of the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and an Associate Editor of the American Bankruptcy Law Journal. She is an elected conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, an elected fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, and an elected member of the American Law Institute. Judge Harner previously was in private practice in the business restructuring, insolvency, bankruptcy, and related transactional fields, most recently as a partner at the Chicago office of the international law firm Jones Day.

Hon. Christopher Klein

Christopher Klein is a recalled federal bankruptcy judge for the United States bankruptcy court, Eastern District of California. He was first appointed in 1988 and served as an active judge until his retirement on February 8, 2016. He has served as a recalled bankruptcy judge. Klein earned both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Brown University, and a J.D. as well as an MBA from the University of Chicago. Prior to joining the court, Klein served for 10 years as an artillery officer and a judge advocate in the U.S. Marine Corps. He then took a position as a trial attorney with the Department of Justice, later transitioning to private practice at the law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. From there, Klein took up employment as Deputy General Counsel of Litigation at the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. During his tenure on the bench, Klein was appointed to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit for a period of 10 years.

Hon. Christopher S. Sontchi

Christopher S. Sontchi is an International Judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court and is the former Chief Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.  He is also the sole member of Sontchi, LLC where he conducts mediations and arbitrations, provides expert services, and serves as an independent fiduciary. He is a frequent speaker on issues relating to corporate reorganizations and is a Lecturer at The University of Chicago Law School. Judge Sontchi has testified before Congress and has also published articles on creditors’ committees, valuation, asset sales and safe harbors. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and The University of Chicago Law School.

Anthony Tillman

Anthony Tillman is a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal in Vancouver, British Columbia. He specializes in formal and informal restructuring and insolvency mandates, and has acted as an advisor to corporate debtors, boards, lenders and other stakeholders facing financial difficulties.

With more than 20 years of restructuring experience, Mr. Tillman has worked across Canada and the United States on many major restructuring projects across borders and in various industries including mining, forestry, energy, technology, real estate development, retail, distribution, business services and various manufacturing sectors.

Mr. Tillman earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Simon Fraser University and holds professional designations as a Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Insolvency and Restructuring Professional, and is a Licensed Insolvency Trustee.  Mr. Tillman is a member of the Insolvency Institute of Canada and INSOL, and is a past Director of the Turnaround Management Association (Northwest Chapter) and the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals.

G. Eric Brunstad, Jr.

G. Eric Brunstad, Jr. has argued 11 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including matters involving the First Amendment, bankruptcy, taxation, the Commerce Clause, statutory interpretation, jurisdiction and arbitration.

In addition to the cases he has argued, Mr. Brunstad has worked on more than 35 other matters in the Supreme Court, including matters involving federal licensing, civil rights, procedure, insurance, sovereign immunity, pensions, energy contracts, and defamation. He has also argued and briefed numerous cases in most of the federal courts of appeals, including matters involving insurance, setoff, prepayment premiums, subrogation, and a variety of other commercial law topics. In addition to his practice, he is a Professor (Adjunct) of Law at NYU School of Law and a frequent visiting lecturer at Yale Law School where he teaches courses on bankruptcy, secured transactions, commercial law, argument and reason, and federal courts. He began teaching at Yale in 1990 and has also taught at the Harvard Law School.

Mr. Brunstad is widely published, and is a contributing author for the Collier treatise on bankruptcy law. He has been recognized as a leading lawyer in numerous directories and publications, including Benchmark Litigation, The Legal 500 US, Leading Lawyer in Appellate Law, The Best Lawyers in America, International Who’s Who of Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyers, and Leading Lawyer in Bankruptcy Law. Recently, he was named the Best Lawyers 2015 Appellate Practice, Bankruptcy and Reorganization “Lawyer of the Year” in Hartford. His scholarly work has been cited or quoted by many courts, including the Supreme Court.

Mr. Brunstad’s appearances before the Supreme Court include his argument on behalf of the Marshall family in the Anna Nicole Smith case, Marshall v. Marshall, 547 U.S. 293 (2006); his argument on behalf of Travelers in Travelers Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Pacific Gas & Elec. Co., 127 S. Ct. 1199 (2007); and his argument on behalf of Citizens Bank in Marrama v. Citizens Bank of Massachusetts, 127 S. Ct. 1105 (2007).

Mr. Brunstad was a member of the Dechert litigation team recognized as part of the Financial Times’ 2013 Top U.S. Innovative Law Firms for their “standout” work acting as lead counsel for an ad hoc group of creditors in connection with the highly contested cross-border restructuring of approximately US$1.6 billion in defaulted senior notes issued by Mexico’s largest glass manufacturer, Vitro S.A.B. de C.V. This precedent-setting case marked the first time that U.S. courts clarified the standards and requirements for global businesses that file for Chapter 15 bankruptcy.

Hon. Elizabeth L. Gunn

Hon. Elizabeth L. Gunn was appointed as a bankruptcy judge for the District of Columbia on September 4, 2020. A COVID-era selection and appointment, she was sworn in by Zoom from her living room. A frequent speaker and author on bankruptcy topics, Judge Gunn brings a unique perspective to her presentations as the only bankruptcy judge in both the District of Columbia and the D.C. Circuit. In 2017, Judge Gunn was recognized by the American Bankruptcy Institute as a member of its inaugural class of 40 Under 40. Judge Gunn serves as an Associate Editor for the American Bankruptcy Law Journal and is a Coordinating and Associate Editor of the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review. Judge Gunn sits on the boards of the Federal Bar Association Bankruptcy Section, International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation, American Bar Association National Conference of Federal Trial Judges, the Chesapeake Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association, and is the host of the popular American Bar Association Business Law Section Podcast “Bad Boys of Bankruptcy.” She is a member of the Walter Chandler Bankruptcy Inn of Court and is Board Certified in Consumer Law by the American Board of Certification. Judge Gunn received her BA, cum laude, from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon and her law degree, cum laude, from Boston College Law School.  

Vincenzo Toppi

Vincenzo (Vinni) Toppi, CPA, CIRA, CFF, CCFE, is a partner with CohnReznick’s Restructuring and Dispute Resolution Services Practice.  Vinni has conducted special investigations and fraud examinations involving misappropriation of funds or assets, asset tracing and recovery, insider and third-party transfers, insolvency analysis and provides expert advice to parties in both civil and criminal litigation matters.

Vinni has been active in numerous fraud and forensic accounting investigations. His experience includes numerous investigations of financial crimes, such as misrepresentation of financial facts, bankruptcy fraud, and computer fraud. Vinni is experienced in reconstructing accounting records to verify the reliability of underlying books and records and the accuracy of financial reporting systems.  Vinni has significant experience in the Healthcare, Financial Services, Telecommunications, Distribution, Sports and Entertainment and Real Estate Development industries.

Vinni has developed and presented numerous training courses on topics that include forensic accounting,  computer forensics, data analysis, and fraud detection.  Vinni is a member of the Government Investigation and Civil Litigation (GICLI) Advisory Board.

Kenneth J. Enos

Kenneth J. Enos is a partner in the Business Reorganization and Restructuring Section of Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP.

Ken joined Young Conaway in 2004.  He has represented clients in all aspects of both in-court and out-of-court corporate restructuring processes, including debtors, official committees, foreign representatives, lenders, secured and unsecured creditors, ad hoc groups and purchasers.  Ken has represented companies in their restructuring efforts across all industries including in the energy, retail, healthcare, telecommunications, real estate, hospitality, aviation, textile, and manufacturing industries.

Ken received a J.D. from Penn State University, The Dickinson School of Law, an M.B.A., summa cum laude, from Penn State University, and a B.S., cum laude, from Grove City College.

Hon. Morgan Christen

Morgan Brenda Christen is a federal judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. She joined the court in 2011 after a nomination from President Barack Obama. At the time of her nomination, she was a justice on the Alaska Supreme Court, a post she held from 2009 until her confirmation. A native of Chehalis, Washington, Christen began her collegiate coursework at Richmond College in London in 1979. She then studied at the American College of Switzerland in 1980. She continued her studies at Nanjing University, People’s Republic of China, in 1982. She earned her undergraduate degree in International Studies from the University of Washington in 1983. She went on to receive her J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law in 1986. 

Christen was nominated on May 18, 2011, to the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit by President Barack Obama to a seat vacated by Judge Andrew Kleinfeld, who assumed senior status. Christen’s nomination was hotly contested due to her role as a former board member of Planned Parenthood. However, her nomination was supported by both senators from Alaska.

Hon. Eric D. Miller

Eric D. Miller is a United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit. He was appointed on March 4, 2019. His chambers are in Seattle, Washington.

Prior to his appointment, Judge Miller was in private practice in Seattle, where he also served as a part-time lecturer at the University of Washington School of Law. He previously served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States, as Deputy General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission, as an attorney on the Appellate Staff of the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and as an attorney-adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Judge Miller received his A.B. from Harvard University and his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. Following law school, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the Honorable Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Hon. Robert J. Faris

Robert J. Faris is the U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Hawaii. He received a B.A. from Reed College in 1980 and his J.D. from the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, in 1983. From 1983 until 2002, he practiced with a Honolulu law firm. His practice emphasized business restructurings, insolvency, and commercial litigation. He became a bankruptcy judge in February 2002 and was appointed to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit in August 2015. He is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, and the American College of Bankruptcy.

Trinitee Green

Trinitee Green focuses her practice on complex restructuring and insolvency matters, primarily representing Chapter 11 debtors. Trinitee’s expertise is most significant in the distressed health care space, although she has represented debtors in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, distribution, retail, and real estate.

In addition to mega debtors, Trinitee has represented debtors (and creditors) in Subchapter V cases since the Bankruptcy Code was amended in 2020. In just two years, she co-led two Subchapter V cases and helped two small business healthcare companies confirm plans of reorganization in Delaware and Texas.

Hon. Mary Grace Diehl

Mary Grace Diehl is a Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Georgia serving on recall status. She was appointed to the Court in February 2004 and retired in February 2018.  As a recalled judge, Judge Diehl conducts pro-bono mediations in matters assigned to other bankruptcy judges.  Prior to her appointment she was a partner at Troutman Sanders LLP (now Troutman Pepper) where she chaired the Bankruptcy Restructuring Practice.  Judge Diehl has been active in numerous bankruptcy-related organizations and has served on the Boards of Directors of the American College of Bankruptcy, the American Bankruptcy Institute, Turnaround Management Association and International Women in Restructuring Federation.  Judge Diehl has chaired the bankruptcy section of the Atlanta and State Bar of Georgia.  She was President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges in 2016. Her honors include the David W. Pollard Award from the Atlanta Bar, the Woman of the Year in Restructuring from IWIRC, Outstanding Woman in the Profession from the Atlanta Bar WIP section and Outstanding Alumni Contributor from Canisius College from which she graduated.  Judge Diehl received her JD cum laude from Harvard Law School.

Hon. Hannah Blumenstiel

Hannah L. Blumenstiel was appointed to the bankruptcy bench in the Northern District of California in February 2013.  An Ohio native, Judge Blumenstiel worked for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and clerked for Judge Charles M. Caldwell (Bankr. S.D. Ohio) before joining Murphy Sheneman Julian & Rogers LLP in San Francisco, California as an Associate in 2001.  After that firm’s acquisition by Winston & Strawn LLP, Judge Blumenstiel remained an associate and was named partner in 2008.  Judge Blumenstiel is a Director of the American Bankruptcy Institute and serves as ABI’s Vice President for Research Grants.

Hon. Stacey Meisel

The Honorable Stacey L. Meisel became a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of New Jersey on September 24, 2015; the first African American and person of color appointed as a Bankruptcy Judge in New Jersey.

Before joining the bench, at 29 years old, Judge Meisel co-founded Becker Meisel LLC. She co-chaired the bankruptcy, insolvency, and creditors’ rights practice until her appointment.

Currently, Judge Meisel is a co-author of the Consumer Bankruptcy Manual and the Consumer Bankruptcy Handbook, Thomson Reuters publications. She completed a three-year term on the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges’ Rules Committee, and now serves as a Governor-at-Large. She also serves on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey Committee on Court Security and the Newark Vicinage Facilities Security Committee, as well as the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, Information Technology Committee. She is a Judicial Advisor to both the Historical Society for the District of New Jersey and the Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey. Judge Meisel assisted on the Planning Committee for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts 2023 event Roadways to the Bench: Who Me? A Bankruptcy or Magistrate Judge? For the past four years, Judge Meisel served as the Judicial Co-Chair for the ABI’s Mid-Atlantic Bankruptcy Workshop. Judge Meisel also served on the National Association of Women Judges’ Color of Justice Program Committee.

Prior to her appointment, Judge Meisel served on the New Jersey Panel of Bankruptcy Trustees and was the first African American woman to do so. She thrice served on the committee that recommended candidates to the Third Circuit for New Jersey bankruptcy judgeship vacancies. Judge Meisel also participated on the New Jersey Court Registry of Mediators and the Lawyers Advisory Committee to the Board of Judges of the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey.

Judge Meisel is a strong believer in community service and looks for a number of ways to give back.

Hon. Michael Romero

Michael E. Romero is the chief judge of the United States bankruptcy court, District of Colorado. He was appointed on December 22, 2003, and re-appointed December 22, 2017.[1][2] His current term expires December 21, 2031. Romero earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver and a J.D. from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining the court, Romero worked for 15 years at the law firm of Pendleton, Friedberg, Wilson & Hennessey, P.C., where his practice was focused on bankruptcy-related trial matters. During his tenure on the bench, Romero was appointed on February 9, 2009, to a five-year renewable term on the U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Tenth Circuit.

Amber Carson

Amber Carson is a Partner in Gray Reed & McGraw LLP’s Dallas, Texas office. Her practice focuses on complex restructurings, involuntary bankruptcy proceedings, asset acquisitions, liquidations, and litigation in the bankruptcy and insolvency arena.  Amber represents a broad range of parties, including corporate debtors, creditors, official committees, trustees, equity holders, receivers, and lenders in a number of different industries and venues throughout the United States.

Among many other roles, Amber is an American Bankruptcy Institute (“ABI”) Board Member and serves as the Education Chair on the ABI’s DEI Committee.  Amber is the Chair-Elect for the Bankruptcy Law Section of the State Bar of Texas (the “BLS”), serves on the BLS’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, and is the 2026 Chair-Elect for the DFW Network of the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation.  She is the former Chair of the Young Lawyer’s Committee for the BLS and former President of the DFW Association of Young Bankruptcy Lawyers. 

Amber’s work and experience has garnered attention on a national, state, and local level.  Most notably, Amber was honored in 2024 with the American Inns of Court Sandra Day O’Connor Award for Professional Service (sole recipient; presented at the Supreme Court of the U.S.); named to the American Bar Association’s “On the Rise – Top 40 Young Lawyers” (2023); the BLS’s Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Award (sole inaugural recipient; 2023); a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s “40 Under 40” (2022); the BLS’s Romina L. Mulloy-Bossio Achievement Award (sole recipient; 2021); awarded a Presidential Citation in 2021 by the Dallas Bar Association; and named to D Magazine’s Best Lawyers Under 40 (2020, 2023, 2024). 

Amber earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and her law degree from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.  After law school, Amber served a one-year term as a judicial law clerk for the Hon. Harlin D. Hale, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Texas (ret.).

Andrew Helman

Andrew Helman is a partner in the Restructuring, Insolvency and Bankruptcy practice group at Dentons and the Portland Office Managing Partner. He focuses his practice on bankruptcy and insolvency matters and works with all types of businesses, including those in the health care and cannabis sectors, to help them restructure and protect their assets.

Andrew has served as lead counsel to debtors, trustees, secured parties and others in chapter 11 cases, including having served as independent counsel to a state attorney general in several chapter 11 cases in New England and Delaware. He has particular experience as lead counsel representing rural hospitals in chapter 11 cases and has successfully confirmed chapter 11 plans that have allowed rural hospitals to continue operating with restructured balance sheets.

Andrew frequently writes articles for national insolvency publications and teaches seminars on bankruptcy and fraudulent transfer law. In addition, he is co-chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Health Care Committee and was a recipient of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s 40 Under 40 Award in 2019. He was also selected as one of 40 attorneys nationally to participate in the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges’ 2016 NextGen Program. He is ranked by Chambers for bankruptcy and restructuring, and has been included in The Best Lawyers in America for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law since 2021.

Amanda R. Steele

Amanda Steele is a director at Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A. in Wilmington, Delaware.   Amanda focuses her practice on corporate restructuring, bankruptcy, and other insolvency matters. She regularly represents and advises debtors, secured lenders, creditors, and other interested parties in all aspects of chapter 11 cases, as well as foreign representatives in chapter 15 ancillary proceedings.

Zachary Tripp

Zack Tripp is Co-Head of Weil’s Appeals and Strategic Counseling practice. He has argued 12 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and has argued numerous cases before the federal and state appellate courts. Zack has particularly robust experience in bankruptcy appeals, including recently winning a landmark appeal for the respondent during October Term 2022 in Bartenwerfer v. Buckley, a bankruptcy case before the U.S. Supreme Court. He clerked for Judge Kearse of the Second Circuit and Justice Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. 

John Singh

John Singh is a Partner in the Restructuring and Special Situations Group at PJT Partners, based in New York. ohn Singh is a Partner in the Restructuring and Special Situations Group at PJT Partners, based in New York. He has advised companies, boards, creditors, and sponsors on a wide range of completed transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, special situation financings and restructurings. Prior to joining PJT Partners, Mr. Singh was a Vice President in Blackstone’s Restructuring & Reorganization Group and a buy-side fixed-income analyst at JPMorgan.

Mr. Singh is a frequent panelist at conferences and speaks at various schools on restructuring-related topics. He received a BS in Finance and Economics from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University and an MBA with a concentration in Finance and Strategic Management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Hon. Daniel P. Collins

Judge Daniel P. Collins was appointed to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Arizona effective as of January 18, 2013. Judge Collins was the 2023 President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, is on the 9th Circuit’s Trial Improvement Committee, is on the JCUS’s Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Group, and was on the national Board of the American Bankruptcy Institute.

Bradford J. Sandler

Bradford J. Sandler is a partner at Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP, and serves on its Management and Long-Term Planning Committees. He also serves as a co-chair of PSZJ’s Committee Practice Group, which, year after year, is one of the most active and recognized in the United States. For over two decades, Brad has been representing debtors, committees, acquirers, and other significant parties in complex reorganizations and financially distressed situations. Brad is ranked in numerous organizations, and many of his cases have received top awards from various organizations, including the TMA, the Global M&A Network, and The M&A Advisor.

Hon. Stacey G. Jernigan

Judicial History: Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division. Appointed to bench May 12, 2006. 

Prior Legal Experience (Private Practice):  Practiced 17 years in the Business Reorganization and Bankruptcy Practice Group at Haynes and Boone, LLP (Dallas, TX office), 1989-2006. Head of Bankruptcy Practice Group (2000-2006); Partner (1997-2006); Associate (1989-1996). Represented all types of parties-in-interest in large Chapter 11 cases and out-of-court workouts. Specific industry expertise:  energy companies; healthcare and other regulated entities; real estate businesses; public companies.  

Prior Legal Experience (Public Sector—Special Assignment): Adviser to the California Legislature (Speaker of the Assembly Robert Hertzberg), Sacramento, California (Jan.-Aug. 2001), in connection with the California utility financial crisis involving PG&E utility company.

Teaching: Adjunct Professor, SMU Dedman School of Law, Creditors Rights.

Professional Memberships and Honors: Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification; Member, National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (International Committee and Security Committee); Fellow, American College of Bankruptcy (frequent speaker at its conferences); Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation; Fellow, Dallas Bar Foundation; Master, former Board Member, Serjeant of the Inn, and occasional Bankruptcy Course Instructor for John C. Ford American Inn of Court; Member, American Bankruptcy Institute (frequent speaker at conferences); Bankruptcy Observer to Fifth Circuit Judicial Council; Member, State Bar of Texas Bankruptcy Section; Member, Dallas Bar Association Bankruptcy and Commercial Law Section; Co-Chair of the Center for American and International Law’s Biennial Fifth Circuit Bankruptcy Bench-Bar Conference, New Orleans, LA (2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024); Judicial Co-Chair of the National “Roadways to the Federal Bench: Who, Me?  A Bankruptcy Judge?” (a diversity and inclusion event sponsored by the Judicial Conference of the United States Committee on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System)); Planning Committee for the Annual University of Texas/Jay L. Westbrook Bankruptcy Conference, Austin, TX (for approximately 20 years).  

Miscellaneous Publications: Fiction legal thrillers: He Watches All My Paths, ISBN: 978-1-79406-707-3 (Amazon Books 2019); Hedging Death, ISBN: 978-1-63363-581-4 (White Bird Publications 2022). 

Education: J.D., University of Texas School of Law, 1989; B.B.A., magna cum laude, Southern Methodist University, 1986.

Ryan Timothy Murphy

Mr. Murphy is a shareholder at Fredrikson & Byron, P.A, which has offices across the Upper Midwest. He is the Chair of the firm’s Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Workouts group. He practices principally in the area of business reorganizations. Mr. Murphy has been regularly named one of “The Best Lawyers in America,” and a “Super Lawyer” by Minnesota Journal of Law & Politics. Mr. Murphy is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. His work on particular matters has been recognized by several organizations. The Turnaround Management Association – Global awarded Mr. Murphy the Nonprofit Turnaround of the Year for 2018 and Transaction of the Year for 2018.

Patrick M. Birney

Patrick M. Birney co-chairs Robinson+Cole’s Bankruptcy + Reorganizations group and is a member of our Business Litigation group.

Since 1998, Patrick has focused his practice on complex transactional, litigation, and advisory work related to the debtor/creditor relationship, including restructurings, Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, workouts and ‘pre-packaged’ Chapter 11 matters, and commercial finance. He has extensive experience representing secured and unsecured creditors, trustees, debtors, official and ad hoc creditors’ committees, and other parties in Chapter 11 restructurings, adversary proceedings, state court receiverships, and out-of-court workouts.

Patrick’s involvement in debtor-side restructurings includes the Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich, as well as the jointly-administered O.W. Bunker USA and O.W. Bunker, N.A. cases, which were awarded the International Restructuring Deal of the Year (Over $500MM to $1B) and Energy Deal of the Year (Over $500MM to $1B) in 2017 by M&A Advisor, a premier network of M&A, Turnaround and Finance professionals. His role in creditor committee representations includes the Chapter 11 cases of Mallinckrodt, Inc., which was awarded the Healthcare/Life Sciences Deal of the Year in 2022 (Over $100MM) by M&A Advisor.  Patrick’s representation of asset purchasers includes serving as counsel to the successful asset purchaser in Carla’s Pasta, a well-known traditional pasta manufacturer, for which Robinson+Cole was selected as the Food & Beverage Restructuring Deal of the Year at the 2023 Turnaround Atlas Awards. He also represented the secured lender in the successful Chapter 11 restructurings of an international toy manufacturer, the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of Halloween costumes, a large continuing care retirement community and an insurance agency.  Patrick has also represented the ad hoc committee of members in restructuring of private ski resort.

Patrick has a broad range of experience handling commercial litigation matters in state and federal courts, routinely representing businesses involved in contract disputes, fraudulent transfer, fraud, civil theft, and intercompany claims. He has represented businesses in the insurance, manufacturing, health care, distribution, logistics, shipping, energy, retail, and construction industries.

Patrick recently obtained summary judgment in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas on behalf of an international manufacturer regarding claims of breach of contract.

Patrick is committed to doing pro bono work and being actively involved in the community.  He participated in the firm’s Domestic Violence Restraining Order Program, which assists victims with obtaining restraining orders. He is co-founder and a member of the Board of Directors for G.R.O.W.E.R.S., Inc., which provides employment and educational opportunities for intellectually disabled clients, and has previously served as Trustee and Corporate Secretary for Masonicare, Inc., Connecticut’s largest not-for-profit continuing care retirement community and president of the N.E.W. 34th Charitable Corp., an organization that helps fund civic and charitable causes in the New Haven, Connecticut area.  

In 2023, Patrick became a duly elected Connecticut Probate Judge for the Town of Wallingford.  He has previously served as a member of the Connecticut Lottery Corporation’s Board of Directors, serving as the board’s vice chairperson and chairperson of the board’s Finance Committee. He has also served as vice chairperson of the Wallingford Public Utilities Commission between March 2015 and December 2022, which oversees operations of the $100 million Wallingford Electric Division, one of six municipal-owned electric utilities in Connecticut. Prior to that Patrick served on the Wallingford Planning and Zoning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals.

Patrick is a frequent lecturer and participant on educational panels related to bankruptcy, insolvency, commercial law, and creditors’ rights. In addition, he is a frequent author and contributor to several national bankruptcy publications. To date, his articles have been cited by several judicial opinions, including In re Dito, Inc., 2021 WL  510199 (Bankr. D.P.R. 2021); In re Reichgott, 2013 WL 5492532 (Bankr. N.D. Ohio, 2013), and In re Kebe, 444 B.R. 871, 880 (Bankr. S.D. Ohio, 2011).

Patrick was included in the Top 100 Restructuring Professionals list by the Global M&A Network, has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the area of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law since 2017 and was selected as “Lawyer of the Year” (Hartford) in the area of bankruptcy and restricting by the same organization in 2022.

Raychelle Tasher

Raychelle Tasher is an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida where she represents the United States in bankruptcy cases and civil litigation matters. Prior to this role, Raychelle was an associate in the Restructuring Group in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP where she represented debtors in complex Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases. Raychelle also served as a law clerk to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kathy A. Surratt-States at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Raychelle earned her law degree from Florida A&M University College of Law and her undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Florida A&M University in Political Science and Economics. Raychelle currently serves as Co-Chair of the ABA Business Bankruptcy Membership, Marketing, and Webinar Committee. She is also the immediate past chair of the Lawyers Advisory Committee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida and a member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida. Raychelle is one of the founding Co-Chairs of the National Association for Women Lawyers “Women in Bankruptcy & Restructuring” Affinity Group and a member of IWIRC and the ABI. For her commitment to public service, Raychelle received the National Bar Association’s Womens Lawyers Division “Outstanding Public Service Award.”

Karl Knechtel

Karl Knechtel is an experience Turnaround & Restructuring practice with over 20 years of experience in restructuring, forensic accounting and litigation services. His industry experience includes healthcare, retail and consumer products, construction, restaurant and food services, manufacturing, telecommunications and professional services.

Mr. Knechtel has experience serving the various parties-in-interest for bankruptcy proceedings and has served as financial advisor to numerous creditors’ committees. Mr. Knechtel is also experienced in forensic accounting including fraudulent conveyance litigation and investigating financial frauds.

Mr. Knechtel’s recent experience includes advising the Debtor of G Star Raw Retail, Desigual, Furla and Geox, the Unsecured Creditors’ committees of Specialty Retail Shops Holding Corp. (Shopko), the settling states in Purdue Pharma, financial advisor for the Independent Managers of Payless Holdings LLC and representing the Debtors for Neighbors Health, a chain of emergency centers located in Houston, Texas.

Some of Mr. Knechtel’s  additional previous clients include serving as the financial advisor for the Unsecured Creditors’ Committees of Loehmann’s, United Retail Group, Vann’s and Norwood Promotional Products. He also has extensive experience as financial advisor for Chapter 7 trustees including Thelen LLP, Eastwind Maritime and HRH Construction.

Mr. Knechtel currently serves as a board member of the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors.

Hon. Frank Bailey

Frank J. Bailey was appointed on January 30, 2009 and served as Chief Judge from 2010 to 2014. He has also served as an appellate judge on the First Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. He received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service (BSFS in economics) in 1977 and his JD from Suffolk University in 1980. Judge Bailey retired from judicial service on June 1, 2022.

Judge Bailey served as judicial law clerk to the Honorable Herbert P. Wilkins of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 1980-81. He worked as an associate at the Boston office of Sullivan & Worcester LLP, where he practiced in the litigation and corporate restructuring departments before spending 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 management committee. He often represented clients in the financial services, medical device, pharmaceutical and technology areas.

Judge Bailey was elected by his peers to serve as the President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (“NCBJ”), a position that he held until October 2021.  Nearly 100 years old, the NCBJ is the voluntary professional association of federal bankruptcy judges. He has been active in leadership positions in the American Bar Association, including as the Judicial Member at Large on the ABA Board of Governors and as a member of the ABA Executive Committee. Judge Bailey served as the Chair of the National Conference of Federal Trial Judges, an ABA entity that includes over 400 federal judges.

Judge Bailey has testified before Congress on matters affecting the federal judiciary, including venue reform and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Beyond his judicial leadership positions, Judge Bailey has served as the Chair of the Immigrant Learning Center in Malden, Massachusetts, a board member of the Institute for Immigration Research at George Mason University, as President of the Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, and on the Massachusetts Council of the New England Legal Foundation.

Judge Bailey served on the adjunct faculty at the Boston University School of Law and at   New England Law School. He currently teaches Advanced Business Restructuring at Suffolk University School of Law. He has been active in international judicial training and legal education, including in Argentina, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine.

Judge Bailey is married to Susan L. Cahill, M.D., FACS, and has two adult sons.