Alexandria, Va. — A team of students from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business earned top honors at the ABI Corporate Restructuring Competition, besting nine other teams from seven schools at the 12th annual event, hosted by The Wharton School in Philadelphia on Nov. 6. It was the school’s fifth time on the Bettina M. White Trophy, which is presented each year to the winning team. Students were given just a week to solve a hypothetical complex case and present their proposed solutions to judges representing key industry stakeholders.

Other top schools competing this year were Dartmouth College (Tuck), Northwestern University (Kellogg School), Duke University (Fuqua), University of Illinois College of Business, University of Chicago (Booth), University of Virginia (Darden) and defending champion Columbia Business School. Both Wharton and Columbia sent two teams. The team from The University of Virginia Darden School of Business earned second place, while Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business took third. ABI’s Anthony H.N. Schnelling Endowment Fund provided cash prizes of $6,000, $3,500 and $2,500 for the top three teams, respectively.

In addition to the case presentations, the competition featured a sponsored networking dinner keynoted by Hon. Marjorie Rendell, a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. An awards reception also followed the final round of the competition.

This year’s competition was co-chaired by Will Sugden (Alston & Bird LLP) and Stephen Darr (Huron Consulting Group). Others serving as competition judges of both the oral presentations and the written deliverables were Kathryn Coleman (Hughes Hubbard & Reed), Jonathan Davis (Ashin Corp.), Dan Dooley (MorrisAnderson), Eric Fromme (Jeffer Mangels), Shane Goss (Huron Consulting Group), Jay Jacquin and Joseph Weissglass (Guggenheim Partners), Tom Kirby (Deutsche Bank), Neil Gupta (SSG Capital Advisors), Michael Lastowski (Duane Morris LLP), Thomas Morrow and Spencer Ware (AlixPartners LLP), Eric Danner and Lisa Poulin (Deloitte), Charlie Reardon (Asgaard Capital), Suzanne Roberts and Sage Sigler (Alston & Bird LLP), Suzanne Roski (Protiviti), Gary Schildhorn (Eckert Seamans), Pat Tinker (U.S. Trustee’s Office), Tim Troha (KPMG), David Vanaskey (Wilmington Trust) and Robert Axenrod (Centelis Capital).

ABI thanks the major sponsors of this year’s competition: AlixPartners LLP, Alston & Bird LLP, Duane Morris LLP, Huron Consulting Group and PJT Partners Inc. ABI also acknowledges the support of the Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors (AIRA).

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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes more than 12,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abi.org/calendar-of-events.