Katherine Catanese of Foley & Lardner Elected to ABI's Board of Directors
Alexandria, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) announces that Katherine Catanese of Foley & Lardner (New York) has been elected to ABI’s Board of Directors. An ABI member since 2005, Catanese is the co-chair of the ABI Caribbean Insolvency Symposium, served on the advisory board of ABI’s Mid-Level Program while also being honored in the 2018 class of ABI’s “40 Under 40” program. She will serve a term of three years on the 60-member ABI Board of Directors.
Catanese effectively and efficiently handles various cross-border fraud matters. She represents companies, investors and hedge funds — both onshore and offshore — in bankruptcy ligation, including involuntary bankruptcies and chapter 15 bankruptcies. Catanese also assists companies with maximizing the value of their assets through both in- and out-of-court asset sales. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she represented a prominent seafood restaurant chain in avoiding a bankruptcy filing through a successful out-of-court distressed asset sale. Catanese also focuses her practice on helping creditors solve problems related to all aspects of distressed debt. Recently, this has included representing numerous customers in cryptocurrency bankruptcies. She has extensive experience in the representation of trustees regarding the resolution of and objection to bankruptcy claims, pursuit of fraudulent transfer and preference actions, and litigation related to bad-faith bankruptcy filings, Ponzi schemes and § 363 asset sales. Catanese earned her B.A. summa cum laude in psychology in 2001 and her J.D. cum laude in 2004, both from Michigan State University.
The complete list of directors and officers is available at http://www.abi.org/about-us/board-directors.
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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 nearly 10,000 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.
Marchand Boyd of Axos Bank Elected to ABI's Board of Directors
Alexandria, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) announces that Marchand Boyd of Axos Bank (Columbus, Ohio) has been elected to ABI’s Board of Directors. An ABI member since 2007, Boyd has served on the advisory boards of ABI’s Caribbean Insolvency Symposium, Central States Bankruptcy Workshop, Mid-Atlantic Bankruptcy Workshop and Midwest Regional Bankruptcy Seminar while also serving on the steering committee for ABI’s “40 Under 40” program. He will serve a term of three years on the 60-member ABI Board of Directors.
Marchand Boyd is the head of Global Fiduciary Banking and Services at Axos Bank. In this role, Boyd formulates market and engagement-specific deposit management solutions, and provides clients with the specialized banking accommodations they need to successfully administer their fiduciary responsibilities. His professional background and experience are a unique blend of fiduciary management and systems improvement, which allows him to bridge the gap between banking and technology to present customized solutions to his clients. As a recognized industry leader in fiduciary banking solutions, Boyd is responsible for expanding professional client relationships across a wide range of fiduciary markets. He possesses extensive client advisory and industry expertise and in-depth understanding of treasury management and technology solutions for professional fiduciaries in domestic and international markets.
The complete list of directors and officers is available at http://www.abi.org/about-us/board-directors.
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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 nearly 10,000 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.
Stephen Alexander Spitzer of AlixPartners LLP Elected to ABI's Executive Committee
Alexandria, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) announces that Stephen A. Spitzer of AlixPartners, LLP (New York) has been elected to serve as an at-large member of ABI’s Executive Committee. An ABI member since 2017 and a member of ABI’s Board of Directors since 2019, Spitzer is a co-director of ABI’s Complex Financial Restructuring Program and is an active member of the Board of Director’s International Committee.
Spitzer is a managing director at AlixPartners, LLP and has more than 20 years of management and consulting experience. His operational expertise includes acting as the senior financial executive for a division of a multibillion-dollar direct-marketing and media company, interim treasurer for a publicly traded manufacturing company, and CFO for a private-equity-backed magazine publishing company. Spitzer has experience in establishing financial control policies and procedures, developing long-range business plans, designing management-reporting tools, and creating liquidity forecasts. Stephen has spent the last 10 years as a consultant providing restructuring leadership and investment banking services for companies in the media, direct-marketing, entertainment, manufacturing and telecommunications industries. He also has experience navigating both debtors and creditors through the challenges of a restructuring process.
The complete list of directors and officers is available at http://www.abi.org/about-us/board-directors.
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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 nearly 10,000 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.
Bankruptcy Judge Hannah Blumenstiel Named ABI Vice President- Research Grants
Alexandria, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) announces that Bankruptcy Judge Hannah L. Blumenstiel (N.D. Cal., San Francisco) has been named to a two-year term as ABI Vice President-Research Grants. An ABI member since 2007 and a member of ABI’s Board of Directors since 2018, Judge Blumenstiel has served as the judicial chair of ABI’s Bankruptcy Battleground West conference and as a member of ABI’s Asset Sales, Bankruptcy Litigation and Business Reorganization Committees.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit appointed Judge Blumenstiel to the bankruptcy bench on February 11, 2013. Prior to her appointment, Judge Blumenstiel was an associate (2003-08) and then a partner (2008-12) with Winston & Strawn LLP, where she focused her practice on creditors' rights litigation in state and federal court, including bankruptcy court. From 2001-03, Judge Blumenstiel was an associate with Murphy Sheneman Julian & Rogers LLP, where she represented debtors, creditors and trustees in bankruptcy cases and adversary proceedings. She clerked for Hon. Charles M. Caldwell of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Eastern Division) from 1998-2001. From 1997-98, Judge Blumenstiel represented the State of Ohio's interests in bankruptcy cases as an Assistant Attorney General with the Revenue Recovery Section of the Ohio Attorney General's Office. She earned her J.D. from Capital University Law School in 1997 and her B.A. from The Ohio State University in 1992.
The complete list of directors and officers is available at http://www.abi.org/about-us/board-directors.
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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 nearly 10,000 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.
Hon. Michelle M. Harner Named ABI Vice President-Education
Alexandria, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) announces that Bankruptcy Judge Michelle M. Harner (D. Md.; Baltimore) has been named to a two-year term as ABI Vice President-Education. She formerly served as ABI Vice President-Research Grants. An ABI member since 2003, Judge Harner has served on ABI’s Board of Directors since 2015; received ABI’s highest honor, the ABI Service Award; served as the Robert M. Zinman ABI Resident Scholar for the fall of 2015; and was the official Reporter for the ABI Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11, a three-year study funded by ABI’s Endowment Fund to provide recommendations to Congress on ways to modernize chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Judge Harner will also be a co-chair on ABI’s Subchapter V Task Force.
Judge Harner was appointed to the bench in 2017. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Harner was 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, where she taught courses in bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, business associations, business planning, corporate finance and the legal profession. She lectured frequently during her academic career on various topics involving corporate governance, financially distressed entities, risk management and related legal issues. Her academic scholarship is widely published, with her publications appearing in, among others, the Vanderbilt Law Review, Notre Dame Law Review, Washington University Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, Indiana Law Journal, Fordham Law Review (reprinted in Corporate Practice Commentator), Washington & Lee Law Review, William & Mary Law Review, University of Illinois Law Review, Arizona Law Review (reprinted in Corporate Practice Commentator) and Florida Law Review. Judge Harner has served as the Associate Reporter to the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and as a member of the Dodd-Frank Study Working Group for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. 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 international law firm Jones Day. She graduated summa cum laude from The Ohio State University College of Law in 1995 and cum laude from Boston College in 1992.
The complete list of directors and officers is available at http://www.abi.org/about-us/board-directors.
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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 nearly 10,000 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 https://www.abi.org/calendar-of-events
Bradley D. Sharp Elected ABI Vice President-Development
Alexandria, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) announces that Bradley D. Sharp of Development Specialists, Inc. (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) (DSI) has been named to a two-year term as ABI Vice President-Development. An ABI member since 1994 and a member of the ABI Board of Directors since 2017, Sharp has co-chaired ABI’s Asset Sales and Business Reorganization Committees, and he served on the advisory board of ABI’s Southwest Bankruptcy Conference, was a Southwest regional chair for the ABI Endowment, a member of the ABI Board of Director’s Development committee and served on the steering committee for ABI’s “40 Under 40” program.
Sharp is the president and CEO of DSI and has more than 25 years of experience providing crisis-management, financial advisory and third-party fiduciary services. He has advised and operated companies in numerous industries, including consumer finance, real estate development, high-tech, manufacturing, food and agriculture. Sharp has served as Chief Restructuring Officer and as trustee, both under chapters 7 and 11 and post-plan confirmation. He is also an expert witness with respect to fiduciary duties, banking, finance and securitizations. Sharp received his B.S. in 1985 from Mesa State College.
The complete list of directors and officers is available at http://www.abi.org/about-us/board-directors.
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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 10,000 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.
Christopher A. Ward Named ABI President-Elect
Alexandria, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) announces that Christopher A. Ward of Polsinelli (Wilmington, Del.) has been selected by the ABI Board of Directors to be President-Elect. He will become president for a one-year term, starting at ABI’s 2024 Annual Spring Meeting. An ABI member since 2003 and formerly ABI Vice President-Development, Ward was previously the chair and education director of ABI’s Technology & IP Committee, a member of the Mid-Atlantic ABI Endowment Committee and a co-author of ABI’s A Business Creditor's Guide to Distressed Vendors, Debt Collection and Bankruptcy and The Chief Restructuring Officer’s Guide to Bankruptcy: Views from Leading Insolvency Professionals.
As co-chair of Polsinelli’s Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring practice and managing shareholder of its Delaware office, Ward routinely tackles financial restructurings and litigation. He has significant experience in representing chapter 11 debtors and unsecured creditors’ committees, working both sides of the restructuring industry. Ward is ranked in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for Bankruptcy/Restructuring (Delaware), and has been named in The Best Lawyers in America for Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law and in Delaware Super Lawyers as a Rising Star for 2012. He received his B.A. from Moravian College in 1995 and his J.D. cum laude from Widener University School of Law in 1999.
The complete list of directors and officers is available at http://www.abi.org/about-us/board-directors.
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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 nearly 10,000 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.
Soneet R. Kapila Named ABI President
Alexandria, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) announces that Soneet R. Kapila of KapilaMukamal, LLP (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) has been selected by the ABI Board of Directors to be President for a one-year term. An ABI member since 1994, Kapila was recently ABI’s Treasurer and a co-chair of ABI’s Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop, and he is a contributing author to ABI’s Fraud and Forensics: Piercing Through the Deception in a Commercial Fraud Case, a regular speaker at ABI events, and an active member in the ABI Anthony H.N. Schnelling Endowment Fund.
Kapila is a founding partner of KapilaMukamal, LLP (formerly Kapila & Co.). For nearly 30 years, he has concentrated his efforts in the areas of insolvency, fiduciary and creditors’ rights matters. He represents other bankruptcy trustees, debtors, and both secured and unsecured creditors in and out of bankruptcy court. Kapila is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, and he has been named one of the Power Leaders in Law and Accounting by the South Florida Business Journal and Best Trustee by the Daily Business Review’s “Best of 2012.” In addition, the South Florida Business Journal honored him with its Key Partners Award. Kapila received his M.B.A. from the Cranfield School of Management Studies in England.
The complete list of directors and officers is available at https://www.abi.org/about-us/board-of-directors.
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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 nearly 10,000 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 https://www.abi.org/education-events.
New ABI Officers and Directors Elected
Alexandria, Va. — The following members of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) were elected to leadership positions as officers and directors:
Soneet R. Kapila of KapilaMukamal, LLP (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) becomes ABI President for a one-year term, succeeding Hon. Kevin J. Carey (ret.) of Hogan Lovells US LLP (Philadelphia), who now assumes the position of Immediate Past President. Christopher A. Ward of Polsinelli (Wilmington, Del.), formerly ABI Vice President-Development, was named President-Elect and will become ABI President in April 2024. Robert P. Reynolds of Reynolds, Reynolds & Little, LLC (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) succeeds Hon. Barbara J. Houser (ret.) as Chairman of the Board for a one-year term.
Bradley D. Sharp of DSI (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) replaces Christopher Ward as Vice-President Development and will serve a two-year term. Hon. Michelle Harner (D. Md.; Baltimore), formerly Vice President-Research Grants, was elected to serve a two-year term as Vice President – Education, succeeding Douglas L. Lutz of Frost Brown Todd LLC (Cincinnati). Hon. Hannah L. Blumenstiel (N.D. Cal.; San Francisco) was elected to serve a two-year term as Vice President-Research Grants, succeeding Judge Harner. Stephen Alexander Spitzer of AlixPartners LLP (Dix Hills, N.Y.) was elected to serve as an At-Large member of the Executive Committee. Eve H. Karasik of Levene, Neale, Bender, Yoo & Golubchik L.L.P. (Los Angeles) was reappointed to a two-year term as Vice President-Diversity & Inclusion.
Eight ABI members were elected to their first terms on the ABI Board of Directors:
· Marchand Boyd of Axos Bank (Columbus, Ohio)
· Katherine Catanese of Foley & Lardner (New York)
· Matthew Faga of Markus Williams (Denver)
· Allen Kadish of Archer & Greiner (New York)
· Evelyn Meltzer of Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders (Wilmington, Del.)
· Hon. Sage Sigler (N.D. Ga.; Atlanta)
· Kristina Stanger of Nyemaster Goode (Des Moines, Iowa)
· David Wender of Eversheds Sutherland (Atlanta, Ga.)
There are 60 members on the ABI Board of Directors. The complete list of directors and officers is available at http://www.abi.org/about-us/board-directors.
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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 nearly 10,000 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.
Bankruptcy Filings Increase Across All Chapters in March; Commercial Filings Up 79 Percent Year-over-year
Total filings exceed 40,000 for first time since April 2021
NEW YORK – April 3, 2023 – New bankruptcy filings in March 2023 registered year-over-year increases across all U.S. major filing categories for the third month in a row, according to data provided by Epiq Bankruptcy, the leading provider of U.S. bankruptcy filing data.
A total of 42,368 new bankruptcies were filed in March, up 17 percent from the 36,068 filings registered in March 2022, and marking the highest number of monthly filings since 40,931 bankruptcies were recorded in April 2021.
Year-over-year commercial filings were up 24 percent to 2,305 compared to 1,854 in March 2022. Commercial chapter 11 filings (including subchapter V) increased 79 percent to 548 versus the 306 filings registered the previous year. Of the total commercial chapter 11 filings, the 140 subchapter V filings in March represented a 12 percent increase from the 125 filings in March 2022.
Total individual filings increased 17 percent to 40,063 versus 34,214 in March 2022. Year-over-year individual chapter 7 filings increased 13 percent to 24,467 versus 21,594, and individual chapter 13 filings were up 24 percent to 15,537 versus 12,532 in March of 2022.
“While total filings are up for the third month in a row and exceeded the 40,000 level for the first time in two years, the jump also reflects the historical trend of March consistently being the highest month for filings every year,” said Gregg Morin, Vice President of Business Development and Revenue for Epiq Bankruptcy.
For the first calendar quarter of 2023 (Jan. 1 through March 31), the 105,433 total bankruptcy filings represented an 18 percent increase from the 89,289 total filings during the same period last year. Consumer filings also increased 18 percent, to 99,700 filings in the first quarter of 2023 from the 84,481 consumer filings during the same period in 2022.
Total overall commercial bankruptcies increased 19 percent in the first quarter of 2023, as the 5,733 filings surpassed the 4,808 commercial filings during the first quarter of 2022. Total commercial chapter 11 filings registered a 77 percent increase to 1,301 during the first quarter of 2023 from the 735 total commercial chapter 11s during the same period in 2022. Subchapter V elections for small businesses increased, as the 371 filings in Q1 2023 were up 33 percent from the 280 filed during Q1 2022. Individual chapter 7 filings during the first quarter 2023 were 57,172, a 12 percent increase over the 51,083 individual chapter 7 filings during the same period of 2022. Individual chapter 13 filings during the first quarter 2023 were 42,364, a 28 percent increase over the 33,189 individual chapter 13 filings in the same period of 2022.
Comparing month-over-month, the 42,368 total filings in March were 33 percent higher than the 31,898 filings recorded in February. Total commercial filings increased 35 percent to 2,305 from the 1,710 filings the month prior. Total commercial chapter 11 filings (including subchapter V) increased 46 percent to 548 from the 375 filed in February. Of the total commercial chapter 11 filings, subchapter V filings increased 18 percent to 140 in March, up from 119 in February.
Total month-over-month individual filings increased 33 percent to 40,063 from 30,188. Individual chapter 7 filings increased 44 percent to 24,467 from 16,988 in February, while individual chapter 13 filings increased 18 percent to 15,537 from the 13,148 filed in February.
“The increase in bankruptcy filings in the first quarter of the year demonstrates the growing debt burdens of both consumers and businesses,” said ABI Executive Director Amy Quackenboss. “As inflationary prices have increased in tandem with the cost of borrowing, struggling companies and households have access to a financial reprieve through the bankruptcy process.”
ABI has partnered with Epiq Bankruptcy to provide the most current bankruptcy filing data for analysts, researchers, and members of the news media. The new bankruptcy filing data will be the focus of an abiLIVE webinar, “Bankruptcy Filing Growth: Will Increases Continue Beyond 1Q 2023?,” at 1 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, April 11. Morin will be joined by Ed Flynn of ABI and Hon. Judith K. Fitzgerald (ret.) to discuss first-quarter filings and what trends might lie ahead for the remainder of 2023. For more information and to register, visit https://www.abi.org/events/bankruptcy-filing-growth-will-increases-continue-beyond-1q-2023.
Epiq Bankruptcy is a division of Epiq and is the leading provider of data, technology, and services for companies operating in the business of bankruptcy. Its Bankruptcy Analytics subscription service provides on-demand access to the industry’s most dynamic bankruptcy data, updated daily. Learn more at https://bankruptcy.epiqglobal.com.
About Epiq
Epiq, a global technology-enabled services leader to the legal industry and corporations, takes on large-scale, increasingly complex tasks for corporate counsel, law firms, and business professionals with efficiency, clarity, and confidence. Clients rely on Epiq to streamline the administration of business operations, class action and mass tort, court reporting, eDiscovery, regulatory, compliance, restructuring, and bankruptcy matters. Epiq subject-matter experts and technologies create efficiency through expertise and deliver confidence to high-performing clients around the world. Learn more at https://www.epiqglobal.com.
About ABI
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 nearly 10,000 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.abi.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abi.org/calendar-of-events.
Press Contacts
Carrie Trent
Epiq, Director of Communications
John Hartgen
ABI, Public Affairs Manager