ABI Committee Leaders Profile

ABI's Young and New Members Committee, which encourages active involvement of young (under 36 years of age or with less than eight years of experience) bankruptcy practitioners, is co-chaired by Nir Gabriely, Douglas E. Deutsch and Brian L. Shaw.

Mr. Gabriely is a director Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. in Cleveland, where he focuses on the areas of mergers and acquisitions and corporate restructurings. Prior to becoming part of the BGL team, he was a financial analyst at Lanoptics Ltd. Born in Israel, he served as a reserve officer in the Israeli Defense Forces. Mr. Gabriely earned his B.S. summa cum laude from the University of Haifa and his M.B.A. from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

Mr. Deutsch is an associate at Chadbourne & Parke LLP in New York, where his practice involves representation of debtors, secured and unsecured creditors and creditors' committees. He is also an ABI Law Review Advisory Board Member. He earned his B.S. at Drew University and his J.D. and LL.M. at St. John's University School of Law, where he was the editor of the ABI Law Review.

Mr. Shaw is a member of Shaw Gussis Fishman Glantz Wolfson & Towbin LLC in Chicago and has more than 13 years of experience representing debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, creditor and equity committees, chapter 7 and 11 trustees and plaintiffs and defendants in bankruptcy-related litigation. Mr. Shaw is an ABI Board member and the secretary of the Chicago Bar Association's bankruptcy and reorganization committee. Mr. Shaw has authored and co-authored numerous articles in publications such as Norton Bankruptcy Law Letter, The Bankruptcy Strategist and Business Credit and Credit Today as well as for the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education. He is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law.

More Members in the News

Melissa De Groff has joined Barnes & Thornburg LLP in Indianapolis in August, where she is a member of the creditors' rights department and financial institutions practice group and practices primarily in the areas of commercial litigation, bankruptcy and commercial loan documentation. Ms. De Groff graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and earned her J.D. from University of Wisconsin School of Law. She joined ABI in February.

M. Jordan Denning recently joined the litigation and bankruptcy group at Wollmuth Maher & Deutsch LLP in New York City, where he will continue to concentrate on commercial litigation and bankruptcy and restructuring matters. The firm has expertise in all areas of corporate litigation and bankruptcy law. Mr. Denning received his undergraduate degree from Hobart & William Smith College and his J.D. and Master of Intellectual Property from the Franklin Pierce Law Center.

Kurt O'Keefe, a solo practitioner in Detroit, was recently named Michigan state chair of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. Mr. O'Keefe represents debtors in all chapters, as well as FCRA, FDCPA, TILA and RESPA plaintiffs. He earned his J.D. at Wayne State Law School and was a cum laude graduate at the University of Michigan. Mr. O'Keefe is president of the Detroit Debtor Bar Association and has been an ABI member since 2000.

David M. Siegel of Chicago completed and released his first publication, Chapter 7 Success: The Complete Guide to Surviving Personal Bankruptcy. The book, currently available at Amazon.com, informs and educates individuals who are considering filing chapter 7 bankruptcy. Mr. Siegel has been an ABI member since 2001.

Lang Michener announced that Sheryl Seigel joined the firm as a partner and head of the firm's business restructuring and insolvency practice in Toronto, where her practice will focus on formal and informal domestic and cross-border business restructurings and insolvencies, representing debtors, secured creditors, ad hoc and formal creditors committees, purchasers, court-appointed officers, directors and others. Ms. Seigel was the recipient of the first Founders Award presented by the International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) for Outstanding International Contribution in 2004. She has been an ABI member since 1995.

Victor A.Vilaplana has joined the San Diego office of Foley & Lardner LLP as a member of the litigation department and the business reorganizations practice, where he will focus on insolvency matters, particularly complicated business bankruptcies and international transactions. Mr. Vilaplana earned his J.D. from Stanford University, his bachelor's degree with honors from San Diego State University and his master's degree with highest honors from George Washington University. He has been an ABI member since 1999.

The Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA) recently announced the appointment of its officers for 2006-2008. Alan D. Holtz, a New York-based managing director of AlixPartners LLC, will serve a two-year term as president of the association. Mr. Holtz is a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor and a Certified Public Accountant. He received his bachelor's degree from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and completed an executive management program at the Kellogg Business School of the University of Chicago. He has been an ABI member since 1997. Soneet R. Kapila, the founding principal of Kapila & Co. in Fort Lauderdale, will serve as a chairman. He previously served as president and vice president of AIRA and is a CIRA, receiving the Kroll Zolfo Cooper/Randy Waits Bronze Medal for his outstanding performance on the CIRA examination. Mr Kaplia received his M.B.A. from Cranfield Institute of Technology and has been an ABI member since 1994. Gina Gutzeit, a senior managing director with FTI Consulting in New York, will serve as a vice president. She received her B.B.A. from Pace University and has been an ABI member since 2001. Also serving as a vice president is Steve Darr, a senior managing director at Mesirow Financial Consulting in Boston. Mr. Darr is a CIRA and has also attained the Certificate in Distressed Business Valuation (CDBV). He received his B.S. from Boston College and his M.B.A. from University of Chicago. Serving two years as the vice president of development is the Hon. Francis G. Conrad, a former U.S. Bankruptcy Judge and a current a partner with Weiser LLP-Certified Public Accountants in New York. He has a B.B.A. from Manhattan College, an M.B.A. from the John G. Hagen Graduate School of Business, a J.D. from Fordham University and a certificate in Law and Economics from the Federal Judge's program at George Mason University. Judge Conrad is an instructor for the CIRA program and has been an ABI member since 1990. Philip Gund, a principal of Marotta Gund Budd & Dzera LLC in New York, will serve as secretary. He received his B.B.A. from Pace University and has been an ABI member since 2003. Matthew Schwartz, a partner with Bederson & Co. LLP in West Orange, N.J., will serve as treasurer. He received his B.A. from the University of Virginia and his M.B.A. from Rutgers University. Mr. Schwartz was presented with the Manny Katten Award by the AIRA in and has been an ABI member since 1999.

Washington Business Journal recently named Sam J. Alberts of White & Case LLP as a Top Washington, D.C., Bankruptcy Lawyer 2006. Mr. Alberts joined White & Case LLP in 2004 to establish its Washington-based financial restructuring and insolvency practice. He has been an ABI member since 1998.

Greenberg Traurig LLP announced in August that Donald J. Detweiler joined its Wilmington, Del., office as a shareholder in the business reorganization and bankruptcy department. Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig, Mr. Detweiler was a partner at Saul Ewing LLP. Mr. Detweiler concentrates his practice in the areas of bankruptcy, corporate restructuring, insolvency, creditor's rights, post-confirmation litigation trusts and bankruptcy and commercial litigation. He has been an ABI member since 2002. Mr. Detweiler earned his J.D. from Widener University School of Law and his B.A. from Villanova University.

Lawrence R. Ahern III and David Houston IV recently joined the Firm of Burr & Forman LLP in Nashville, Tenn.. For more information, visit www. burr.com.

The merger of Buchanan Ingersoll PC and Klett Rooney Lieber & Schorling PC became effective July, creating Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC. The firm has estimated 2006 annual gross revenues of $265 million and a head count of approximately 550 attorneys and government-relations professionals, with offices in nationwide. ABI members include Alan J. Brody, DeWitt Brown, Mary F. Caloway, Jeffrey M. Carbino, Magdeline D. Coleman, Teresa K.D. Currier, Louis T. DeLucia, Peter J. Duhig, Alyson M. Fiedler, Thomas W. Halm Jr., Mark S. Lichtenstein, James D. Newell, Jami B. Nimeroff, Susan P. Persichilli, Eric Lopez Schnabel, William H. Schorling, Terry A. Shulsky Jr. and Zakarij O. Thomas.

Altman Riley Esher LLP completed its merger in July. The firm is still located at 100 Franklin Street in Boston (www.are-law.com). ABI members include Jack Esher, Lynne Riley and Mark Rossi.

Alan Eisler and two partners recently formed a multi-practice law firm with offices in Rockville, Md., Washington, D.C. and Vienna, Va. Stark, Meyers & Eisler LLC represents both individuals and businesses throughout the Washington metropolitan area in areas such as business transactions, residential and commercial real estate, estate planning, bankruptcy/ creditors' rights and litigation. The firm also represents clients in a variety of zoning and land use matters and handles real estate tax assessment appeals. Mr. Eisler concentrates on bankruptcy law and commercial litigation, representing debtors, creditors and trustees in bankruptcy cases and out-of-court workouts. He works with businesses and individuals in chapter 7, 11 and 13 proceedings and also litigates commercial cases in state and federal courts. He has been a member since 1998.

Gerard DiConza recently joined the faculty at New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies as a part-time adjunct professor teaching a course on workouts, bankruptcy and reorganizations. Mr. DiConza is a principal of DiConza Law PC in New York, where his primary areas of practice are insolvency law, creditors' rights, and commercial bankruptcy litigation. Mr. DiConza has been an ABI member since 1993.

Michelle Campbell recently left White & Case in Los Angeles and joined AlixPartners LLC, where she will grow her chapter 11 case management practice, which will include case and claims management as well as post-confirmation litigation trustee work. She will also work on developing and implementing AlixPartners' new litigation-support service offerings, including E-discovery, data collection and analytics, litigation readiness for corporations implementing document management procedures in light of the changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and class action settlement administration, recruit talent and aid in the development of AlixPartners' international offices. She is a contributing editor to the ABI Journal's Claims Chat column.

Nancy B. Rapoport, professor of law at the University of Houston (UH) Law Center was named the Gordon & Silver, Ltd. Professor of Law at UNLV's William S. Boyd School of Law on July 1, 2007. Prof. Rapoport served as dean of the UH Law Center from 2000-2006, where she oversaw the hiring of 15 tenured and tenure-track faculty members, the first curriculum revision in 20 years, a new strategic plan, seven new endowed professorships, two new centers and a significant increase in fundraising and alumni support. Established in 2003, the Gordon & Silver, Ltd. Professor of Law designation is conferred upon a leading teacher and scholar in the area of commercial, bankruptcy and business law who has shown excellence and innovation in the classroom. Prof. Rapoport's specialties are bankruptcy ethics, ethics in governance and the depiction of lawyers in popular culture. Among her published works is Enron: Corporate Fiascos and Their Implications (Foundation Press 2004) and she also appeared in the Academy Award-nominated documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. She is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. She is admitted to the bars of the states of California, Ohio, Nebraska and Texas and of the U.S. Supreme Court. She earned her B.A. from Rice University and her J.D. from Stanford Law School. She has been an ABI member since 1994.

Greenberg Traurig LLP announced that its Dallas office relocated to its new space on the 52nd floor of the JP Morgan Chase Tower in downtown Dallas in August. The new address is 2200 Ross Ave. Suite 5200, Dallas, TX 75201. ABI members include ABI Journal Contributing Editors Bruce H. White and William L. Medford.

Ken Naglewski, a managing director of Focus Management Group in Tampa, Fla., was recently awarded the designation of Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA) by the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA). Mr. Naglewski specializes in advising both debtors and secured creditors of insolvent companies in the role of restructuring and financial advisor and expert witness on bankruptcy issues. Mr. Naglewski is a earned his B.S. at Roosevelt University and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Turnaround Professional.

Kurtzman Carson Consultants LLC, based in Los Angeles, opened a new office in Memphis, Tenn., in August to better serve its clients' growing document-production and distribution needs.

Investment banking firm Western Reserve Partners LLC in Philadelphia welcomed David M. Powlen as a managing director in August. In addition to assisting with traditional merger and acquisition projects, Mr. Powlen will lead the firm's work on restructurings, chapter 11 cases and other special situations for a variety of clients, including companies undertaking turnarounds, recapitalizations and sale transactions, and lenders, creditors' committees, prospective investors or purchasers and other parties that become involved in such situations. Previously, Mr. Powlen worked as a senior financial advisor in a nationally prominent consulting firm and as leader of the restructuring group within the investment banking division of one of the country's largest diversified financial institutions. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School and a certified insolvency and restructuring advisor, and was also certified in business bankruptcy law while a practicing attorney. Mr. Powlen has been an ABI member since 1988.

John Lewis Jr. has been named senior managing counsel of litigation for the Coca-Cola Co. in its global legal center in Atlanta, where he manages the attorneys and staff responsible for litigation and disputes throughout the 200+ countries around the world where the firm does business. Prior to joining Coca-Cola in 2002, he was a commercial litigator in private practice with emphasis on bankruptcy, creditors' rights and related matters. Mr. Lewis has held dual ABC board certification in both business and consumer bankruptcy law. He has been an ABI member since 1993.

Jack B. Fishman recently spoke at the Florida Bar Business Section Retreat on Wind-downs, Preferences and Other Matters Affected by BAPCPA. Mr. Fishman is the executive managing director of Bankruptcy Advisory Services (f.k.a. Novare Inc.), an EPIQ Systems company based in Crystal Lake, Ill. He has been an ABI member since 2001.

Venable LLP has added Stephen K. Gallagher as a partner in the firm's offices in Tyson's Corner, Va., and Washington, D.C. He operates in all areas of commercial litigation, corporate bankruptcy and restructuring, including the restructuring of nonprofits. He also brings significant experience representing clients in the purchase and sale of assets from entities in chapter 11 proceedings. Mr. Gallagher has been selected as one of The Best Lawyers in America for 2007 in Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law and joins Venable from the Virginia-based law firm of LeClair Ryan. Mr. Gallagher earned his J.D. in Banking and Financial Services Law from George Mason University School of Law, where he was associate journal editor of the Letter of Credit Update, and earned his B.S. from James Madison University. He has been an ABI member since 1993.

Six U.S. Trustee Program employees were recognized by the Attorney General on Sept. 12 in Washington, D.C., including John P. Fitzgerald of Boston. He was presented with the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service for his outstanding contributions to the implementation of the credit counseling and debtor education provisions of BAPCPA. Mr. Fitzgerald has been an ABI member since 2003.

Steven Zuckerman recently left the law firm of Berger Singerman PA in Miami, where he focused on corporate restructuring, to start the private equity firm Innovo Capital, which provides capital and operational expertise to small and mid-sized companies that are experiencing financial, legal, or operational challenges. Mr. Zuckerman's can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].

John R. McDonald is new a shareholder and member of the financial institutions and real estate section at Briggs and Morgan in Minneapolis, where he practices principally in the areas of bankruptcy and insolvency, business trial and litigation, project finance and real estate development, corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. McDonald received his B.A. cum laude from the College of St. Thomas, his M.A. cum laude from the University of New Hampshire and his J.D. with honors from Hamline University School of Law. He has been an ABI member since 1992.

MorrisAnderson Associates Ltd. merged with Centre Health Partners LLC of Brentwood, Tenn. in September. ABI members include Daniel F. Dooley, Daniel M. Bagley, Bernadette Barron, Anthony Collura, Alan J. Glazer, Sidney Lambersky, Howard J. Mulin, James P. Ross, Robert F. Troisio, Steve Courtade, James M. Gallagher, Richard Kazmier, Robert A. Morris, David B. Paddy, Baker A. Smith and Thomas F. Walker. Headquartered in Chicago, MorrisAnderson has offices in New York, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Delaware, Los Angeles and Nashville, Tenn.

Michael T. Conway recently joined the New York office of LeClair Ryan as a partner, where he will head the office's bankruptcy practice and will also be involved in actively recruiting additional attorneys for his practice area. He comes from the firm of Lazare Potter, where he represented creditors and debtors in a wide variety of industries. He began his career in 1992 as an associate at Brodey & Price in Beverly Hills, Calif., after earning dual J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from Wake Forest University's School of Law and Babcock Graduate School of Business Management. He has been an ABI member since 2002.

Wayne D. Holly, a New York-based attorney, has authored a new single volume treatise titled Bankruptcy Crimes Law and Procedure. The book is published by LRP Publishing. Mr. Holly's primary area of practice is bankruptcy fraud. He has been an ABI member since 1999.

Gregory K. O'Briant Joins Bridge Associates LLC as a principal in New York. Mr. O'Briant earned his B.S and M.B.A. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He is a Certified Public Accountant and recently joined ABI in October.

Grant Thornton LLP, with offices worldwide, recently acquired Stout Risius Ross Inc.'s restructuring and performance improvement group in Chicago. ABI members include Steve J. Akers, Loretta Cross, Jack DiFranco, Matthew E. Druckman, Anthony J. Gerbino, Martha E. M. Kopacz, Robert A. Lack, Ben Mann, Laura Marcero, James Peko, Kimberly Davis Rodriguez, Hernan Serrano Jr., Peter Stenger, Robert W. Tague and Jamie VanderMass.

ABI members Christian Onsager and Mike Guyerson recently formed a new firm with partner Earl Staelin in Denver. Mr Onsager is a former ABI Board Director and has been a member since 1985. Mr. Guyerson has been an ABI member since 2005.

Leslie A. Berkoff of Moritt Hock Hamroff & Horowitz LLP in Garden City, N.Y., was reelected to chair of board of directors of the International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) in September. Ms. Berkoff is a partner in Moritt Hock's bankruptcy and creditors' rights practice group. She has been an ABI member since 2001.