ABI Announces 2024 "40 Under 40" Emerging Leaders in Insolvency Practice
ABI Announces 2024 "40 Under 40" Emerging Leaders in Insolvency Practice
Alexandria, Va. — ABI announces the honorees of its 2024 “40 Under 40” award program, which identifies 40 top industry professionals under age 40. The honorees will be recognized at a special ceremony on Dec. 13 during ABI’s 2024 Winter Leadership Conference at The Phoenician Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Ariz. ABI’s 2024 “40 Under 40” honorees are:
- Olya Antle of Cooley LLP (Washington, D.C.)
- Gemma Bellfield of Ogier (Camana Bay, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands)
- Lauren Berret of Eisner Advisory Group, LLC (Philadelphia)
- Joseph Boufadel of Salvato Boufadel LLP (Los Angeles)
- Annmarie Chiarello of Winstead PC (Dallas)
- Rahman Connelly of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP (New York)
- Elliot Crowder of Stevenson & Bullock, P.L.C. (Southfield, Mich.)
- Jingzhi Dai of Jefferies LLC (New York)
- Marguerite Lee DeVoll of Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald, LLP (McLean, Va.)
- Jodi Dubose of Stichter Riedel Blain & Postler (Pensacola, Fla.)
- Brittany Falabella of Hirschler Fleischer, P.C. (Richmond, Va.)
- Aryeh Falk of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (New York)
- Jace Ferraez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Mississippi (Aberdeen)
- Kellie Fisher of Drummond Woodsum (Portland, Maine)
- Emily Geier of Kirkland & Ellis (New York)
- Christopher Hampson of the University of Florida Levin College of Law (Gainesville, Fla.)
- Michael Handler of King & Spalding LLP (New York)
- Julie Harrison of Norton Rose Fulbright (Houston)
- Cole Hayes of Hayes Law (Charlotte, N.C.)
- Camber Jones of Spencer Fane LLP (Springfield, Mo.)
- Thomas Kessler of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP (New York)
- Nick Koffroth of Fox Rothschild (Los Angeles)
- Daniel Kokini of FTI Consulting, Inc. (New York)
- Nicholas Laue of Keller & Almassian, PLC (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
- Nienke Lillington of Campbells LLP (George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands)
- Jessica Mendez-Colberg of Student Loan Advisors PR (Ponce, P.R.)
- Mark Moore of Foley & Lardner LLP (Dallas)
- Meaghan Murphy of Meland Budwick, P.A. (Miami)
- Daniel Newman of Tonkon Torp LLP (Portland, Ore.)
- Michael Papandrea of Lowenstein Sandler LLP (Roseland, N.J.)
- Dana Robbins of Burr & Forman (Tampa, Fla.)
- Christina Sanfelippo of Cozen O'Connor (Chicago)
- Gabriel Sasson of Paul Hastings LLP (New York)
- Adam Searles of AlixPartners, LLP (New York)
- Emily Shanks of Gray Reed (Dallas)
- Mark Sidorenkov of Alvarez & Marsal North America, LLC (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
- Debra Sinclair of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP (New York)
- Darius Tay of BlackOak LLC (Singapore)
- Susan Adams Tran of Tran Singh LLP (Houston)
- Maurice VerStandig of The VerStandig Law Firm, LLC (Potomac, Md.)
- John Weber of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (New York)
“We are honored to celebrate the exceptional leaders within the 2024 class as they continue to make a significant impact both in their practice and in their communities,” said ABI Executive Director Amy Quackenboss. “As bankruptcy practice continues to evolve, this diverse collection of honorees will propel ABI and the insolvency community forward.”
Nominations were submitted earlier this year by the candidates themselves or by colleagues via the award program’s website, abi40under40.org. More than 200 candidates, each with outstanding records of professional achievement and community leadership, were evaluated by members of a 22-person steering committee. Most of the applicants were partners, directors or managing directors at their firms.
This year’s Steering Committee, chaired by Nicholas Zluticky of Stinson LLP (Kansas City, Mo.), included Michelle Bass of Wolfson Bolton PLLC (Troy, Mich.), Jason Brookner of Gray Reed (Dallas), José Carles of CARLES | CUESTA (Madrid, Spain), Patrick A. Clisham of Engelman Berger, PC (Phoenix), Prof. Laura Coordes of Arizona State University (Phoenix), Swapna Deshpande of AlixPartners (New York), Rosa J. Evergreen of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP (Washington, D.C.), Neil Gupta of SSG Capital Advisors LLC (West Conshohocken, Pa.), Jon Henrich of Ankura (New York), Jeffrey S. Kwong of Levene Neale Bender Yoo & Golubchik, LLP (Los Angeles), John Loughnane of White and Williams LLP (Boston), Erin McKeighan of Alvarez & Marsal (Chicago), Ben Olushola of Gordon Brothers (London), Adam L. Shpeen of Davis Polk (New York), Glenn Siegel of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP (New York), Brendon Singh of Tran Singh LLP (Houston), Zachary H. Smith of Moore & VanAllen (Charlotte, N.C.), Chief Bankruptcy Judge Kimberley H. Tyson (D. Colo.; Denver), Emily Wall of Cavazos Hendricks Poirot, PC (Dallas), Jamila Justine Willis of DLA Piper (New York) and Claire K. Wu of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman (Los Angeles). Many of the members of this year’s Steering Committee are themselves past ABI “40 under 40” honorees.
Now in its eighth year, the goal of ABI’s “40 under 40” award program is not simply to create a one-time ceremony, but to fully engage those selected as future leaders in the insolvency profession and to build on the program each year. ABI staff have created a year-round promotional campaign in the ABI Journal and at all of its conferences in consultation with the Steering Committee.
For more information about ABI’s “40 under 40” award program, visit abi40under40.org.
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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.abi.org. For additional conference information, visit www.abi.org/calendar-of-events.