Alexandria, Va. — A team of students from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania took top honors for the third consecutive year at ABI’s 14^th Annual Corporate Restructuring Competition. The Wharton School bested seven other schools business schools at the competition, which was held on Nov. 3. This is the school’s seventh time overall to receive 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.

Another team from The Wharton School came in second place, while Columbia Business School 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. Other schools competing this year were Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Management, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, University of Virginia Darden School of Business, Babson College and Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business.

In addition to the case presentations, the competition featured a sponsored networking dinner keynoted by Bankruptcy Judge Mary F. Walrath (D. Del.; Wilmington). An awards reception also followed the final round of the competition.

Will Sudgen (Alston & Bird LLP) served as the chair of the Corporate Restructuring Competition assisted by Tom Morrow (AIRA). Both participated as competition judges. Practitioners who also served as competition judges of both the oral presentations and the written deliverables included Robert Axenrod (Centelis Capital), Brian Buebel (Huron Consulting), Tom Clinkscales (Alston & Bird), Kathryn Coleman (Hughes Hubbard & Reed), Scott Davis (Grant Thornton), Dan Dooley (MorrisAnderson), Joe Fallon (PJT Partners), Eric Fromme (Theodora Oringher PC), Neil Gupta (SSG Capital Advisors), James Hadfield (Configure Partners), Dan Ireland (FTI Consulting), Katie Keane (McGuireWoods), Tom Kirby (Deutsche Bank), Michael Lastowski (Duane Morris), Jim Lukenda (Huron Consulting), Tom Morrow (Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors), Charles Reardon (Asgaard Capital), Suzanne Roski (Protiviti), Kyle Sturgeon (Meru, LLC), Pat Tinker (Office of the U.S. Trustee) and Peter Wollmeringer (Huron Consulting).

ABI thanks the major sponsors of this year’s competition, including Alston & Bird, Duane Morris, Huron Consulting Group and PJT Partners.

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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 11,000 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.