Panels

Jude Gorman [Moderator]
General Counsel, Reorg Research

Jude Gorman is the General Counsel at Reorg Research. Prior to joining Reorg, he was an associate in the Restructuring, Insolvency & Workouts group of Latham & Watkins LLP. During his eight years at Latham, Jude represented debtors, unsecured creditors committees, secured lenders and ad hoc groups in a variety of bankruptcy and restructuring matters. He is a graduate of the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and the Georgetown University Law Center.

Ronen Bojmel
Sr Managing Director, Guggenheim Securities LLC

For more than 20 years on Wall Street, Mr. Bojmel has advised a wide variety of domestic and international clients in out-of-court and Chapter 11 restructurings, recapitalizations, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts and capital raising activities.

Widely applauded for his creativity and strong leadership in major complex restructuring transactions, Mr. Bojmel has been recognized repeatedly by the industry’s leading organization, the Turnaround Management Association (“TMA”), for his achievements as lead banker in designing and orchestrating successful restructuring transactions. Since 2004, Mr. Bojmel has received TMA’s Transaction of the Year Award four times in the Mid-Sized Company, Large Company and Mega Company categories for the following transactions: Grupo TMM (2005), Simmons Bedding (2010), Neff Corp. (2011) and General Growth Properties (2011, “GGP”). GGP was also named “Real Estate Deal of the Year” by Investment Dealers’ Digest in 2009.

Mr. Bojmel serves as the Senior Managing Director and Co-Head to the Restructuring group at Guggenheim Securities. Prior to his investment banking career, Mr. Bojmel worked in aviation security operations under the Consul General of the Government of Israel in New York while simultaneously obtaining his BBA in Finance from Hofstra University (Magna Cum Laude).

Thane Carlston
Moelis & Company, Managing Director

Thane Carlston is a Managing Director and Co-Head of the Recapitalization & Restructuring Group at Moelis & Company. Mr. Carlston has been in the investment banking industry for over 20 years. From 1998 until joining Moelis & Company in 2008, he was Co-Head of the Recapitalization and Restructuring Group at Jefferies & Company. During his leadership, Jefferies advised on nearly $200 billion of restructuring transactions. Before joining Jefferies, he ran the New York office for Chanin and Company, a boutique investment banking firm specialized in providing restructuring advice. Mr. Carlston has extensive experience advising companies, equity sponsors, bondholders and creditor groups in out-of-court restructurings as well as pre-packaged, pre-arranged and unplanned Chapter 11 reorganizations. He has structured and led numerous exchange offers, consent solicitations and lender negotiations in a variety of industries. In addition to advising clients on recapitalization and restructuring services, he has advised on a number of financing and M&A transactions.

Mr. Carlston holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Utah and an M.B.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Adam Preiss
Director, Millstein & Co.

Adam Preiss is a Director at Millstein & Co. Over the course of his career he has advised both debtors and creditors in several of the largest restructuring cases of all time. Since joining Millstein & Co., his clients have included: the Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico in connection with the ongoing restructuring of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s ~$70 billion in outstanding debt; Caesar’s Entertainment Operating Company in connection with its chapter 11 proceedings and ongoing restructuring of ~$18 billion dollars of debt; and first lien lenders of Texas Competitive Energy Holdings, a subsidiary of EFH Corp., in its chapter 11 restructuring. Prior to joining Millstein & Co., Mr.Preiss worked at Lazard, where his clients included Lehman Brothers and Eastman Kodak, among others. Prior to joining Lazard Mr. Preissserved as a law clerk to Judge Stephen F. Williams on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Mr. Preiss graduated from the University of Chicago Law School with highest honors and received his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

James Doak
Managing Director, Miller Buckfire

James Doak is a Managing Director and Co-Head of Miller Buckfire. Mr. Doak's experience includes M&A, financing and restructuring transactions on behalf of the City of Detroit, the Mashantucket (Western) Pequot Tribal Nation, Broder Bros. Co., Magna Entertainment Corp., Standard Pacific Corp., Allied Holdings, Hines Horticulture, ITC^DeltaCom, Level 3 Communications, Kanebo Ltd., Burlington Industries, Horizon Natural Resources, CenterPoint Energy, Gilat Satellite Networks, Viatel and Allied Riser Communications. Mr. Doak has also represented creditor constituents and buyer groups in various restructuring transactions including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Idearc, Wilton Brands Inc., YRC Worldwide and The Lenox Group, and advised several non-disclosed sovereigns and municipalities. Mr. Doak is a former member of the financial restructuring group of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, which he joined in 2000. Prior to joining Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, he was an investment banker at Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Mr. Doak has focused on a variety of sectors throughout his career, including municipal/sovereign financial distress, gaming, transportation, telecommunications, distribution, home goods, information technology, textiles and power generation and transmission. A member of the Turnaround Management Association and the American Bankruptcy Institute, Mr. Doak has authored several articles on corporate distress and turnaround leadership and is a frequent panelist at industry conferences. His work with the City of Detroit received awards from the Turnaround Management Association, M&A Advisor and M&A Atlas Awards, which has also recognized him repeatedly as a Top 100 Restructuring Professional. In June 2011, he was selected as one of The M&A Advisor’s 40 Under 40 leading M&A, financing and turnaround professionals. Mr. Doak currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Heat and Warmth Fund, a leading non-profit provider of utility assistance for Michigan residents in need. Mr. Doak has an M.B.A. (with high distinction) from Harvard Business School where he was a Baker Scholar, a J.D. (cum laude) from Harvard Law School and an A.B. (magna cum laude) from Harvard University.

Professor Anthony Casey [Moderator]
Professor of Law, University of Chicago

Anthony Casey graduated from Georgetown University in 1999 magna cum laude with an AB in economics and government and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He then attended the Law School, receiving his JD with high honors in 2002. He was the recipient of the John M. Olin Prize and a member of the Law Review and the Order of the Coif. After law school, Anthony clerked for then-Chief Judge Joel M. Flaum of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. From 2004 to 2006, Anthony worked as an associate in the Litigation Department at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in New York. There, his practice focused on transaction and takeover litigation, white-collar investigations, and securities litigation. Anthony then moved to Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago, where he added the areas of bankruptcy litigation and complex class actions to his practice. He became a partner at Kirkland & Ellis in 2008.

Before joining the faculty in 2011, Anthony taught at the Law School as a Bigelow Fellow and Lecturer in Law.
Anthony's research and teaching interests include corporations, corporate bankruptcy and reorganization, finance, securities regulation, civil procedure, and law and economics.

George Mesires
Partner, Faegre Baker Daniels

George Mesires is a member of Faegre Baker Daniels’ finance and restructuring group and leads the Chicago team, concentrating his practice on finance, corporate restructuring, bankruptcy, distressed mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate matters. George's experience also includes advising directors and officers on corporate governance, fiduciary duties and strategic matters. He has represented private equity firms, lenders, debtors, receivers, trade creditors and landlords in a variety of insolvency and distressed situations. 

Damian Schaible
Partner, Davis Polk

Mr. Schaible is a partner in Davis Polk’s Insolvency and Restructuring Group. He has substantial experience in a wide range of corporate restructurings and bankruptcies, representing debtors, creditors, banks, hedge funds, asset purchasers and other strategic parties in connection with pre-packaged and traditional bankruptcies, out-of-court workouts, DIP and exit financings, bankruptcy litigation, Section 363 sales and liability management transactions. 

Jim Mazza
Partner, Skadden

Jim Mazza represents clients in all aspects of complex corporate restructurings, including Chapter 11 reorganizations, out-of-court workouts, assets sales and distressed M&A transactions. Mr. Mazza has represented debtors, creditors, asset purchasers and private equity investors in corporate restructuring transactions involving clients’ interests in the United States, Asia, Europe and South America. His experience extends to a wide variety of industries, including automotive, airlines, energy, financial services, gaming, real estate and retail.

Duncan Bourne
Managing Director, Wynnchurch Capital

BACKGROUND: Associated with Wynnchurch since 2003. Previously more than twenty two years consulting and  operational experience – Senior Manager with Ernst & Young, Senior Associate with Jay Alix & Associates, Partner with BDO Seidman LLP, began his career with BP Amoco as a chemical  engineer.  Certified Turnaround Professional and a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor.

TRANSACTIONS: 30 years of experience in turnarounds, financial restructurings, operational performance improvement and investing in special situations.

INDUSTRIES: Manufacturing, transportation, consumer products and underperforming businesses.

DIRECTORSHIPS:  Serves on the Board of Directors of LDE Holdings Corporation and Limestone Holdings Corporation

EDUCATION: B.S., Chemical Engineering, Northwestern University; M.B.A., University of Chicago.

Michael Molenda
Midwest Originations, Regions Bank

Mike joined Regions in June 2012, bringing with him 19 years of experience in the areas of Asset Based Lending and Leveraged Finance. Prior to joining Regions, Mike held senior leadership roles with several different financial institutions working in origination, underwriting and portfolio management.
Mike is a CPA and holds both a BBA in Accounting and Finance from University of Michigan and MBA in Finance from University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Andrew Deren
Director, Houlihan Lokey

Mr. Deren is a Director and a member of Houlihan Lokey’s Transaction Advisory Services practice. With nearly two decades of experience in public accounting and providing transaction advisory services, he has extensive experience in leading operational and financial due diligence teams, evaluating accounting, reporting, structuring, carve-out, human capital, systems, and other issues associated with both large and small transactions for strategic and private equity clients. Mr. Deren is based in the firm’s Chicago office.

Before joining Houlihan Lokey, Mr. Deren was a Senior Vice President at Mesirow Financial Consulting, specializing in distressed M&A. Earlier in his career, he held positions in the M&A Transaction Advisory Services Group of Deloitte LLP and the Audit Group of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Mr. Deren has led diverse M&A teams on numerous acquisitions, divestitures, and recapitalization transactions of varying size and complexity for clients such as GTCR, Kohlberg & Co., Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts, Texas Pacific Group, The Riverside Co., Frontenac, Sara Lee, General Electric, and Motorola. His diverse industry experience includes transactions in the aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, entertainment, gaming, healthcare, homebuilding, infrastructure, manufacturing, media and entertainment, pharmaceuticals, professional services, retail, software, steel, technology, telecommunications, and transportation industries.

Mr. Deren holds a B.S. in Accounting and Finance from Indiana University. He also earned the designation of Certified Public Accountant and is a licensed CPA in Illinois.

Douglas Lipke
Shareholder, Vedder Price

Mr. Lipke concentrates his practice in the area of workout, bankruptcy and corporate reorganization law. He represents a full range of international clients, concentrating in the representation of secured lenders and creditor rights. He also represents debtors, trustees and creditors’ committees. As a bankruptcy litigator, he has tried a wide range of large, sophisticated matters that arise in bankruptcy cases.

Mr. Lipke has a significant representation of financial institutions in structuring, workouts and foreclosures in international equipment and aircraft leasing and equipment financing transactions. He has been involved in most airline insolvencies and bankruptcies (including United, Delta, Northwest, American Airlines and Aloha) and has repossessed and foreclosed on aircraft throughout the world.

Mr. Lipke served as an Adjunct Professor of Corporate Bankruptcy Law at Loyola University School of Law in Chicago (1991–2001) and is a frequent lecturer on reorganization, insolvency and bankruptcy issues to varied groups. He also sits on the Bankruptcy Advisory Board for Strafford Publications.

Kent Collier [Moderator]
CEO, Reorg Research

Kent Collier is the Founder and CEO of Reorg Research. Prior to founding Reorg Research, Kent was a research analyst focused on high yield, distressed debt, and special situations at a number of buy side institutions, including Millennium Partners, Catalyst Investment Management, Assurant Asset Management, and Babson Capital. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce.

Adam Spielman
Sr Managing Director, PPM America

As head of fixed income research at PPM America, Inc. (“PPMA”), Adam Spielman manages a team of over 40 individuals focused on fixed income research. He is responsible for Corporate Credit Research, Debt Restructuring and the Structured Finance ABS Team. Adam joined PPMA in 2001 and has approximately 18 years of investment experience.

Prior to joining PPMA, Adam worked in the investment group of a Chicago-based software company and spent 3 years as an investment banker with Lehman Brothers in New York and Chicago. He started his career at Peterson Consulting in Chicago.

Adam earned a BA in economics from Indiana University and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Arthur Kaz
Founder,  Greenbriar Asset Management

Arthur is the Founder & Chief Investment Officer of Greenbriar Asset Management LP a Chicago-based hedge fund.  Arthur has been involved in distressed investing for more than a decade.  Prior to founding Greenbriar, Arthur was a Portfolio Manager and the Head of Fixed Income at Pentwater Capital Management.  Prior to that he was a Managing Director at Solus Alternative Asset Management, a multi-strategy manager.  The foundation of Arthur's expertise in event-driven credit was developed as a Director at Zolfo Cooper, a boutique consulting firm that advises on large-scale, complex reorganizations. Arthur holds a BA from Knox College, cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Eric Mark
Managing Director, Batuta Advisors

Eric Mark is a Managing Director at Batuta Advisors, a merchant bank targeting middle market and special situation opportunities in both the public and private markets. Batuta specializes in turnarounds, bankruptcies and distressed opportunities across the capital structure.

From 2012 to 2015, Mr. Mark was a senior distressed analyst at BTG Pactual, a Brazilian investment bank, co-managing a $2 billion portfolio of distressed, high yield and special situation equities.  Mr. Mark led official and ad hoc restructuring committees and advised BTG investment bankers on the restructuring of OGX, SMU and Nextel International.

Prior to joining BTG, Mr. Mark was a restructuring advisor to the Chairman, CEO and CFO of Vertis Communications (2011-2012).

From 2008 to 2011, Mr. Mark was a senior distressed analyst at Moore Capital Management / James Caird Asset Management, where he was an active lead member of several restructuring committees including Charter Communications, RH Donnelley, Sinclair Broadcasting, Trico Marine, and Sorenson Communications.  Prior to Moore Capital, Mr. Mark was a senior distressed analyst / Partner at Avenue Capital in London, where he sourced and structured several distressed and private equity investments.   From 2001-2005, Mr. Mark was a high yield and distressed analyst Goldman Sachs.

Mr. Mark joined Morgan Stanley (1997-2001) upon receiving his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business.  Prior to earning his M.B.A., Mr. Mark served as a macro-economist at the US Department of State in Washington D.C. and the Middle East.   Mr. Mark received an M.A. in Economics and a B.A. in Economics and French literature from Indiana University.