Panels

Moderator:

Charles Braley
Director, AlixPartners

Charles Braley is a Director in the firm’s Corporate Turnaround & Restructuring practice with over 20 years of experience. He is responsible for development and implementation of cash management, finance transformation and operational turnaround initiatives in challenging environments. Charlie’s experience includes managing corporate finance and treasury departments, constructing and negotiating complex financings and driving savings initiatives and process improvements for a variety of large and middle-market clientele. Prior to joining AlixPartners, Charlie worked in the leveraged finance group at Heller Financial/ GE Capital and with Ernst & Young’s M&A Advisory group. Charlie is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Insolvency & Restructuring Advisor (CIRA). He received a Bachelors’ Degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is an active member of the Turnaround Management Association and frequent panelist and speaker at industry events.

Panelists:

Erik Lisher
Managing Director, PJT Partners

Erik Lisher is a Partner and Chief Operating Officer in the Restructuring and Special Situations Group at PJT. Previously, Mr. Lisher was a Managing Director in the Investor Relations & Business Development Group at Blackstone involved in all aspects of fundraising activities for the Private Equity, Energy and Tactical Opportunities funds. Prior to that, he was a Managing Director in Blackstone’s Restructuring & Reorganization Group where he worked from 2003 to 2013 on a variety of strategic advisory and restructuring transactions. He also served as a board member of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation. Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Lisher was an Associate at JP Morgan in the investment banking group where he executed various M&A, high yield and leveraged finance transactions. Mr. Lisher received a BA from Wake Forest University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Adam Preiss
Managing Director, Millstein & Co

Mr. Adam Preiss serves as Director at Millstein & Co. LLC. He was a Vice President at the firm. Prior to joining Millstein & Co., Mr. Preiss spent three years in the restructuring group at Lazard, where he represented companies and stakeholders in major restructuring, financing and distressed M&A transactions. Prior to his experience at Lazard, Mr. Preiss served as a law clerk to Judge Stephen F. Williams on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Mr. Preiss received a J.D. with highest honors (first in class) from the University of Chicago Law School and received a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Reid Snellenbarger
Managing Director, Houlihan Lokey

Reid Snellenbarger is a Managing Director of Houlihan Lokey and a senior member of the firm’s Financial Restructuring Group. He has nearly two decades of experience in the distressed industry. Mr. Snellenbarger’s experience includes conducting acquisitions and divestitures of unique and special situation assets, raising various forms of capital, and negotiations relating to the restructuring of private and public securities, both in Chapter 11 and out-of-court situations. Before joining Houlihan Lokey, Mr. Snellenbarger was a Vice President with PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Corporate Finance Group in the Chicago restructuring practice. Mr. Snellenbarger has served on Houlihan Lokey’s Valuation and Technical Standards Committee and is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and the Turnaround Management Association. Mr. Snellenbarger holds a B.S. in Finance with distinction from Purdue University.

Moderator:

Douglas Baird
Professor, University of Chicago Law School

Douglas G. Baird is Harry A. Bigelow Distinguished Service Professor and former dean at the University of Chicago Law School. He joined the faculty in 1980 and served as the dean from 1994-1999. He is a leader in the field of bankruptcy law. His books, including Elements of Bankruptcy, Cases, Problems, and Materials on Bankruptcy and Contract Stories are used in law schools around the country. Baird has written 13 books and 71 articles. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1996. In 2008, The Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal awarded Mr. Baird with its Distinguished Service Award which honors an individual who makes a sizable impact on the field of bankruptcy. Baird was named a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and served as the Vice-Chair of the National Bankruptcy Conference from 1997 until 2005. Baird received his B.A. in English summa cum laude from Yale College. He graduated from Stanford Law School.

Panelists:

Emil Kleinhaus
Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen, and Katz

Emil A. Kleinhaus is a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. He represents clients in litigation at the trial and appellate levels, with a focus on issues relating to bankruptcy, insolvency and creditors’ rights. His areas of expertise include chapter 11 reorganizations, fraudulent transfer and fiduciary claims, and disputes arising under loan agreements. He represented JPMorgan Chase in the successful defense of actions arising out of the Bernard Madoff and Lehman Brothers bankruptcies. He was lead counsel for Education Management in litigation arising out of the company’s $1.5 billion restructuring. He was lead trial counsel for TPG, KKR and Goldman Sachs in the bankruptcy of Energy Future Holdings. Mr. Kleinhaus received a B.A., summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Yale College, and a J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was an Articles Editor of the Yale Law Journal.

Andrew McGaan
Partner, Kirkland and Ellis

Andy McGaan is a nationally recognized trial lawyer who has won jury and non-jury cases throughout the United States. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. In 2011, a National Law Journal Special Report, "Winning: Successful Litigators, Powerful Strategies," identified him as one of "the nation's best litigators." Other recognitions include: American Lawyer, "Litigator of the Week" (May 5, 2011) for defense verdict in City of St. Louis v. American Tobacco; Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business nationwide ("fantastic to work with"; "tenacity in the courtroom," the "whole package”); Benchmark Litigation Guide to America's Leading Litigation Firms & Attorneys ("Bankruptcy star Andrew McGaan…'belongs on any bankruptcy litigator list'"); The Legal 500 U.S.: "Leading Lawyer" for Product Liability & Mass Tort Defense: Consumer Products (including tobacco); Law360 "Product Liability MVP" (2011); defense verdict in Mash v. Brown & Williamson profiled in Crain's Chicago Business among most prominent of 2004

George Mesires
Partner, Faegre, Baker, Daniels

George Mesires is a member of the 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. Before joining Faegre Baker Daniels, George was co-chair of the finance and restructuring practice at Ungaretti & Harris in Chicago. Prior to private practice, he was general counsel for a startup telecommunications company and led the distressed sale process of substantially all of the company's assets to a regional telecommunications company. Before serving as in-house counsel, George was an Assistant Attorney General in the New York State Attorney General's Office.

Christopher Sontchi
Judge, Delaware Bankruptcy Court

Christopher S. Sontchi is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Delaware. Judge Sontchi is a Lecturer in Law at The University of Chicago Law School and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Widener Law School in Wilmington, Delaware. He is also a member of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, American Bankruptcy Institute, Turnaround Management Association and INSOL International. Judge Sontchi was a member of the Committee on Financial Contracts, Derivatives and Safe Harbors of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11 and recently testified on the safe harbors for financial contracts before the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law of the House Committee on the Judiciary. Judge Sontchi attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and obtained a B.A. with distinction in Political Science. He received his J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School.

Moderator:

Justin Smith
Managing Director, Xtract Research

Justin Smith serves as the Managing Director of Xtract Research. Justin started with Xtract Research in 2008 and worked closely with the founders to build it into a leading covenant research firm. Before Xtract Research, he worked at Sidley Austin and Morgan Lewis representing borrowers and lenders in a wide range of financing transactions, including many leveraged buy-outs. Justin has participated on a number of panels and roundtable discussions, including the Debtwire Leveraged Finance Roundtable in July of 2013. He graduated from the University of Virginia and Washington and Lee University School of Law.

Panelists:

Eric Baer
Principal & Portfolio Manager, Chicago Fundamental Investment Partners

Eric S. Baer is a founding member of Chicago Fundament Investment Partners (CFIP), a corporate credit focused investment management firm with approximately $800 million in regulatory AUM and undrawn capital commitments of up to $1.1 billion. Mr. Baer is currently responsible for analysis and asset selection for leveraged loan portfolios. Prior to joining CFIP in 2006, Mr. Baer was a Senior Vice President at Citadel Investment Group where he was a founding member of the Distressed and Fundamental Credit Group and served as the Fundamental Research Sector Head – Cable, Media & Telecommunications. Previously at Citadel, Mr. Baer also served as a Senior Analyst focusing on fundamental analysis of debt and equity securities across distressed, high yield and special situations. Mr. Baer earned his M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Chicago (with honors) and his B.S. in Finance from Indiana University. Mr. Baer is a CFA charterholder

Peter Campo
VP, Floating Rate Loan Portfolio Manager, Eaton Vance

Peter Campo is a Vice President of Eaton Vance Management and Portfolio Manager on Eaton Vance's floating-rate loan team. He began his career in the investment management industry in 1995. Before joining Eaton Vance, he was a credit analyst with CypressTree Investment Management. He earned a B.S. and an MBA from Bentley University. He is a member of the Boston Security Analysts Society and is a CFA charterholder

Michael Connelly
Associate Portfolio Manager, T. Rowe Price

Michael Connelly is a vice president of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. He is an associate portfolio manager in the Fixed Income Division, responsible for high yield investments and credit research. Prior to joining T. Rowe Price in 2005, Michael worked as an equity research analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc., in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He earned a B.B.A. in finance and marketing from Marquette University and an M.S. in finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Michael also has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation

Mike Laskowski
Managing Director - Head of High Yield Trading, PPM America

Mike Laskowski is a Managing Director in Public Fixed Income at PPM America and focuses on High Yield Credit Trading.  Mike joined PPM in 2002 and has 26 years of investment experience, 19 of which he spent in various roles in leveraged credit.  Prior to joining PPM, Mike worked for Pacholder Associates in Cincinnati as an analyst and trader in both high yield and distressed investing.  He started his career working in equities and options for a small boutique.  He received a B.S. in Finance from the University of Dayton and an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago.

Moderator:

Tom O’Donoghue, Jr.
Partner, CR3 Partners, LLC

Tom O’Donoghue offers a special perspective and deep understanding of businesses needs and objectives from numerous roles as a turnaround manager, financial advisor, investor, and corporate executive. He has contributed to several successful restructuring outcomes with organizations in a wide range of industries, including consumer products, building products, printing, food, custom fabrication, retail, distribution, furniture, and steel products. Mr. O’Donoghue holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame. He holds the Certified Turnaround Practitioner (CTP) designation and is a member of the ABI and TMA.

Panelists:

Duncan Bourne
Managing Director, Wynnchurch Capital, LLC

More than thirty-five years of experience in turnarounds, financial restructurings, operational performance improvement and investing in special situations. Managing Director with Wynnchurch Capital since 2003. Previously more than twenty years consulting and operational experience – Senior Manager with Ernst & Young, Senior Associate with AlixPartners, Partner with BDO Seidman, began his career with BPAmoco as a chemical engineer. Duncan has authored several articles and is a frequent speaker on turnarounds and value creation in distressed and underperforming businesses. He is Certified Turnaround Professional and a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor and holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University and M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. Duncan serves on the global board of the Turnaround Management Association and is a longtime member of the Association of Insolvency and Reorganization Advisors and the American Bankruptcy Institute.

Colin McClary
Managing Director, Z Capital

Mr. McClary is a Managing Director of Z Capital and is a member of the Private Equity Investment Team and is responsible for sourcing / analyzing transactions through proprietary information. Prior to joining Z Capital in March 2014, Mr. McClary served in the Special Assets/Risk Management (“SAG”), Debt Private Placement (“PP Group”) and Corporate Banking Groups at Bank of America/Banc of America Merrill Lynch (“BOA”). Starting in 2009, Mr. McClary was a Senior Vice President in SAG. He has extensive experience in restructuring sole and syndicated loans for Borrowers operating in challenging environments, within and outside court proceedings. From 1999 to 2009, Mr. McClary was a Vice President in the PP Group structuring and distributing private placement bonds to U.S. based insurance companies and pension funds for Issuers primarily located in U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, Australia, Ireland and Italy. In addition, Mr. McClary developed a credit default swap contract that provided for the delivery of private placement bonds. Mr. McClary received a Masters of Science in Finance with a concentration in Accounting from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and a Bachelor in Economics from DePauw University.

Bill Welnhofer
Partner & Managing Director, Birch Lake Associates, LLC

Bill Welnhofer is a Managing Director and Partner at Birch Lake Associates. Bill joined Birch Lake from KPMG Corporate Finance, KPMG’s investment banking division. For many years led the restructuring business in the global investment banking department of Robert W. Baird & Co., which previously acquired his investment banking practice at Starshak Welnhofer & Co., a Chicago-based broker-dealer, that Bill founded and operated for almost two decades. Bill’s representative transactions include numerous sales and acquisitions of businesses such as Arquest, AstroTurf, Borse Industries, Coleman-Powermate, Dairy Mart Convenience Stores, Focus Products, Kiel Bros. Oil and KP Oil, KX Industries, Origin Healthcare Solutions and Starcraft Corporation. Bill has also served as a trusted advisor and board member to numerous private companies. In addition to holding numerous securities licenses, he is a licensed attorney and a member of the American Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute and the Turnaround Management Association. Bill holds B.A. (Economics, with distinction), M.B.A. and J.D. degrees from Northwestern University. His civic and charitable activities include being an executive committee and board member of the Northwestern University Settlement (House) Association.