Saba Ahmad is President at Turning Rock Partners, a women-founded private investment firm, where she oversees business operations related activities, including Investor Relations, operations and finance, and post close asset management and value creation.

Prior to joining Turning Rock, Ms. Ahmad spent over seven years at Fortress Investment Group as a Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Fortress Partners Fund. Ms. Ahmad graduated from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business with a dual degree in Accounting & Finance.

Ben Beller plays key roles in some of S&C’s most complex, high-profile restructuring matters on the debtor and creditor sides and was elected partner effective January 2024. Ben previously clerked for the Honorable Robert E. Gerber and the Honorable Shelley C. Chapman of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York.

Most recently, he was named to Benchmark Litigation’s 2024 “40 & Under” list, Turnaround & Workouts’ “Outstanding Young Restructuring Lawyers 2023” list, and by The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law (2023 and 2024).

Jessica Kenney Bonteque practices in the area of business reorganization and financial restructuring, representing secured and unsecured creditors, debtors, official committees of unsecured creditors, equity holders, purchasers of distressed assets, and other parties in interest in a wide range of restructuring matters, including cases under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, out-of-court restructurings and cross-border insolvency proceedings.

Ms. Bonteque has represented creditors and debtors faced with insolvency situations in a variety of industries, including healthcare, transportation, shipping, retail, gaming, oil & gas, storage, farming and dairy, and food and beverage. She has also participated in a wide variety of litigation in federal and state courts involving fraudulent conveyance actions, breaches of fiduciary duty, secured and unsecured financings, letters of credit, foreclosures and the enforcement of guaranties.

Ms. Bonteque is a 2008 graduate of Arizona State University, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, and a cum laude graduate of Northern Arizona University.

Bruce Buchanan is Co-Head of Oppenheimer’s Debt Advisory & Restructuring Advisory practice. Mr. Buchanan has over 25 years of restructuring and strategic debt capital advisory experience across a broad spectrum of industries, products and markets. His experience includes advising and assisting companies, private equity sponsors and other stakeholders in all phases of restructuring, evaluating strategic alternatives and effectuating a wide array of value maximizing initiatives. He has advised on complex liability management and debt restructurings in both a public and private company context and has arranged over $30 billion in distressed and special situations capital commitments.

Prior to joining Oppenheimer, Mr. Buchanan was Head of Debt Capital Advisory at PwC and Head of Restructuring and Strategic Finance at Morgan Stanley and GE Capital.

Mr. Buchanan is a Certified Insolvency Restructuring Advisor, Certified Public Accountant, holds an M.B.A. in Finance from New York University and FINRA Series 24 (Principal) securities license. He is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and a frequent speaker at various corporate finance and restructuring conferences, including the iGlobal Forum, Practising Law Institute, Turnaround Management Association and VALCON Conferences. His professional accolades include being recognized among the Top 25 Investment Bankers and Top 100 Restructuring advisors by Global M&A Network in 2022, “People to Watch” by the Turnarounds and Workouts publication, and Gold Medal recipient by the Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors.

Tom has over 20 years of experience advising distressed businesses in a wide variety of industries. His restructuring acumen includes operational turnarounds, financial restructurings, divestiture transactions, merger integration, enterprise improvement and orderly liquidations.

He performs financial advisory, interim management, and CRO roles for distressed companies. His experience managing complex dynamics across the stakeholder spectrum has resulted in many innovative and consensual solutions. Tom has performed many debtor and creditor roles within the bankruptcy process, including such cases as Transit Group, Inc., Parmalat USA Corp., Best manufacturing Group LLC, North Oakland Medical Centers, Autobacs Strauss, Consolidated Horticulture Group, Qualteq, Inc., KidsPeace Corp., Saint Michaels Medical Center, Inc., Lombard Public Facilities Corporation, Great Eastern Energy, Aceto Corporation, Rochester Drug Cooperative, Inverness Village, Agera Energy, and Buckingham Senior Living.

Prior to joining B. Riley Advisory Services (formerly GlassRatner) in 2018, Tom was a restructuring advisor at Glass & Associates, Huron Consulting and a Principal at EisnerAmper. Before his restructuring career, he spent approximately 9 years in industry (extruded polymers), in a variety of roles including manufacturing operations, marketing, and executive management. He has worked directly or managed consulting engagements in many industries, including chemicals/plastics, textiles, automotive, medical distribution, specialty pharmacy, heavy and light industrial manufacturing, tax-free bonds, healthcare delivery (hospital/SNF/CCRC), credit cards, transportation and logistics, engineering and construction, generic & opioid pharmaceuticals, food processing, metals/mining, fertilizer processing, personal care products, dairy, steel, outdoor retailing and retail energy.

Tom has a BS from Lehigh University and an MBA from Wake Forest University and holds the CTP and CIRA designations.

Mark E. Chesen is a founding partner and Managing Director of SSG Capital Advisors. Mark is a prominent leader in the restructuring industry with over 35 years of experience advising businesses facing operational or financial challenges including bankruptcy proceedings. He has completed over 200 investment banking transactions involving the sale, private placement or financial restructuring of middle market companies in North America and Europe. Prior to founding SSG, he held senior leadership positions including co-head of the investment banking group, head of the Special Situations Group and member of the management committee at Berwind Financial.

Past clients include publicly traded, privately held, private equity sponsored and family-owned companies across diverse industries. Mark is a respected speaker and expert on financial restructuring topics. He has conducted over 50 presentations and authored numerous articles on special situation mergers and acquisitions, capital raises, valuations, and financial restructurings.

Mark is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Association for Corporate Growth, and the Turnaround Management Association.

Education:

• University of Texas in Austin, B.S.

James Doak (HLS/HBS ’99, College ’94) is Head and Managing Director of Miller Buckfire, the restructuring investment bankers of Stifel Financial (NYSE: SF; www.stifel.com). Mr. Doak has been an investment banker with Miller Buckfire and its predecessor entities since graduating from HLS and HBS with a JD/MBA over twenty years ago. Mr. Doak’s experience includes advising clients on M&A, financing and restructuring transactions, including Gymboree, Aéropostale, The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., Sequential Brands (including Jessica Simpson and Martha Stewart), Standard Pacific Corp., and dozens of other companies in retail, consumer goods, gaming, distribution, telecommunications, energy and other industries. Three of Mr. Doak’s largest assignments have been working with the City of Detroit in its precedent setting Chapter 9 bankruptcy; the Mashantucket (Western) Pequot Tribal Nation, which operates the Foxwoods Casino; and several creditor groups around Puerto Rico’s ongoing financing restructuring.

Mr. Doak is a member of the Turnaround Management Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute and a frequent panelist at industry conferences. Mr. Doak recently served on the Federal Judiciary’s Chapter 9 Roundtable and has authored several articles on corporate and retail distress and turnaround leadership. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Heat and Warmth Fund, a leading non-profit provider of utility assistance to Michigan residents in need, and is the alumni Treasurer and a member of the alumni board of the Harvard Krokodiloes.

Christopher Donoho has made a career out of navigating tough situations and finding creative solutions that create value.

For Chris, that can mean negotiating an out-of-court solution to a complex financial problem, or it can mean guiding a client through a U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy or foreign insolvency proceeding. Regardless of the forum, he always enjoys the challenge of taking complex situations, breaking them down, and then leading a process that results in accretive value for his clients.

Whether leading a process or lending a hand on a project, Chris is a key member of both the New York office and the firm’s global Restructuring and Special Situations team, all of whom, individually and as a team, are experienced and recognized in their field, working on many of the most important bankruptcy situations around the globe. From 2015 to 2019, he was the administrative partner for the New York office. Chris has previously served as the Global Head of the firm’s Restructuring and Special Situations team, but continues in a leadership role in the U.S..

Chris spends much of his time protecting the rights of creditors in restructurings, frequently on behalf of investment funds. He also has considerable experience representing companies facing distress, leading them through work-outs or Chapter 11 restructurings in jurisdictions across the United States. He is frequently called into situations that involve multi-national companies and complicated cross-border disputes, drawing on the resources of his colleagues and Hogan Lovells around the world.

As Co-President of A&G Real Estate Partners, Andy Graiser brings nearly 30 years of experience as a go-to resource for a variety of real estate services on behalf of healthy and distressed entities. His key areas of expertise include lease mitigation, real estate dispositions, facilitating growth opportunities, valuations, and acquisitions.

He co-founded A&G in 2012 with Co-President Emilio Amendola. Previously, in 1992, they founded and then later sold DJM Realty.

Mr. Graiser and his team have achieved rent-reduction and occupancy-cost savings approaching $8 billion on behalf of 650+ clients in every real estate sector, while selling more than $12 billion of non-core properties and leases. The clients he is most closely associated with include Mattress Firm, Claire’s, RadioShack, rue21, Dowling College, A&P Supermarkets, Party City, Christmas Tree Shops, Tailored Brands, Chico’s, Ruth’s Chris, GNC, and Tuesday Morning.

Terrence Grossman is a Partner at AlixPartners, and focuses on leading retailers through financial and operational restructurings, store portfolio transformations and capital raises. Clients include JC Penney, Party City, Children’s Place and GMAC Mortgage.

He also has extensive corporate retail experience, having served in senior financial leadership positions at CVS Corporation, CVS Realty, Linens ‘n Things, and Tommy Hilfiger.

Terrence has an MBA in finance from Seton Hall University and served 12 years as a Field Artillery officer in the US Army.

With more than 20 years of experience in turnaround and restructuring and special situations, Mychal has been instrumental in advising clients during some of their most transformative times. He has helped client’s turnaround and transform their businesses by successfully executing financial and operational restructurings, recapitalizations, divestitures of assets, making strategic acquisitions, and execute in-court and out-of-court transactions.

Leveraging a broad range of engagements, Mychal has served as lead advisor for middle market and Fortune 500 companies, advising corporate boards and other key stakeholders when stakes were at their highest. With experience in healthcare/life sciences, industrials, and manufacturing, he is able to offer a broad range of solutions to meet clients’ needs. In 2022, Mychal was named by Consulting Magazine as one of its top consultants. Additionally, Mychal was honored by M&A Advisor’s as an Emerging Leader for Dealmakers.

Mark Joachim is Co-Leader of Polsinelli’s Special Situations Investing Team. Mark has more than 30 years of experience representing distressed businesses, boards of directors, special committees, independent directors, debtor-in-possession lenders, distressed debt investors, official committees, ad hoc groups of creditors in connection with special situations, corporate restructurings, liquidity and liability management transactions, recapitalizations, and in- and out-of-court restructurings. Mark is frequently called upon to advise boards of directors, board committees and senior management of financially troubled companies on a range of issues, including corporate governance and fiduciary duties.

In addition to his work in the corporate restructuring arena, Mark also represents equity sponsors and borrowers, as well as first and second lien lenders, in senior debt, mezzanine and private equity financing arrangements. Mark’s experience and capabilities on the “new money” side of his practice allows him to formulate and implement novel and creative structures and strategies in the context of financially-troubled situations.

Chris is a Managing Director in Accordion’s Turnaround and Restructuring Practice. With nearly two decades of experience helping his clients navigate complex and volatile situations, Chris has primarily focused his career on IT, healthcare technology, and financial and operational turnarounds across the healthcare sector.

Chris has held critical leadership roles in managing crisis situations. In his recent role as Chief Information Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Mercy Iowa City, a community hospital, he oversaw IT and various operational departments, addressed bankruptcy-related matters, and developed transition plans related to the acquisition of the hospital system.

One of the Firm’s founders, Mr. Krasoff is responsible for the strategic direction of the firm and marketing the firm’s corporate finance and restructuring practice. Mr. Krasoff has led engagements for both public and private entities. His engagements for corporate finance have included sell and buy-side advisory, valuation opinions, acquisition financings, and growth financings.

His engagements for financial restructurings have included representation of debtors, distressed bondholders, buyers of distressed debt, lenders to distressed debtors, secured creditors and Official and Ad Hoc Committees. Mr. Krasoff has provided services in both upstream and downstream energy, real estate, extractive industries, manufacturing, environmental, distribution, health care, and retail industries.

Mr. Krasoff began his career at KPMG in the tax department. He moved into the real estate development business where he acted with several principals in the formation of over 40 corporate and limited partnership entities, principally in the Texas real estate market. The entities had original asset values in excess of $300 million. He has also previously practiced as a Certified Public Accountant.

Prior to joining Chiron Financial Group, Mr. Krasoff was Chief Financial Officer of Texas Gypsum Industries, Inc., where he managed capital markets, acquisitions and divestitures, and general financial and accounting matters. He gained considerable creditor bankruptcy experience while at Texas Gypsum through involvement on both creditor committees and as a distressed debt purchaser.

Samuel R. Maizel is a partner in Dentons US LLP’s Los Angeles office. Sam’s practice focuses on restructuring, insolvency and bankruptcy, in- and out-of-court in all industries, but he leads the firm’s healthcare industry restructuring efforts nationwide. He has served as lead bankruptcy counsel to healthcare industry debtors, including in the recently completed chapter 11 bankruptcy cases of Verity Health System of California, Inc., and 15 related companies, the second largest hospital bankruptcy in American history, and in the Astria Health bankruptcy cases in Yakima, Washington.

Before joining Dentons, Sam was a partner at a national bankruptcy boutique firm (1997-2015), and previous to that he represented the federal government nationwide as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Commercial Litigation Branch (1991-1996). He has also served in U.S. Army’s The Judge Advocate General’s Corps (1985-1991), including service in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, as well as an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army (1977-1985).

Sam has lectured extensively, is widely published, and been interviewed on television and radio on topics related to the healthcare industry and bankruptcy. Among many other honors, he is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, is ranked in Chambers in both Bankruptcy and Healthcare, and has regularly been named a “Super Lawyer” in an annual region-wide peer survey. Sam has his J.D. from George Washington University National Law Center (1985); an M.A. from Georgetown University (1983); and a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point (1977).

Chris Mudd is a petrochemicals operating executive who has held multiple senior management roles during his 30+ years in the industry. He has experience with strategy development and implementation, corporate carveouts, divestitures, mergers, and acquisitions. He created and launched a successful public company, led the divestment of a business unit from Dow/Exxon with exit at 8x EBITDA multiple, led Dow’s negotiating team for a 900MW natural gas fired cogeneration plant, and has been CEO of a private equity portfolio company. He also recently served as Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO) for a privately owned specialty chemical company operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Chris began his career with Dow Chemical where he served in various commercial, business management, purchasing, licensing and financial analyst roles. He was named President & General Manager of a specialty chemicals joint venture of Dow Chemical and ExxonMobil, Dexco Polymers, where he had full P&L responsibility. In 2011 he led the successful carve out and sale of the business to an overseas strategic buyer for $200M and continued to lead the company under new ownership. Chris became President & COO of CSW Industrials (NASDAQ: CSWI) a company which he created and launched in 2015. Company valuation has grown from $350M at time of IPO to more than $4.7B today. In 2018, Chris became CEO of SGCE/Juniper Specialty Products, a specialty chemicals company owned by private equity and a sovereign wealth fund. Prior to joining Chiron, Chris was President of CJM ChemConsult, an advisory firm that identifies, develops, and supports strategic growth opportunities for investors in the chemical industry.

Chris currently serves as a Director of MUD355 in Houston. He is the immediate past-President of the Board of Directors of a non-profit that supports young adults with intellectual disabilities in Houston. He has previously served on the Board of Governors of the Petrochemical Founders Club and is past-President, Americas Section, of the International Institute of Synthetic Rubber Producers. He is also past co-Chairman of the Purdue University parent advisory board.

Oscar N. Pinkas is a leader of the firm’s Global Restructuring & Bankruptcy Practice, and a member of the Corporate and Finance Practices. He focuses on transactions (front-end and back-end) as well as turnarounds and workouts, including in-court practice and estate representations. His clients include investors, purchasers, lenders/noteholders, companies, indenture trustees and collateral agents, and creditors’ committees.

Oscar is adept at understanding clients’ goals and pursuing them through the most complex of situations, while anticipating and navigating the interests of competing constituencies. Clients seek out Oscar’s dynamic leadership, creativity and practicality to help navigate their most difficult, unique, or sensitive problems as he can approach situations both as a fierce competitor and with a deft touch, with the goal of protecting his clients’ interests at every turn. Oscar has been named one of The Best Lawyers in America, a Top Restructuring & Turnaround Professional, and an Emerging Leader in M&A, Financing and Turnaround. In addition, many transactions or restructurings Oscar has led have received awards due to the outsized results obtained. Those accolades equally show the breadth and depth of skill and experience of his practice groups at the firm, with Greenberg Traurig’s Restructuring and Bankruptcy Group named “The Elite” and Corporate/Finance Group named “Highly Regarded” by Chambers USA.

Clients turn to Oscar for counsel in situations in or out of court involving strategic, operational, or financial issues, with an emphasis on assisting investors, sponsors, lenders/noteholders and funds deploy, manage, exit and recover on their investments, including in M&A, equity or debt (primary or secondary) transactions, growth, realignment, optimization and turnaround of companies, capital recoveries (including workout, taking ownership and foreclosure), and any attendant disputes or litigation. His work is domestic and cross-border in nature, having advised on transactions and situations on 6 continents, involving up to 12 countries in any given instance and over 30 different countries in total.

Restructurings or transactions Oscar has been heavily involved in include: abc carpet & home, Accuride, A. Stucki & Co., ATP-UK, bebe stores, Brazos Electric, Deluxe Entertainment, Dura Automotive Systems, Erickson, Fenix Parts, Fontainebleau, Gasfrac Energy, Global A&T Electronics, iMedia, Inversiones Latin American Power, Intercement, Lehman Brothers, Magnetation, Mesabi Metallics, Movie Gallery, NewComm Wireless, Ranger Offshore, Refco, Revlon, Rite Aid, Sanjel, Sea Containers, Sheridan Production Partners, Star Entertainment, Tropicana Entertainment, VIVUS, Walter Energy, Westpoint Home, WOM Chile, and Young Broadcasting.

Esam Saidmuratov is a Director at Paceline Equity Partners. Paceline Equity Partners is a Dallas-based private equity fund pursuing value oriented, opportunistic, and special situations investments across asset classes. Esam is involved in origination, structuring, and capital markets in the various investments within the firm’s private equity and corporate credit strategies.

Previously, Esam worked at a special situations private equity fund and a private BDC, focusing on originating, structuring, and managing investments across the capital structure. Esam began his career at GE Capital’s Investment Analyst Leadership Program, which was an intensive leadership development program that was later acquired by Wells Fargo.

Chaim Theil is a partner in the New York office and a member of the firm’s global M&A and Private Equity group. His practice encompasses advising sponsors and strategic clients on their domestic and cross-border M&A, carve-outs, joint ventures, credit and equity financings, and general corporate transactions and governance.

Chaim is also highly sought after by sponsors, private companies, and public companies in special situation investments, restructurings, bankruptcy sales, and other workouts. He has significant experience with transactions in a broad cross section of industries including healthcare, energy, media, industrials, retail, and technology.

Before joining Sandton, Andrew was a senior investment associate at Obsidian Point Partners, focusing on private transactions in the lower middle market.

Ms. Zielinski joined Great Rock Capital in 2016 to build-out and lead Great Rock Capital’s underwriting and portfolio management functions. In her current role as the Head of Underwriting, she oversees and works alongside the underwriting team throughout the deal screening, underwriting due diligence, investment committee approval, and closing processes.

Prior to Great Rock, she was Assistant Vice President, Natural Resources, Credit Risk at Barclays, where she led underwriting and due diligence for new clients. Prior to Barclays, she held positions at Louis Dreyfus Commodities and GE Capital. Ms. Zielinski holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Northeastern University.

Ms. Zielinski was selected among Secured Finance Network’s 40 under 40 Awards for 2024, recognizing the achievements of young professionals in the secured finance industry.