Gabriel de Alba is a Managing Director and Partner of The Catalyst Capital Group Inc. Mr. de Alba’s responsibilities at Catalyst have included acting as a director or senior officer of various Catalyst portfolio companies. Mr. de Alba presently serves as Executive Chairman of Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited, Chairman and Director of Frontera Energy Corporation (TSX:FEC) and as Chairman of Therapure Biopharma Inc. and Sonar Entertainment Inc. He has also served as a director or senior officer at Geneba Properties, Cable Satisfaction International Inc. / Cabovisão, and World Color Press Inc.

Catalyst is a private equity investment firm with more than $6 billion in assets under management and is a leader in operationally focused turnaround investing. Catalyst and funds managed by it have invested in numerous distressed and/or under-valued companies, including (in addition to the portfolio companies mentioned above) AT&T Canada Inc. (Allstream), Call-Net Inc., Stelco Inc., IMAX Corporation, Countryside Power Income Fund, Canwest, YRC Worldwide Inc. and Tervita. Prior to joining Catalyst at its inception in 2002, Mr. de Alba worked at AT&T Latin America. Mr. de Alba was a founding member of the Bank of America International Merchant Banking Group and, prior to that, worked in Bankers Trust’s New York Merchant Banking Group.

Mr. de Alba was recognized by the Global M&A Network as the 2018 Global Private Equity Growth Dealmaker of the Year in the Leadership Achievement. Mr. de Alba is fluent in five languages and holds a double B.S. in Finance and Economics from the NYU Stern School of Business and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University. He has also completed graduate courses in Mathematics, Information Technology and Computer Sciences at Harvard University.

Mr. de Alba has actively participated and supported New York University’s academic efforts. As an example, Mr. de Alba is endorsing a Chair for Dr. Ed Altman. Mr. Altman is a Professor of Finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He is best known for the development of the Z-Score for predicting bankruptcy which he published in 1968.

James is a senior retail executive with more than 20 years of hands-on experience managing growth, performance improvement and restructuring and turnaround strategies for brick-and-mortar stores, e-commerce retailers and restaurants.

“Transformation is about helping an organization get through disruption, making them stronger and more viable than before.”

At Huron, James leads a team responsible for developing growth and turnaround strategies for organizations across the consumer products space, including retailers and restaurants. He has an extensive background in all aspects of retail operations, including omnichannel merchandising, global sourcing, inventory management, digital marketing and analytics.

James thrives on helping retail organizations address some of their most complex issues, from real estate negotiations to supply chain management, inventory productivity and capital investment. He advises senior leaders across the consumer products space on strategies to improve financial performance by driving gross margins and reducing expenses.

Prior to joining Huron, Jim served as a senior adviser to retail executives, as well as to private equity and hedge funds investing in the consumer products space. He has held leadership positions at a number of national retailers, including Sears Holdings, where he oversaw a multibillion-dollar portfolio of businesses for over 2,000 Sears and Kmart stores, Target and Kozmo.com. James has served as a restructuring and turnaround adviser for Glass & Associates, as well as a management consultant for EY.

• 30-year turnaround, workout, and crisis management professional
• 160 significant workout and turnaround engagements
• Client Representative Situations:
  • CEO of $52 million military and civilian aircraft engine part manufacturer
  • CEO/Part Owner of $250 million Tier I automotive parts manufacturer, complex manufacturing COO of $28 million equipment rental company
  • CEO & Part Owner of $14 million healthcare services company
  • CRO of $25 million construction supply company
  • CRO of $22 million third party logistics company
  • CEO & Part Owner of $35 million biotech services contract research organization (CRO)
  • Workout Advisor for $525 million Food Wholesaler and Manufacturer
  • Workout Advisor for $120 million Automotive Stamping Company
  • Workout Advisor for $230 million Automotive Stamping Company
  • Workout Advisor for $130 million Food Processor
  • Workout Advisor for $85 million Credit and Collections Law Firm
  • Workout Advisor for $75 million Trucking Firm
  • Workout Advisor for $90 million Call Center Services Company
  • Other significant engagements
• Clients have ranged in size from $7 million to $515 million in revenue
• Mr. Croley started as an operator with middle-market companies and generated high-value impact for owners
• Created a national middle-market, high-impact, turnaround practice for a national advisory firm
• Participates at Board level and as Board special advisor with significant private equity firms
  B.S., M.S., and M.B.A. degrees

Ryan Dahl is a business restructuring partner at Ropes & Gray with extensive experience representing publicly- and privately-held debtors, distressed investors and financial sponsors in special situations, out-of-court restructurings, distressed acquisitions and in-court chapter 11 processes. Ryan regularly handles a broad range of transactional and litigation matters across many industries.

Dushyant Dave founded Decode Resolvency International Private Limited which is the regulated entity to support insolvency professionals in India. He is the founding Partner of Decode Advisory LLP which is engaged in Turnaround management services. He is a registered Insolvency Professional and has handled assignments across the sectors for the values ranging from USD 10 MN to USD 4 Billion per transaction. He leads the team of over 35 Insolvency Professionals located across the major cities of India.

Dushyant Dave is also the founding partner of D C Dave & Co; a Cost & Management Accounting firm in India serving some of the largest corporate houses for last over two decades. He has more than 25 years of experience in Corporate Finance, Cost Reduction, Profit Improvement, Turnaround and Restructuring services, Operations, Strategic Consulting, Private Equity and M&A. He has acquired skill sets to advise PE funds in their portfolio management both pre-acquisition and post-acquisition.

Dushyant also advises the investors to work on various options of buying the stressed assets both out of court and through insolvency courts. He has access to significantly large portfolio of distressed assets in India. He frequently speaks on the related topics.

Dushyant is a member of the Turnaround Management Association. He is a Law Graduate, a Professional Cost & Management Accountant and holds the Executive Education Certificate from the Wharton School of Business in USA. He lives in Mumbai, India with associate offices in USA.

James Doak is a Co-Head and Managing Director of Miller Buckfire. Mr. Doak’s experience includes M&A, financing and restructuring transactions on behalf of Tuesday Morning, Gymboree, Things Remembered, Aéropostale, 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 and Gilat Satellite Networks.

Mr. Doak has also represented creditor constituents in various restructuring transactions including The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., COFINA/Puerto Rico, Idearc, Wilton Brands Inc. and The Lenox Group and advised several non-disclosed sovereigns and municipalities.

Ian Glastein is a Managing Principal at Monarch Alternative Capital, an investment firm with over $9 billion of assets under management. Mr. Glastein focuses on investments in opportunistic and distressed situations across corporate debt, real estate, special situations, and other market segments. Prior to joining Monarch in 2011, Mr. Glastein worked at Goldman Sachs as an Investment Banking Analyst in the Healthcare Group before completing a two-year fellowship at The Rabinowitz Institute in Israel. Mr. Glastein currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Shopko Optical, as well as on the boards of various entities related to investments in U.S. real estate. In addition to his professional affiliations, Mr. Glastein also serves on the board of the Meor Foundation, as well as on the boards of several local community organizations in New York. Mr. Glastein graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, magna cum laude, with a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School and a B.A. in Biology from the College of Arts and Sciences. He also earned a Master of Biotechnology from the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Mr. Gordon is a member of Houlihan Lokey’s Real Estate Strategic Advisory practice. He has been involved in the execution of $20 billion dollars of public and private real estate advisory assignments, including the privatization of REITS, asset and portfolio sales, joint ventures, restructuring and note sales, and corporate real estate monetization transactions, including sale-leasebacks. Mr. Gordon was responsible for the sale of over 15 million square feet of buildings for J.P. Morgan and participated in the restructuring of General Growth Properties and the NY Times Building.

Before joining Houlihan Lokey, Mr. Gordon had a 25-year career at JPMorgan Chase, where he was a Managing Director in the Real Estate, Lodging & Leisure Group. While there, his notable advising assignments included the sale of a joint venture interest in Roseland Properties, the sale of NewsCorp’s 23-acre mixed-use development site in Boston’s financial district, and the sales of 650 Madison Avenue, 75 Wall Street, 522 Fifth Avenue, and Tiffany’s headquarters. Mr. Gordon advised on the privatization of Urban Properties, First Washington Realty Trust, and Lexford for EQR. He served as advisor to the Port Authority of New York on strategic options for the World Trade Center and has worked on transactions in Latin America, Europe, and New Zealand.

Mr. Gordon holds a B.A. in Economics from the State University of New York at Binghamton and an M.S. in Urban Planning from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the International Council of Shopping Centers and holds the MAI and Counselors of Real Estate (CRE) designations.

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.

Bankruptcy requires skill, creativity and a little nerve to find the best outcome. With more than two decades navigating distressed situations, Jerry Hall helps his clients choose a way forward and obtain the results they need, whether that’s saving thousands of jobs for distressed retail debtors or recovering critical funds for a creditor client.

Grit and creativity in distressed situations

In and out of court, Jerry helps secured lenders, indenture trustees, debtors-in- possession, committees, distressed debt investors, lessors and troubled companies in bankruptcy and insolvency-related litigation. He represents clients across industries, including real estate, retail, manufacturing, gaming and hospitality, aviation, life sciences, telecommunications and finance. Jerry advises on financial and operational restructurings throughout the United States and in Puerto Rico.

Shari L. Heyen is Co-Chair of the firm’s Global Restructuring & Bankruptcy Practice and Co-Managing Shareholder of the Houston office. Shari has experience in complex restructuring, bankruptcy, insolvency and complex commercial litigation matters. She has represented numerous creditors’ committees, debtors, bank groups, acquirers and other significant constituencies in national Chapter 11 cases and workout proceedings, including complex oil, gas and energy cases. Shari has broad experience in the prosecution and defense of fiduciary litigation, real estate, oil and gas, health care, receiverships and alternative energy matters.

Mark Hootnick is a Managing Director in PJ SOLOMON’s Debt Advisory & Restructuring Practice.

Mr. Hootnick has worked in the restructuring and distressed advisory industry for over 25 years. He has extensive experience guiding distressed companies, their stakeholders and other constituents through a variety of complex and sophisticated transactions.

Prior to joining Solomon, Mr. Hootnick served as a Managing Director at Millstein & Co. and held similar roles at Moelis & Co., Gleacher, Imperial Capital and Greenhill & Co. Before joining Greenhill, he was a founding member of Miller Buckfire and an investment banker at Wasserstein, Perella & Co. Mr. Hootnick began his career as an attorney at Kramer Levin.

Mr. Hootnick has represented companies, debtors, creditors, investors and acquirers in transactions involving more than $50 billion in liabilities across an array of sectors. Mr. Hootnick’s transaction experience includes those involving General Motors, American Airlines, LightSquared Communications, Stage Stores, iPic Theaters, ICO Global Communications, Lear Corporation, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Indiana Toll Road and Olympia & York.

EDUCATION

Mr. Hootnick received a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a B.S. in Finance, with honors, from Lehigh University.

Over his decorated 30-year career, Sheon has developed a unique hybrid skill set as a seasoned M&A and financial advisor in leading both healthy and distressed M&A situations, as well as complex restructuring processes. The combination of executive, turnaround, legal and finance experience, covering every facet of the middle market M&A transaction process, makes him a leader in delivering change and value growth.

Winner of the “Boutique Investment Banker of the Year” Atlas Award (2018), Sheon has an enviable track record of success in assisting corporations of all sizes as lead financial advisor and in senior leadership roles such as CRO and SVP.

Prior to joining Paladin, Sheon led multiple award-winning M&A deals as a Managing Director at The DAK Group and a restructuring deal as a Managing Director at CRG Partners.

As an M&A thought-leader, Sheon writes and lectures widely, including on entrepreneurship, auction theory, sale processes, the middle market and foreign buyers. He received his JD from Yale Law School and his BA from Yeshiva University.

Melissa S. Kibler is a senior managing director of Mackinac Partners in Chicago. In May 2021, Mackinac was acquired by Accordion, a private capital-focused financial consulting firm, resulting in a combined enterprise with the capability to support clients throughout the spectrum of value creation and value stabilization from nine offices across the US. Ms. Kibler has approximately 30 years of experience providing financial advisory, restructuring, turnaround and interim management services to Fortune 500 and mid-sized companies and their stakeholders. Ms. Kibler recently served as Chief Restructuring Officer in the bankruptcies of Rubio’s Restaurants, a 170-unit Mexican coastal grill, and Juno, previously the third-largest ride-hailing company in New York, and as the Chief Financial Officer of Edmentum, a leading provider of K-12 online learning solutions. She also has extensive investigative, litigation and valuation experience, including insolvency-related litigation, avoidance actions, fraud investigations, merger and acquisition disputes, director and officer claims, and other commercial litigation support.

Ms. Kibler was previously a senior managing director in the Chicago office and an executive committee member of Mesirow Financial Consulting following its 2004 acquisition of the corporate recovery practice of KPMG LLP, where she had served as partner-in-charge of the Midwest Corporate Recovery practice and the Pacific Northwest Corporate Recovery and Forensic & Litigation Services practices since 1999 after starting her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Ms. Kibler currently serves as president of the American College of Bankruptcy, and prior leadership roles in professional associations included president and chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute, director of INSOL International, and chair of the AICPA Bankruptcy Task Force. Ms. Kibler holds the CPA, CIRA, CTP, CFF and CDBV certifications.

She was named a Consulting Magazine 2013 Women Leader in Consulting; an Illinois CPA Society 2011 Women to Watch Award recipient; the IWIRC 2010 Woman of the Year in Restructuring; a Crain’s Chicago Business 2004 40 Under 40; and the 2003 CIRA Gold Medal Winner. She earned her B.B.A. in accounting summa cum laude from Texas A&M University and her M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University, graduating first in her class.

Michael Leto is a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal’s North American Commercial Restructuring in New York. He provides financial advisory services, interim management, and turnaround restructuring services for over 10 years. Mr. Leto’s primary areas of concentration include operational restructuring and assessments, cash flow and liquidity analysis, business plan assessments, financial planning and analysis and cost saving initiatives.

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).

Dominique Mielle spent twenty years as a partner and senior portfolio manager at Canyon Capital, a $25 billion hedge fund. Her book, Damsel in Distressed: My life in the golden age of hedge funds, will be released on September 7, 2021.

In 2017, She was named one of the “Top 50 Women in Hedge Funds” by the Hedge Fund Journal and E&Y.

One of the only senior women in the hedge fund business, she played key roles in complicated bankruptcies, serving as a leading creditors’ committee member for Puerto Rico, and as a restructuring committee member for U.S. airlines in the wake of the September 11 attacks. She was a director and the audit committee chair for PG&E during its fifteen-month bankruptcy process and emergence, and currently sits on five corporate boards.

Al founded MelCap Partners in 2000, and is responsible for managing all aspects of client engagements from proposal through closing, developing business, reviewing offering memorandums and financial models, negotiating purchase agreements, and interacting with buyers and investors. Al resides in Medina, Ohio with his wife and has four adult children and two grandchildren.

BSBA in both Finance and Marketing from The Ohio State University. Registered FINRA Representative: Series 7 – General Securities, Series 24 – General Securities Principal, Series 63 – Uniform Securities Agent, and Series 79 – Limited Representative-Investment Banking. Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor through the Alliance for Merger and Acquisition Advisors.

Tania M. Moyron is a partner in Dentons’ Restructuring, Insolvency and Bankruptcy group. Tania has significant experience in bankruptcy, corporate restructuring and related litigation matters. She has represented Chapter 11 debtors, creditors’ and equity committees, liquidating trustees, principals and secured and unsecured creditors in all aspects of corporate bankruptcy. She also has advised buyers and sellers of assets in bankruptcy and receivership cases, including representation of a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) and restaurant franchise.

Tania’s representations span a variety of industries, including health care, retail, entertainment, trucking, commercial and residential real estate and restaurant franchise industries. She also has litigation experience in state and federal courts and appellate experience before the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, District Courts and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Prior to joining Dentons, Tania gained experience in complex and challenging Chapter 11 cases at top-ranked national firms for business restructuring and bankruptcy. Tania also served as a judicial and appellate law clerk to the Honorable Christopher M. Klein, Chief Judge for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California and former member of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

William Nolan is a senior managing director in the FTI Consulting Corporate Finance practice. Mr. Nolan has worked in all areas of business transformation, including working with senior management teams in business turnarounds and restructurings. Mr. Nolan is one of the Firm’s leading experts on the business transformation of real estate and real estate related financial services companies. He is also the Co-Leader of the Firm’s Distressed Real Estate practice and is the Co-leader of the Financial Services practice for FTI Consulting Corporate Finance.

Throughout his twenty five year career, Mr. Nolan has worked on the restructuring of some of the nation’s largest real estate and real estate finance companies, a sample of which would include; Pennsylvania Real Estate Trust, Eagle Hospitality, Residential Capital, Oakwood Homes; LNR Partners, Criimi Mae, Orleans Homebuilders; Extended Stay America; Rohrig Investments, LP; Innkeepers USA; South Edge Inspirada; Transwest Resort Properties; Westgate Resorts; Dancing Bear Aspen; Erickson Retirement Communities; Ultimate Escapes; and VREP LLC., to name a few.

Most recently, Mr. Nolan was engaged as lead financial advisor by seven different large mREITs that were reeling due to the pandemic induced shut down. These companies represented almost $100 billion in mortgage and mortgage related investments. Mr. Nolan and his team guided their clients through the crisis and successfully reached standstills and longer-term amendments avoiding potential shut down and liquidations.

Prior to joining FTI, Mr. Nolan was a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Restructuring Practice. Mr. Nolan began his career as a real estate credit analyst with Mellon Bank.

Mr. Nolan holds a B.S. in Economics from the University of Delaware and a M.B.A in finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Passarelli has sourced, evaluated, underwrote, or executed over $15 billion in debt transactions in his career, primarily in the healthcare industry. Mr. Passarelli is a Managing Director with Ally Bank in its Healthcare Capital and Real Estate Group, where he co-heads business development for asset-based, senior housing real estate, skilled nursing real estate, medical office building, and other healthcare transactions. Prior to Ally Bank, Mr. Passarelli was a Senior Vice President with Capital One Bank in its Healthcare and TMT Group, where he focused on the origination, execution, and management of healthcare transactions. In support of Capital One Bank’s Healthcare Sponsor Finance, Asset Based Lending, and Real Estate Finance businesses, Mr. Passarelli provided senior debt capital in connection with acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, refinancings, and other financing needs.

Prior to Capital One, Mr. Passarelli was a Senior Vice President with Healthcare Finance Group, LLC (“HFG”), a NY-based commercial finance company that provided senior debt facilities exclusively to the healthcare industry. Mr. Passarelli founded HFG’s Los Angeles office and established a west coast franchise for the company. Prior to HFG, Mr. Passarelli originated and structured senior secured asset-based credit facilities for GE Healthcare Financial Services, providing working capital to middle-market healthcare companies on the west coast. Prior to HFG and GE, Mr. Passarelli evaluated, underwrote, executed, and managed middle market junior secured lending transactions for Ableco Finance LLC, a special situations hedge fund affiliated with Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.

Steven Reisman advises clients on a wide range of insolvency, restructuring and creditors’ rights matters. His work helps creditors to protect their interests and maximize their recoveries, helps debtors to restructure or wind down their businesses in an orderly manner, and helps investors to locate hidden opportunities. Steve regularly represents debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, as well as boards of directors and independent directors in all aspects of insolvency matters.

Understanding the unique needs of bankruptcy proceeding participants

Steve is highly experienced in all aspects of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as well as insolvency issues arising from in-court and out-of-court restructurings. He is particularly well-versed in the unique needs of parties to Chapter 11 cases, such as debtors, secured lenders, governmental entities, creditors’ committees, indenture trustees, liquidators, secured and unsecured creditors, shareholders, and defendants in avoidance actions. Steve also advises investors seeking opportunities in Chapter 11 through the purchase of assets or interests in a creative manner in order to acquire the company or its assets. His clients benefit from his understanding of the needs of all stakeholders, which allows them to negotiate more effectively during the in-court or out-of-court process. His insolvency experience does not end at the US border. Steve has been involved in proceedings with clients in markets such as Mexico, Argentina and Canada, among other jurisdictions.

Cynthia Romano is a Global Director of CohnReznick Advisory’s Restructuring and Dispute Resolution Practice. She has more than 25 years of experience in performance improvement, turnaround management, transaction support, and investment analysis.

Cynthia’s areas of expertise include liquidity management, profit improvement through operational restructuring, organizational and process redesign, capital sourcing, and business and creditor workout/management.

Cullen Drescher Speckhart is chair of Cooley’s business restructuring & reorganization practice group and has deep experience in corporate restructuring and financial litigation. Using this background, Cullen provides forward-focused advice to clients with respect to business risk management and strategic implementation. Cullen also provides tactical guidance to corporations in all aspects of solvency strategy, contingency planning, risk mitigation, and portfolio improvement through acquisitions and sales of assets and other distressed transactions.

Alex Sutton is Managing Director, Head of Research, for Gordon Brothers’ Valuation division where he coordinates industry guidance and market research to support cross-asset appraisals. Prior to this role, Alex headed Gordon Brothers’ Inventory Valuation practice as well as AccuVal-LiquiTec’s Inventory Valuation practice, which was acquired by Gordon Brothers in 2015, where his team produced reports used primarily for financing and financial reporting. With over two decades of experience, Alex has directed inventory appraisals across a wide range of industries, including aerospace, agriculture, apparel, chemicals, food processing and wholesaling, building products, beverage, giftware, grains, furniture, healthcare, home furnishings, industrial machinery, lumber, machine tools, medical devices, metals, paper, pharmaceuticals, plastics, retail, seafood, technology, textiles, and transportation.

As an expert witness, he has experience testifying before federal bankruptcy court as well as supporting litigation through depositions, affidavits of value, and consulting experience. Alex also has experience with machinery and equipment appraisals, marine assets, fishery permits, and has managed many inventory auctions and liquidations.

In addition to The Secured Finance Network, Alex is a member of the Turnaround Management Association as well as The American Society of Appraisers. He frequently speaks on valuation topics and has published several articles related to the appraisal process and industry and market trends. He holds a BA in American History from Harvard College, where he graduated cum laude.

Mr. Tomaskovic is one of the top restructuring investment bankers in the industry. His experience spans numerous industries and includes the execution of multiple cross-border M&A engagements and balance sheet restructurings. He is a collaborative partner, bringing transactional expertise to our clients’ most complex situations. During his career, he has also served on financial and operational advisory teams, achieving successful turnarounds.

Prior to joining Carl Marks Advisors, Mr. Tomaskovic was a senior vice president at RBS Greenwich Capital, where he focused on corporate finance and advisory solutions. Previously, he worked in the financial institutions group at Lehman Brothers, most recently serving as vice president, focusing on M&A. Mr. Tomaskovic began his career at Meyercord Advisors Inc., a boutique turnaround advisory firm, where he assisted in the restructuring, purchase and sale of several businesses.

Mr. Tomaskovic earned a BS in Finance from Rutgers University and an MBA in Finance from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business, where he graduated with honors. He is a FINRA General Securities Principal. Mr. Tomaskovic was cited by Turnaround & Workouts as one of the “Top Ten People to Watch” and was recognized as among the top 100 restructuring investment bankers by the Global M&A Network on multiple occasions, most recently in 2018.

Christopher Ward represents companies facing stress and distress with a business-minded, client-driven approach. He has represented clients in corporate bankruptcy, financial restructuring, business divorce, bet-the-company litigation and distressed asset sales for the last two decades. He has extensive experience in Delaware in addition to working nationally, which is an added benefit when dealing with corporate governance, independent directors and special committees facing fiduciary duty concerns. Chris also serves on the Board of Directors of the American Bankruptcy Institute and is the Vice President-Development, which provides him with full-insight into the restructuring community.

As Chair of the Bankruptcy and Restructuring practice and Managing Shareholder of the Delaware office, Chris routinely tackles financial restructurings, litigation, business divorces, fiduciary investigations and asset sales with a creative and efficient, yet aggressive approach. In bankruptcy, he has significant experience in representing Chapter 11 debtors, Boards of Directors and Managers, litigants and Official Committees, which allows him to provide his clients with invaluable insight into all aspects of the restructuring playing field. As a result, Chris advises his clients in situations where a negotiated resolution may be the appropriate course of action or, when an agreement cannot be reached, he aims to zealously push his client’s interests forward in litigation.

Chris leads Polsinelli’s national bankruptcy practice from Delaware but practices all across the country. Whether it be a bankruptcy, business divorce, corporate governance or another restructuring alternative, Chris has the depth and breadth in his practice to represent clients under stress or in distress no matter what forum or location they may arise.

Craig Warznak is a Vice President with SSG Capital Advisors. He is responsible for leading financial analyses, market research, and general oversight of the deal process. He works closely with SSG’s clients on a wide range of special situations transactions including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings, recapitalizations, and private placements of both senior and subordinated debt and equity. He is skilled at balancing the complexities of sophisticated transactions, managing competing priorities, ensuring all deadlines are met, and bringing a unique perspective to each transaction.

Prior to joining SSG, he served as a Vice President for an international investment firm, where he was responsible for sourcing and executing middle-market investments. Previously he held senior-level positions with CDI Corporation and Day & Zimmermann, where he led corporate development and strategic planning. He began his career in investment banking at Lazard.

Craig received The M&A Advisor’s 11th Annual Emerging Leaders Award in 2020.

Education: Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business, B.S. in Business Administration

Mike Weitz is a Director in the Restructuring Group at Lazard and is based in Lazard’s Chicago office. Prior to joining Lazard in 2015, Mike worked in the Restructuring Group at Kirkland & Ellis. Mike has been involved in a variety of restructuring, liability management, merger and acquisition, and corporate finance assignments for clients from a wide range of industries. Recent representative transactions in the retail industry include Belk on its chapter 11 in 2021, Express on its new capital financing in 2021, J.Crew on its out-of-court restructuring in 2017, JCPenney on its chapter 11 in 2020, Neiman Marcus on its comprehensive liability management transaction in 2019 and its chapter 11 in 2020, and Nine West on its chapter 11 in 2019.

Allen Wilen is a Partner and serves as the National Director of the Financial Advisory Services Group. In this role, he leads a team of over 100 professionals dedicated to assisting the firm’s clients through the litigation and restructuring process. Allen provides forensic accounting, valuation and litigation support services specializing in the areas of distress, debt restructuring, and business disputes. In addition, he provides analysis of insolvent and troubled companies, provides advice in turnaround and crisis situations, counsels purchasers in the acquisition of assets within the bankruptcy arena, and provides expert advice to parties in civil matters.

He has more than 20 years of financial and accounting experience in both national and regional public accounting firms. Allen has been involved in numerous complex matters requiring expertise in forensic accounting and operational analysis. He has been qualified as an expert in numerous state and federal courts throughout the United States. He testified on matters including commercial damages, lost profits, fraudulent transfer and actual intent to defraud.