Top 100 Restructuring Professionals

“Distinction in Dealmaking”

Exclusive published by Global M&A Network, the 9th annual list features highly respected, successful and innovative group of 25 consultants, 25 investment bankers and 50 lawyers from the restructuring and turnaround communities this year.

Highly competitive process begins with evaluating firms and best performing or “Turnaround Atlas Awards” winning transactions closed during the 2021. Selection is then narrowed to a single professional from the firm based on their experience, differentiated expertise, and transactions completed among additional attributes. Only one professional is selected from the practice group at the firm per year.

Join us in congratulating top performing professionals and the firm’s they represent!


Karn S. Chopra

Karn has over 18 years of experience advising and executing restructuring, financing and M&A transactions across a wide range of industries. He was formerly a Vice President at Miller Buckfire & Co., and prior to joining Miller Buckfire was a Vice President in the turnaround restructuring services group at AlixPartners. Mr. Chopra has an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management and a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan.


William Q. Derrough

Bill has over 30 years of advising all types of parties in major restructurings including companies, boards of directors, creditor groups, shareholders, unions and governmental entities and has been instrumental in building out the Firm’s restructuring franchise. Under his leadership, Moelis & Company has established one of the world’s leading restructuring teams, which has advised on more than 400 assignments globally representing over $1 trillion in value. Bill holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.


James Doak

Jim’s experience includes M&A, financing and restructuring transactions on behalf of Gymboree, Aéropostale, the City of Detroit, Foxwoods Casinos, Standard Pacific Corp., Level 3 Communications, Burlington Industries, and CenterPoint Energy. He has also represented creditor constituents in transactions including The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., COFINA/Puerto Rico and The Lenox Group and advised several sovereigns and municipalities. He is frequent panelist at industry conferences. He has authored articles on corporate distress and leadership and served on the Federal Judiciary’s Chapter 9 Roundtable. In June 2021 he was selected as the Global M&A Network’s “Restructuring Banker of the Year”, and in June 2011 was selected for The M&A Advisor’s 40 Under 40 leading M&A, financing and turnaround professionals. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Heat and Warmth Fund, a leading non-profit in Michigan. Mr. Doak has degrees from Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School and Harvard University.

What Jim values about his career... Assisting business leaders, whether helming borrowers or their stakeholders, navigate stressful and uncertain circumstances.


John-Paul Hanson

J.P Hanson has worked on numerous financing, M&A, A&D, valuation, and financial recapitalization, restructuring engagements. In addition to domestic U.S. transactions, he has advised corporations, boards of directors, management teams, and stakeholders in multiple global and cross-border transactions regarding the structuring, negotiation, and implementation of a wide variety of corporate finance transactions in the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry. Mr. Hanson earned a dual B.A. degree, cum laude, in Italian and International Finance from Brigham Young University and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.


Jonathan Killion

Jonathan has 15+ years of experience advising company management, owners, boards of directors, senior secured lenders, bondholders, and private equity firms through challenging situations. He represents large and medium-size businesses in strategic planning, identifying and implementing performance improvement initiatives and financial and operational restructurings. He also represents lenders helping assess the performance of a borrower, negotiate forbearance agreements and other settlements. In addition to being one of the firm’s leading healthcare experts, Mr. Kilion has extensive experience across consumer products, manufacturing, media, heavy manufacturing, and shipping and logistics sectors. Before joining Carl Marks Advisors, he worked in the audit services group at Deloitte & Touche LLP. Mr. Killion earned a BS in Business Administration from Georgetown University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a FINRA Registered Representative, holding Series 79 and 63.

What Jonathan enjoys about his career... I most enjoy the opportunity to lead clients through challenging, uncertain and fragile situations. Helping companies prepare for brighter futures while building meaningful relationships with clients, co-workers, and peers is invaluable.


Teresa C. Kohl

Teresa is responsible for originating and leading investment banking transactions. She has completed over 150 restructuring matters including refinancing and sale transactions for middle market companies in bankruptcy proceedings and out-of-court workouts. Prior to her transition to investment banking, she led financial and operational restructuring engagements for boutique advisory firms. Teresa has received numerous awards, including the Global M&A Network’s SHE for SHE Leader Award, the Top Restructuring Investment Banker (2022), the M&A Advisor’s Distressed M&A Dealmaker of the Year Award (2021, 2019), and TMA Global’s Outstanding Individual Contribution Award (2017). In addition, she was named a U.S.A. Top Women Dealmaker by the Global M&A Network (2019).


Mike Krakovsky

Michael has over 20 years of experience providing advice on a wide range of special situations transactions. He has advised middle-market debtors and creditors on numerous in-court and out-of-court restructuring transactions and has focused on distressed companies as both an investment banker and a principal investor. Prior to joining Stout in 2016, he spent 13 years in Houlihan Lokey’s Financial Restructuring Group. He is also a former attorney, having begun his career as a transactional lawyer with Irell & Manella.

What Michael most enjoys about your career... To be an effective special situations advisor, you need to understand the company’s specific business issues, capital market options, motivations of the key creditors, and the bankruptcy context that deals are negotiated in whether in- or out-of-court. This leverages many of my personal strengths and interests and provides a platform for continued professional growth.


Jay Krasoff

Jay is responsible for the strategic direction of the firm and corporate growth. His experience as CFO, CPA, and President have led him to success in challenging financial client engagements. Jay’s 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. He has provided services in both upstream and downstream energy, real estate, extractive industries, manufacturing, environmental, distribution, health care, and retail industries.


David S. Kurtz

David has been involved in broad range of largest, most complex restructurings over the years. Prior to joining Lazard in 2002, he was a senior partner at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom. In 2012 he was appointed Vice Chairman of U.S. Investment Banking and Head of Global Restructuring. He earned his J.D and B.A., from Case Western Reserve University. Mr. Kurtz was awarded the “Global Restructuring Investment Banker” accolade at the Turnaround Atlas Awards.


Elizabeth LaPuma

Elizabeth is a financial expert and advisor with nearly 20 years of experience, with focus on financing, structuring and M&A. She has completed the sale of public and private companies, buy-side advisories and fairness opinions, public and private debt and equity offerings, leading all phases of transactions. Previously Elizabeth ran Alvarez & Marsal’s Asset Management practice. Earlier, she worked at Lazard Freres & Co. within their financial institutions and restructuring group, leading teams in three of the 10 largest bankruptcies during the financial crisis. Ms. LaPuma earned a B.S. in finance and an MBA from the Wharton School, and a B.A. from the School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania.