Eric Van Horn is a partner in the Dallas office of Spencer Fane LLP, a national business law firm with offices throughout the country. Eric assists clients nationwide with all aspects of bankruptcy, reorganizations, negotiations, collection actions, multijurisdictional insolvencies, and corporate liquidations. His work in complex Chapter11 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases has involved representing committees of unsecured creditors and investors, debtors, trustees, secured lenders, landlords, and general unsecured creditors (including critical vendors and suppliers). He also defends clients against bankruptcy preference and fraudulent transfer (clawback) lawsuits and assists clients in bidding on and acquiring assets out of bankruptcy cases. His specific industry experience includes clients in oil and gas, manufacturing, health care, restaurant, manufacturing, retail, and technology industries.

Eric served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Leif M. Clark, retired bankruptcy judge in the Western District of Texas, San Antonio. He graduated from The University of Texas School of Law and served as a Research Assistant for Professor Jay L. Westbrook.

Ralph Brubaker is the James H.M. Sprayregen Professor of Law at the University of Illinois, where he teaches courses in bankruptcy, bankruptcy procedure, corporate reorganizations, contracts, conflict of laws (private international law), and restitution. Professor Brubaker has three degrees from the University of Illinois, including his J.D. summa cum laude and an M.B.A., and he received Bronze Tablet distinction (highest honors) and C.P.A. certification as an undergraduate. He clerked for Judge James K. Logan of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and he practiced in the bankruptcy and corporate reorganization group with the law firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey (now Squire Patton Boggs) in Cleveland, Ohio. Professor Brubaker was a member of the faculty at the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia from 1995 until 2004, when he returned to his alma mater. Professor Brubaker is the Editor-in-Chief and a contributing author for West’s Bankruptcy Law Letter, he is co-author of a bankruptcy casebook, and he has written dozens of journal articles and essays. He is particularly an expert in the complex jurisdictional and procedural facets of federal bankruptcy proceedings. Professor Brubaker has been an editorial advisor for the American Bankruptcy Law Journal, the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review, and the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal. He is a member of the American Law Institute, a Conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, and a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, for which he has been the Scholar-in-Residence. Professor Brubaker has served on the executive committee of the board of directors of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), and he was a member of the advisory committee on business enterprise sales for the ABI’s 2014 Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11.

Karen Cordry is the bankruptcy and special issues counsel for the National Association of
Attorneys General. She graduated with highest honors from Wayne State University Law School in 1977 and subsequently obtained an L.L.M., again with highest honors, from George Washington University in 1987. She worked for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from 1977 until February 1992; since then, she has been employed at the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG).

Since coming to NAAG, Karen has worked to assist state agencies to take a more active role in enforcing state regulatory policies and collecting financial obligations during bankruptcy proceedings. In addition to conducting multi-day seminars on “Bankruptcy and the Government Lawyer,” she has spoken at many other bankruptcy programs, and written articles on bankruptcy issues of interest to governmental entities for many publications, including several for Norton’s Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law. She also serves as an editor and contributor for the “Affairs of State” column for the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal. She maintains a network for state attorneys working on bankruptcy issues and publishes a quarterly bulletin describing important new cases. She has also represented the claims of many states in a number of cases, ranging from taxes to consumer protection to environmental protection to tobacco cases and has sat as the states’ representative on the creditors’ committee in a number of asbestos bankruptcy cases. She is currently preparing the second edition of her bankruptcy manual, “Bankruptcy Law and the Governmental Regulatory Process,” which explores the interaction between governmental enforcement actions and the Bankruptcy Code. She also leads programs for the National Attorneys General Training and Research Institute (“NAGTRI”) on state defense litigation.

Melissa B. Jacoby is the Graham Kenan Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she teaches bankruptcy law, contract law, and commercial law. In 2021, Jacoby was appointed by Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts to assist the Federal Judicial Center on educational programming for bankruptcy judges. Jacoby’s book about the American bankruptcy system is under contract with The New Press.

Jacoby has been elected to the American Law Institute, the National Bankruptcy Conference, the American College of Bankruptcy, and the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers, and has served as the Robert M. Zinman Scholar for the American Bankruptcy Institute. She is a recipient of the Grant Gilmore Award for scholarship from the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers and the Byrd Award for teaching, among other honors.

Jacoby held judicial clerkships with the Honorable Robert E. Ginsberg of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Honorable Marjorie O. Rendell of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and was a staff attorney for the National Bankruptcy Review Commission. Before joining the faculty at UNC, she taught for four years at Temple University in Philadelphia. Jacoby graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, as well as from Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences, where she was a history major.

Eric Van Horn is a partner in the Dallas office of Spencer Fane LLP, a national business law firm with offices throughout the country. Eric assists clients nationwide with all aspects of bankruptcy, reorganizations, negotiations, collection actions, multijurisdictional insolvencies, and corporate liquidations. His work in complex Chapter11 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases has involved representing committees of unsecured creditors and investors, debtors, trustees, secured lenders, landlords, and general unsecured creditors (including critical vendors and suppliers). He also defends clients against bankruptcy preference and fraudulent transfer (clawback) lawsuits and assists clients in bidding on and acquiring assets out of bankruptcy cases. His specific industry experience includes clients in oil and gas, manufacturing, health care, restaurant, manufacturing, retail, and technology industries.

Eric served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Leif M. Clark, retired bankruptcy judge in the Western District of Texas, San Antonio. He graduated from The University of Texas School of Law and served as a Research Assistant for Professor Jay L. Westbrook.

Beverly Weiss Manne, Esq. Tucker Arensberg P.C. – is an experienced attorney who represents secured and unsecured creditors, lessors, and buyers of assets in bankruptcy cases, non-judicial restructurings and in complex, and distressed business and commercial credit situations and commercial finance matters. Ms. Manne is licensed in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She also is an adjunct professor at University of Pittsburgh School of Law and teaches Payment Systems and Banking, and also taught Secured Transactions for many hears. From 1981 to 1986, she was an attorney with the USDA Office of General Counsel. Ms. Manne obtained her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh as well as her B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. She is a member of the Commercial Law League of America, serves on the Executive Council of its Creditors’ Rights Section and has served on the Executive Council of its Bankruptcy Section. Ms. Manne is Chair of the PBA Business Law Section, a member and ex-officio of the PBA Shale Energy Law Committee, the 2014 Uniform Voidable Transfer Act adoption task force, 2013 Insolvency Law Task Force, UCC Article 9 Revisions Adoption Task Forces in 2000 and 2010, and the Insolvency Law Task Force in 1994-1996. Ms. Manne is a founding member and ex-officio of the Judith K. Fitzgerald Bankruptcy Inn of Court. Ms. Manne frequently is a speaker, panelist and course planner, locally and nationally on bankruptcy, mechanics lien, oil and gas and commercial issues. She is included in the Pennsylvania “Super Lawyers Edition” and “Best Lawyers in America.”

Brad A. Council is a partner in the Cincinnati based law firm of Slovin & Associates Co., LPA. His practice covers all areas of commercial litigation, creditor’s rights including compliance with federal and state consumer credit and collection laws, and landlord-tenant matters. He frequently represents national banking associations, finance companies, medical service providers, debt-buyers, and other credit grantors in the areas of creditor’s rights and account receivables management. He also regularly advises and counsels these organizations on issues related to compliance with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), as well as similar state law acts and regulations. Brad also represents manufacturers, sub-contractors, and material suppliers involving actions under the Uniform Commercial Code relating to sales, leases, and secured transactions.

Brad is a past chair of the Midwest Region for the Commercial Law League of America and is currently the Secretary of the Young Members Section and member of the Creditor’s Rights Executive Council. The CLLA is North America’s oldest Creditor’s Rights Organization and has been operating since 1895. Brad is also the co-chair of the Ohio Legislative Committee for RMA International, the nation’s premier trade association for companies that purchase receivables on the secondary market.

Brad received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2003 and his Juris Doctor from the Northern Kentucky University, Salmon P. Chase College of Law in 2006. During law school Brad served as the Symposium Editor for the Northern Kentucky Law Review.

Brad is licensed to practice law in the States of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. He is also licensed to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio and Indiana.

Candice Kline is a partner at Saul Ewing LLP focusing on bankruptcy and restructuring situations and litigation. She serves in leadership at various bar and trade associations and is a member of the CLLA’s Bankruptcy Section Executive Council. Candice has an MBA and JD and began her legal career after many years in global commercial banking and business, including startups. She practices in Illinois and Ohio with a nationwide docket in complex commercial matters.

Hon. Judith Fitzgerald (Ret.) Retired U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, Judith K. Fitzgerald served in her home jurisdiction in the Western District of Pennsylvania for nearly 26 years. She sat by designation in the District of Delaware, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the District of the U.S. Virgin Islands. She has been blessed with an exciting, challenging and intellectually stimulating career. As a Judicial Law Clerk, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief Bankruptcy Judge, Professor of Law, Practitioner at Tucker Arensberg, Arbitrator, Mediator, Author and Expert Witness, she has experienced a wide variety of legal disciplines and administrative responsibilities. Judi is a Professor in the Practice of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she teaches Bankruptcy and Advanced Bankruptcy. She is active in national and local professional organizations including the American Law Institute, the American College of Bankruptcy, the American Inns of Court, Commercial Law League of America, and the American Bankruptcy Institute. Among other offices, she has served as President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and as Chair of the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Committee to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Judi has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Commercial Law League’s Lawrence P. King Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy and the American Inns of Court Bankruptcy Alliance Distinguished Service Award. Judi consults and lectures in matters involving trial strategy, professional responsibility, bankruptcy including mass tort bankruptcies, evidence, procedure, and contracts and participates on several committees and boards dedicated to fostering legal education and improving access to justice.

Leslie A. Berkoff is a Partner with Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP where she serves as Chair of the firm’s Dispute Resolution Practice Group and is the former Co-Chair of the firm’s Creditors’ Rights and Restructuring Department. Ms. Berkoff splits her practice between these two Practice Groups. In the restructuring space, she concentrates her practice in chapter 11 cases, bankruptcy litigation and corporate workouts, where she represents a variety of corporate debtors, trustees, creditors, and creditor committees both nationally and locally. Ms. Berkoff is an experienced commercial litigator. Ms. Berkoff’s Dispute Resolution practice has her frequently serving as an ad hoc and panel mediator; she is on the Mediation Panel for the Eastern and Southern Districts of the United States Bankruptcy Courts in New York, the United States Bankruptcy Courts in Delaware, and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, as well as the Commercial Mediation Panel for Nassau County and the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”). Ms. Berkoff also serves as a member of the Second Circuit United States Court of Appeals Pro Bono Appellate Mediation Panel and as a Special Master in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department Mediation Program.Ms. Berkoff is also a trained arbitrator and is a member of the AAA panel.

Ms. Berkoff is the immediate past Co-Chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s (ABI) Mediation Committee and is a contributing editor of the quarterly column “Mediation Matters.” She has also served as Co-Editor and contributing author of the ABI’s Bankruptcy Mediation Manual. Ms. Berkoff also serves as the American Bar Association (“ABA”) Business Law Section’s representative on the Dispute Resolution Advisory Council, and is the Chair of the Dispute Resolution Committee, the Vice Chair of Programming for the Business Bankruptcy Committee of the Business Law Section and the Vice Chair of the Bankruptcy Court Structure and Insolvency Committee. She is a contributing editor for the ABA publication “Business Law Today” on Dispute Resolution. Ms. Berkoff speaks and writes frequently on topics concerning both Dispute Resolution and Bankruptcy.

Prior to joining Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP, Ms. Berkoff served as a law clerk to the Honorable Jerome Feller, United States Bankruptcy Judge in the Eastern District of New York, from 1991 to 1993 and to the Honorable Allyne R. Ross, Federal Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of New York, from 1990 to 1991.

Carter H. Klein is currently Of Counsel with Jenner & Block LLP and has practiced in its Commercial and Corporate Law Departments since 1974 after a two year judicial clerkship. He is liaison for the ABA’s Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Committee to the Permanent Editorial Board of the UCC; Past Chair of ABA’s Payments Law and Letter of Credit Subcommittees and the Chicago Bar Association’s Commercial and Financial Transactions, International & Foreign Law, and Consumer Credit Committees; and for 45 years was co-author of three books on the payment articles of the Uniform Commercial Code.

Beverly Weiss Manne, Esq. Tucker Arensberg P.C. – is an experienced attorney who represents secured and unsecured creditors, lessors, and buyers of assets in bankruptcy cases, non-judicial restructurings and in complex, and distressed business and commercial credit situations and commercial finance matters. Ms. Manne is licensed in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She also is an adjunct professor at University of Pittsburgh School of Law and teaches Payment Systems and Banking, and also taught Secured Transactions for many hears. From 1981 to 1986, she was an attorney with the USDA Office of General Counsel. Ms. Manne obtained her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh as well as her B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. She is a member of the Commercial Law League of America, serves on the Executive Council of its Creditors’ Rights Section and has served on the Executive Council of its Bankruptcy Section. Ms. Manne is Chair of the PBA Business Law Section, a member and ex-officio of the PBA Shale Energy Law Committee, the 2014 Uniform Voidable Transfer Act adoption task force, 2013 Insolvency Law Task Force, UCC Article 9 Revisions Adoption Task Forces in 2000 and 2010, and the Insolvency Law Task Force in 1994-1996. Ms. Manne is a founding member and ex-officio of the Judith K. Fitzgerald Bankruptcy Inn of Court. Ms. Manne frequently is a speaker, panelist and course planner, locally and nationally on bankruptcy, mechanics lien, oil and gas and commercial issues. She is included in the Pennsylvania “Super Lawyers Edition” and “Best Lawyers in America.”

Hon. Judith Fitzgerald (Ret.) Retired U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, Judith K. Fitzgerald served in her home jurisdiction in the Western District of Pennsylvania for nearly 26 years. She sat by designation in the District of Delaware, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the District of the U.S. Virgin Islands. She has been blessed with an exciting, challenging and intellectually stimulating career. As a Judicial Law Clerk, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief Bankruptcy Judge, Professor of Law, Practitioner at Tucker Arensberg, Arbitrator, Mediator, Author and Expert Witness, she has experienced a wide variety of legal disciplines and administrative responsibilities. Judi is a Professor in the Practice of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she teaches Bankruptcy and Advanced Bankruptcy. She is active in national and local professional organizations including the American Law Institute, the American College of Bankruptcy, the American Inns of Court, Commercial Law League of America, and the American Bankruptcy Institute. Among other offices, she has served as President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and as Chair of the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Committee to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Judi has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Commercial Law League’s Lawrence P. King Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy and the American Inns of Court Bankruptcy Alliance Distinguished Service Award. Judi consults and lectures in matters involving trial strategy, professional responsibility, bankruptcy including mass tort bankruptcies, evidence, procedure, and contracts and participates on several committees and boards dedicated to fostering legal education and improving access to justice.

Hon. Eugene R. Wedoff (Ret.) was a bankruptcy judge in Chicago from 1987 to 2015, and chief judge from 2002 to 2007. He has served as chair of the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules and president of both the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and the American Bankruptcy Institute. Since 2015, he has engaged in exclusively pro bono representation of clients in bankruptcy appeals.

Hon. Mary Ann Whipple has served as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division, at Toledo, since 2001 and is currently the chief bankruptcy judge of the district. She also served on the Sixth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel.

Judge Whipple grew up in Toledo. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1977 with an A.B. degree in Russian Studies and Stanford Law School in 1981 with a J.D. degree.

Before becoming a bankruptcy judge, Judge Whipple practiced law for twenty years as a commercial, bankruptcy and employment litigator with the Toledo firm Fuller & Henry Ltd. She is admitted to practice in Ohio and Michigan.

Judge Whipple taught Creditor/Debtor Law for more than 20 years as a part-time faculty member at the University of Toledo College of Law. In addition to teaching, she has served her community as a member of the executive boards of the Owens Community College Foundation, American Red Cross-Greater Toledo Area Chapter, Lucas County Mental Health Board, Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce, Family Service of Northwest Ohio and University of Michigan Club of Toledo. She is a master in and past President  ofThe Morrison R. Waite Chapter of the American Inns of Court Foundation. Judge Whipple received The Toledo Bar Association’s 2008 Community Service Award and the Toledo Women’s Bar Association’s 2016 Arabella Babb Mansfield Award.

Jack Rose is the CEO and founder of JR2G, LLC. The firm focuses on purchasing properties in secondary and tertiary markets. Jack is former Managing Director at Kroll LLC in the Restructuring Advisory practice in New York, where he focused his practice on distressed real estate. More than likely you may know Jack from his past life where he spent 30 years as a bankruptcy lawyer with Rosenberg & Estis, Ashurst, White & Case, Rogers & Wells (now Clifford Chance) and Weil Gotshal.

Beverly Weiss Manne, Esq. Tucker Arensberg P.C. – is an experienced attorney who represents secured and unsecured creditors, lessors, and buyers of assets in bankruptcy cases, non-judicial restructurings and in complex, and distressed business and commercial credit situations and commercial finance matters. Ms. Manne is licensed in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She also is an adjunct professor at University of Pittsburgh School of Law and teaches Payment Systems and Banking, and also taught Secured Transactions for many hears. From 1981 to 1986, she was an attorney with the USDA Office of General Counsel. Ms. Manne obtained her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh as well as her B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. She is a member of the Commercial Law League of America, serves on the Executive Council of its Creditors’ Rights Section and has served on the Executive Council of its Bankruptcy Section. Ms. Manne is Chair of the PBA Business Law Section, a member and ex-officio of the PBA Shale Energy Law Committee, the 2014 Uniform Voidable Transfer Act adoption task force, 2013 Insolvency Law Task Force, UCC Article 9 Revisions Adoption Task Forces in 2000 and 2010, and the Insolvency Law Task Force in 1994-1996. Ms. Manne is a founding member and ex-officio of the Judith K. Fitzgerald Bankruptcy Inn of Court. Ms. Manne frequently is a speaker, panelist and course planner, locally and nationally on bankruptcy, mechanics lien, oil and gas and commercial issues. She is included in the Pennsylvania “Super Lawyers Edition” and “Best Lawyers in America.”

Hon. Thomas M. Lynch was appointed to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois in January 2013. He is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law. Judge Lynch earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Dayton and M.A. from the University of Chicago.

Prior to joining the bench Judge Lynch practiced law in Chicago. He began his legal career in the litigation and bankruptcy departments of Winston & Strawn. He was a partner at Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon and then at Baker & Daniels (now Faegre Drinker). For nearly thirty years he tried cases throughout the United States, representing clients in business disputes and bankruptcy and commercial matters. Before law school Tom was an economic analyst and executive in the public sector. While a senior executive in the City of Chicago’s Department of Finance during the late 1970’s, he assisted with the formulation and implementation of the city’s financial restructuring.

Judge Lynch has been an adjunct faculty member at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law since 1998. He also served on the faculty of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) for more than two decades, and he frequently lectures on bankruptcy, financial issues, evidence and trial practice to the bench, bar, business organizations and the general public.

Owen G. Hare, Esq. received his Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University in 2006 where he graduated with a Major in Political Science and a Minor in History. Mr. Hare attended the Tulane University Law School and obtained his Juris Doctorate in 2009. He also received a Certificate in Admiralty and Maritime Law and worked for the Tulane University Domestic Violence Clinic. Mr. Hare worked as the Managing Attorney of Florida Bankruptcy at a large national law firm for several years handling a wide spectrum of creditor rights and bankruptcy matters for secured and unsecured creditors. Mr. Hare also worked as the managing partner of a firm he started handling creditor’s rights and bankruptcy work for creditors before joining Friedman, Framme & Thrush. P.A., in April, 2016. Mr. Hare is a Principal of Friedman, Framme & Thrush. P.A., a law firm based in Owings Mills, MD. His practice has a primary focus on Commercial Bankruptcy, Commercial litigation, Banking and Finance, Commercial Creditor’s rights, and Complex Consumer Bankruptcy. Mr. Hare is an active member of the CLLA serving on the Marketing Subcommittee and Young Members Section Executive Council. Mr. Hare is licensed to practice in state, federal, and bankruptcy courts in Maryland, Florida, and the District of Columbia.

Brad A. Council is a partner in the Cincinnati based law firm of Slovin & Associates Co., LPA. His practice covers all areas of commercial litigation, creditor’s rights including compliance with federal and state consumer credit and collection laws, and landlord-tenant matters. He frequently represents national banking associations, finance companies, medical service providers, debt-buyers, and other credit grantors in the areas of creditor’s rights and account receivables management. He also regularly advises and counsels these organizations on issues related to compliance with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), as well as similar state law acts and regulations. Brad also represents manufacturers, sub-contractors, and material suppliers involving actions under the Uniform Commercial Code relating to sales, leases, and secured transactions.

Brad is a past chair of the Midwest Region for the Commercial Law League of America and is currently the Secretary of the Young Members Section and member of the Creditor’s Rights Executive Council. The CLLA is North America’s oldest Creditor’s Rights Organization and has been operating since 1895. Brad is also the co-chair of the Ohio Legislative Committee for RMA International, the nation’s premier trade association for companies that purchase receivables on the secondary market.

Brad received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2003 and his Juris Doctor from the Northern Kentucky University, Salmon P. Chase College of Law in 2006. During law school Brad served as the Symposium Editor for the Northern Kentucky Law Review.

Brad is licensed to practice law in the States of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. He is also licensed to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio and Indiana.