Bankruptcy and Restructuring: 2014 & Beyond

Bettina M. Whyte is a Managing Director and Senior Adviser with Alvarez & Marsal and is a nationally recognized leader in the financial and operational restructuring industry.

Ms. Whyte has served as an interim CEO, COO and Chief Restructuring Officer of numerous large and mid-sized public and private corporations. She has also been appointed by the bankruptcy courts as a Chapter 11 and a Chapter 7 Trustee, and as an Examiner, and by state and federal courts as a Receiver. Ms. Whyte is also on the Bankruptcy Mediation Panel for the Southern Dist. of NY.

Ms. Whyte serves on the boards of directors of AGL Resources (NYSE); of Rock-Tenn Company (NYSE); Annie’s Homegrown (NYSE); and, on the board of Amerisure Insurance, a mutual insurance company. She is on the Business Advisory Board of Solera Capital, a private equity firm, and the Advisory Board of St. John's Law School. She has been a guest lecturer at The Harvard Business School, Kellogg School of Management, Columbia Business School, and The Stern School of Business.  She has been featured in BusinessWeek, Working Woman, CEO Magazine, The Daily Deal, Boards and Directors magazine and has appeared on NBC Nightly News, CNN, National Public Radio and Sky Radio.  Ms. Whyte is the Past President of the American Bankruptcy Institute, a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and an inductee into the TMA Hall of Fame. She is currently one of twenty Commissioners serving on the Bankruptcy Reform Commission.

Ms. Whyte earned a bachelor's degree in Industrial Economics from Purdue University and an MBA in finance and accounting from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Andrew Goldman is the Vice Chair of WilmerHale’s Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring Practice Group, and is resident in the firm’s New York office. He is comfortable handling bankruptcy-related litigation and corporate issues. Having practiced in the field for more than eighteen years, Mr. Goldman is a seasoned bankruptcy litigator and counselor whose practical insights and analytical abilities enable him to fashion strategy and form consensus in the most complicated of restructuring environments. 

Mr. Goldman was recognized in 2012 and 2013 by Chambers USA for his bankruptcy/restructuring practice. In addition, the 2011-2012 US News/Best Lawyers cited a client of Mr. Goldman's as saying he "is the most responsive outside counsel you will ever work with, hands down. Andy Goldman learned our business and was able to foresee issues and craft strategies. We were never a cookie-cutter deal to him.”

Ira Reid is a Partner in the Financial Restructuring/Creditors’ Rights/Bankruptcy Practice of Baker & McKenzie. He advises parties concerning a wide range of creditors’ rights/bankruptcy issues including distressed acquisitions, debtor in possession financing, real estate sales and executory contract issues, equipment financing, claims trading, cross-border issues in chapter 11 and 15 cases, workout/restructurings and Securities Investor Protection Act proceedings. A significant portion of his practice involves financially distressed companies in diverse commercial businesses, including those involved in financial services, retail, health care, manufacturing, insurance, the securities industry, real estate, and telecommunications.

Mr. Reid advises credit derivatives counterparties and parties to structured finance transactions about insolvency related issues, and engages in dispute resolution in connection with a broad range of insolvency issues including with respect to credit derivative transactions and preference/fraudulent transfer claw back litigation.