Wharton Restructuring and Distressed Investing Conference 2019

Hon. Shelley Chapman

United States Bankruptcy Judge
Southern District of New York

Shelley C. Chapman was sworn in as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York on March 5, 2010. At the time of her appointment, she was a partner in the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP in the Business Reorganization and Restructuring Department, where her practice included the representation of debtors, creditors, and other parties in interest in major chapter 11 cases and out-of-court restructurings. Prior to joining Willkie Farr in 2001, Judge Chapman was a partner at Sidley & Austin. Judge Chapman currently presides over the Lehman Brothers chapter 11 and SIPA proceedings, and has presided over many other chapter 11 mega-cases and chapter 15 cross-border proceedings, including Boston Generating, Innkeepers, Ambac, LightSquared, Sbarro, NII Holdings, Sabine Oil & Gas, Cumulus Media, Toisa, and Nine West.

Judge Chapman received a B.A. with distinction in all subjects from Cornell University in 1978 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, from which she graduated cum laude in 1981. She served as an editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review.

From 2001 through 2007, she served on the Board of Directors of HerJustice (formerly inMotion), a non-profit organization that provides pro bono legal services to indigent women and children in New York City, primarily in the areas of matrimonial, family, and immigration law. She served as Board Chair from 2004 to 2007, overseeing a broad expansion of the services provided throughout the five boroughs of the city. Prior to her appointment, she also served on the Executive Committee of the UJA-Federation of New York’s Bankruptcy and Reorganization Group and on the Advisory Board of the ABI New York City Bankruptcy Conference.

Judge Chapman is a Conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, and a member of the International Insolvency Institute. In addition, she serves as a member of the Executive Committee and as a Vice President of III. She is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, served on an advisory committee of the ABI Commission to Study Chapter 11 Reform, and served as judicial co-chair of the ABI New York City Bankruptcy Conference. In April 2015, she was appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States to serve as the Chair of the Federal Judicial Center’s Bankruptcy Judge Education Advisory Committee and acts as a mentor judge for the Federal Judicial Center’s Orientation Program for Newly Appointed Bankruptcy Judges. In July 2016, she became a member of the FDIC’s Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee. She also serves on the Editorial Board of Collier on Bankruptcy as a Contributing Author and on the Second Circuit Civic Education Committee. She is a frequent lecturer on a variety of U.S. bankruptcy and international insolvency topics at conferences around the country and internationally.

Garrett Fail

Partner, Business Finance & Restructuring Department
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

Garrett Fail is a partner in the Business Finance & Restructuring Department at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. Mr. Fail’s practice covers all aspects of domestic and international debt restructurings, as well as crisis management and corporate governance. He has extensive experience representing companies in distress, creditors, buyers and sellers, DIP lenders, and investors across a variety of industries in chapter 11 cases and in out-of-court debt restructurings. Mr. Fail has lectured frequently and written articles on numerous occasions on bankruptcy topics.

Most recently, Mr. Fail was named a “Rising Star” for Restructuring and Insolvency in the U.S. by IFLR1000 in 2019 and 2020. In 2019, he was named a Next Generation Partner by Legal 500. He was named to Benchmark Litigation’s 40 & Under 40 for three consecutive years from 2016 through 2018, and has received the M&A Advisor 40 Under 40 Recognition Award and the Turnarounds & Workouts Outstanding Young Restructuring Lawyers Award. In 2017, Mr. Fail was awarded Turnaround of the Year: Mega Company by Turnaround Management Association for his work on the restructuring of Aéropostale Inc. In 2016 he was named to “40 Under 40 Insolvency and Restructuring Lawyers” by Global Restructuring Review.

Karimah Munem

Co-Chair
2020 Wharton Restructuring and Distressed Investing Conference

Karimah is a third-year student at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. This past summer, Karimah was a Summer Associate at Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti, where she will be returning after graduation. In the summer of 2018, she interned with the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico in San Juan and with a judge in the Criminal Division at the Superior Court of New Jersey. She graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers University with a B.A. in Political Science and Women’s Studies.

Mark Brodsky

Founder
Aurelius Capital Management

Mark Brodsky is the founder, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Aurelius Capital Management, LP. Aurelius-managed funds have been in operation since 2006. Before then, Mr. Brodsky worked at Elliott Management Corporation for nine years, ultimately as a Senior Portfolio Manager and a member of the Management Committee. Mr. Brodsky began his investing career in 1994 when he joined Dickstein Partners. Before then, he practiced corporate and bankruptcy law for more than 16 years, primarily at Kramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel, where he became a partner and co-head of the bankruptcy practice. Mr. Brodsky holds M.A. and B.A. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School.

The Aurelius funds focus primarily on stressed /distressed credit and other event-driven investing. The Aurelius approach integrates deep fundamental research of both business and structural (capital structure, corporate structure, and other legal) drivers of value. The portfolio is idiosyncratic and moderately concentrated. Aurelius’s investment objectives are to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns, minimize beta, and preserve capital.

Howard Marks, CFA

Co-Chairman
Oaktree Capital Management

Since the formation of Oaktree in 1995, Mr. Marks has been responsible for ensuring the firm’s adherence to its core investment philosophy; communicating closely with clients concerning products and strategies; and contributing his experience to big-picture decisions relating to investments and corporate direction. From 1985 until 1995, Mr. Marks led the groups at The TCW Group, Inc. that were responsible for investments in distressed debt, high yield bonds, and convertible securities. He was also Chief Investment Officer for Domestic Fixed Income at TCW. Previously, Mr. Marks was with Citicorp Investment Management for 16 years, where from 1978 to 1985 he was Vice President and senior portfolio manager in charge of convertible and high yield securities. Between 1969 and 1978, he was an equity research analyst and, subsequently, Citicorp's Director of Research. Mr. Marks holds a B.S.Ec. degree cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a major in finance and an M.B.A. in accounting and marketing from the Booth School of Business of the University of Chicago, where he received the George Hay Brown Prize. He is a CFA® charterholder. Mr. Marks is a Trustee and Chairman of the Investment Committee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He chairs the Investment Committee of the Royal Drawing School and is Professor of Practice at King’s Business School (both in London). He serves on the Shanghai International Financial Advisory Council and the Advisory Board of Duke Kunshan University. He is an Emeritus Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, where from 2000 to 2010 he chaired the Investment Board.