Managing Management and Employment/Labor Issues in Bankruptcy

Hon. Alan S. Trust is Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of New York in Central Islip, initially appointed on April 2, 2008, and named Chief Judge on Oct. 1, 2020. He has been an adjunct professor of law at the St. John’s University School of Law since 2009.

Judge Trust served a two-year term as president of the Eastern District of New York Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and serves as CLE Committee co-chair. He is a past chair of the Bankruptcy Law Section of the Federal Bar Association and a member of the board of directors of that Section, and has served as the CLE Committee chair.

Judge Trust is a member of the ABI Journal’s Editorial Board and is a coordinating editor for the Journal, and for several years has had responsibility for its Dicta column. He is a member ABI and the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges.

Judge Trust had been previously designated by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to mediate cases in the Southern District of New York and to sit in the District of Connecticut bankruptcy court. He has continued to serve as a judge mediator in the Eastern District of New York.

Judge Trust has been selected by the Federal Judicial Center on several occasions to serve as a faculty member for national bankruptcy judge workshops, and he has spoken on issues such as evidence and the power of the bankruptcy courts to regulate its proceedings through sanctions and contempt. He also serves on the Judiciary Data Working Group under the auspices of the Administrative Offices of the U.S. Courts.

Judge Trust is a frequent speaker and contributor for numerous CLE events and seminars, addressing bankruptcy, mediation, trial practice and ethics issues, and has participated in a number of civics programs. He was instrumental in the creation of the Pro Bono Mediation Program and the formation of the Consumer Lawyer Advisory Committee adopted by the Eastern District of New York Bankruptcy Court.

Judge Trust received his undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Syracuse University in 1981, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and his J.D. cum laude from New York University School of Law in 1984, having served on its law review from 1982-83.

Drawing on nearly 20 combined years of legal and business experience, Denise brings significant Chapter 11 expertise to her role as Managing Director at Stretto. As a former corporate-restructuring attorney and a turnaround-planning expert, Denise honed strong business acumen and now leverages her diverse skill set to outline multi-faceted, nimble solutions tailored towards individual client needs. In her previous role as an insurance broker at Marsh JLT Specialty, she collaborated with Boards, as well as professional advisors involved in high-profile corporate-restructuring matters, to outline appropriate risk strategies to maximize liquidity and evaluate assets. While serving as a corporate-restructuring attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Denise represented debtors, official and unofficial committees of creditors, large-scale creditors, and other parties of interest on engagements including Lehman Brothers Inc., Delphi Inc., and Refco Inc. Prior to joining Skadden, Denise clerked for the Honorable Mary F. Walrath, former Chief Bankruptcy Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court of the District of Delaware. Focused on supporting the turnaround community, Denise is an active member of ABA, ABI, ACG, IWIRC, TMA and the New York State Bar Association. Denise, a native New Yorker, also serves as co-chair of the Development Committee of the Junior Advisory Board of Her Justice.

Michael Healy is a Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting and is based in New York. He is a member of the Corporate Finance & Restructuring segment. Mr. Healy has extensive experience in restructuring, reorganization and mergers and acquisitions, including advising companies, creditors, shareholders and other interested parties on restructuring transactions both in Chapter 11 and in non-bankruptcy driven resolutions. Mr. Healy has advised clients in diverse businesses, including commercial products, general industrial, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing and retail. Examples of his experience include leading engagements where he has represented companies and creditors in formal and informal restructurings and advising clients, including companies and creditors, on structuring, negotiating and refinancing various forms of debt and equity.

Mr. Healy has served as Chief Restructuring Officer (“CRO”), President, Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) or Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) to distressed companies; and developed and implemented cost reduction and cash flow improvement initiatives. In addition, he has valued and sold companies in and outside of Chapter 11, as well as advising acquirers of such companies; identified, analyzed and recommended strategic and financial alternatives and opportunities, structured leveraged and management buyouts and recapitalizations; and prepared valuations and fairness opinions.

A representative list of Mr. Healy’s client experience includes All American Group (Coachman), CHC Group, Dayton Superior, Diagnostic Imaging Group, First Trade Union Bank, Foodarama Supermarkets, HMX Group, Integrated Electrical, Jobson Medical Information, Linens’ n Things, Malden Mills Industries, Pathfinder Bancorp, Penn Traffic, PRACS Institute, Precision Parts International, Reichhold Industries, Remedy Health Media, Signstrut Ltd., St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Transcentra Inc., USG, World Health Alternatives, W.R. Grace and Vertis Communications. Mr. Healy joined FTI Consulting with its acquisition of CDG Group, where he was a Senior Managing Director.

Prior to that, he was an Associate at Northeast Capital & Advisory. Before that, he held positions with American Express Risk Management and GE. Sought for expertise, Mr. Healy has contributed to various publications and lectures on cash flow management and crisis management. Mr. Healy holds a B.S. in Finance from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an M.B.A. from the Lally School of Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a Certified Turnaround Professional.

Josh Brody represents clients in complex chapter 11 bankruptcy cases and other distressed situations, helping companies navigate successful restructurings, both through the confirmation of a chapter 11 plan and through Section 363 asset sales.

Josh represents a diverse range of creditors at all levels of complex structures, including secured and unsecured, bondholders and bank debt holders, indenture trustees, creditors' committees, and trade creditors. His work involves negotiating and litigating plans of reorganization to complex claims litigation and debtor-in-possession financing. Josh also advises hedge funds and other financial institutions on the rights and remedies of debt holders and in understanding elaborate corporate and capital structures.

Josh's numerous representations prior to joining Jones Day in 2019 include: an ad hoc group of bondholders of First Energy Solutions Corp.; Computer share, as indenture trustee for approximately $2.156 billion of second lien notes issued by Energy Future Intermediate Holding Co., as well as an ad hoc group of second lien note holders in their claims against EFH, the parent company of the largest generator, distributor, and certified retail provider of electricity in Texas; First Mariner Bancorp, the bank holding company for the largest independent bank in Baltimore in its chapter 11 case; Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage bio pharmaceutical company in its chapter 11 case; and Bally Total Fitness Holding, one of the largest fitness club operators in the United States in its chapter 11 case.

Brett is the Managing Partner of the New York office, a partner in the Business Restructuring & Insolvency–Group, and the co–chair of the Distressed Real Estate Group. His clients include official and ad hoc creditors’ committees, bank groups, individual lenders, court–appointed fiduciaries, debtors, and investors that focus on distressed situations. Brett advises on chapter 11 cases, out–of–court restructurings, bankruptcy–related acquisitions, cross–border insolvency matters, bankruptcy–related litigation, and insolvency–sensitive transactions. He has represented parties in restructurings in industries such as real estate, transportation, retail, manufacturing, food service, oil and gas, and media.

Brett is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, an invitation–only organization that includes leading practitioners, judges, and academics in the field of insolvency law. He is listed as a leading lawyer for Bankruptcy & Restructuring in Chambers Global, Chambers USA, and Legal 500 US. Brett has been recognized by Law360 as an “MVP” of the bankruptcy bar. Turnarounds & Workouts also named him an “Outstanding Restructuring Lawyer” for 2014 and 2015.