Ms. Jan M Hayden
Shareholder
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz
Jan Hayden has handled bankruptcy and insolvency issues for her clients for over forty years. She is a shareholder in the Baker Donelson’s New Orleans office. Ms. Hayden's practice is concentrated on assisting clients with reorganizations under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, and she represents creditors, trustees, debtors-in-possession, and committees in a broad spectrum of industries that includes oil and gas, manufacturing, real estate, hotels, gambling, nursing homes, airlines, convenience stores and retail operations
Ms. Hayden is a member of the board of the American College of Bankruptcy as well as the American College of Bankruptcy Foundation Board. She is a Fellow in the American Bar Foundation and Louisiana Bar Foundation and currently serves as a vice president of the New Orleans Bar Association. She is a recipient of the Michelle Mendez Serviam Award 2016, Woman of the Year in Restructuring Award, International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation, 2011 and the LSBA 2009 Pro Bono Publico Award. She was named the Best Lawyers New Orleans Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law "Lawyer of the Year;" for 2010 and 2013 and New Orleans Bankruptcy Litigation "Lawyer of the Year;" for 2012 and 2014. Included in Louisiana Super Lawyers since 2007, she has frequently listed as one of the top 10 lawyers in Louisiana by the organization. She served as Chair of The Pro Bono Project of New Orleans and Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana Board. A graduate of LSU Law Center in 1979 and chair of both the LSBA CLE and MCLE committees, she is a frequent lecturer and author in the field of bankruptcy and insolvency.

Mr. Karl M. Helo
Attorney/Partner
Simon Fitzgerald, LLC
http://www.simonfitzgerald.com
Karl M. Helo is a partner of Simon, Fitzgerald LLC and is currently in charge of the Lafayette branch of the firm. Mr. Helo graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Pre-Law in 2008 and received his Juris Doctor and Diploma in Civil Law degree from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University Law School in 2011. Mr. Helo's practice is almost exclusively in the area of Consumer Bankruptcy. Mr. Helo was admitted to practice in Louisiana in 2011 and is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys and the American Bankruptcy Institute.

Judge John S. Hodge
Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge
US Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana
http://www.lawb.uscourts.gov
John S. Hodge serves as Chief Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Prior to his appointment as a Judge in 2018, he served as a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee and was a member of a Shreveport law firm where his practice focused on bankruptcy, commercial litigation and commercial real estate. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Louisiana State University, and a J. D. from Louisiana State University Law Center.

Mr. Ben W. Kadden
Lugenbuhl
Benjamin (Ben) Kadden is the Managing Partner and leader of the Restructuring and Insolvency Section at Lugenbuhl. His areas of focus include bankruptcy, restructuring, creditors’ rights, corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, litigation, and asset-based finance. Ben has acted as lead counsel for various Official Committees of Unsecured Creditors, as well as special counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Trico Marine bankruptcy. He has also served as Debtor’s counsel in a number of Chapter 11 proceedings, including Gulf Fleet Holdings, Inc., East Cameron Partners, L.P., and Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co.
Admitted to practice in Louisiana and Texas, Ben has also served as special or local counsel in several large Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in the Southern District of Texas. He has represented numerous liquidating and litigating trusts arising out of confirmed plans of reorganization and has participated in a number of merger and acquisition transactions. Because of his experience in complex Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, Ben has knowledge regarding the purchase or sale of assets by distressed companies, including navigating the process while a buyer or seller is in bankruptcy.
Ben is admitted to practice and regularly does so in the following jurisdictions: Louisiana, Texas, U.S. Fifth Circuit, and all U.S. District Courts in Louisiana and Texas. His is ranked by Chambers USA ranking, is recognized by Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers, a New Orleans Top Lawyer recipient, and an AV Preeminent Rated Attorney by Martindale-Hubbell.

Mr. Timothy P. Kirkpatrick
Kirkpatrick & Associates, LLC
Timothy P. Kirkpatrick is the managing member of a law firm Kirkpatrick & Associates, LLC. He received a BSM in 1987 from Tulane University, A B Freeman School of Business and his Juris Doctorate from Tulane University in 1990. His practice focuses on representing consumer debtors in chapter 13‘s and 7’s in the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Mr. Bradley C Knapp
Troutman Pepper Locke
Brad Knapp is a partner in the bankruptcy and restructuring section of Troutman Pepper Locke LLP in New Orleans. Brad's practice includes committee representations, creditor representations, and the occasional Chapter 11 debtor case. Brad also handles a wide variety of both bankruptcy and regulatory issues for energy industry clients. Brad has practiced with Troutman Pepper Locke or one of its predecessors since 2007.

Judge John W. Kolwe
United States Bankruptcy Judge
US Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana
John W. Kolwe was appointed United States Bankruptcy Judge by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, effective August 12, 2015. He was sworn in by Bankruptcy Judge Robert R. Summerhays and served in the Alexandria and Monroe Divisions of the Western District of Louisiana until April 25, 2019. On October 5, 2018, he was appointed to the Lafayette and Lake Charles Divisions to fill the vacancy left by Judge Summerhays. He served as Chief Judge for the Western District of Louisiana from April 2018 to April 2023. He received his B.S. in Accounting from Centenary College of Louisiana in 1985. Following graduation from Centenary, Judge Kolwe worked as a CPA. Judge Kolwe received his J.D. in 1991from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center. He practiced law in Lafayette, Louisiana from 1991 until joining the bench. John is presently the Fifth Circuit Governor of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. He is also a member of the Dean’s Council for the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center. John and his wife, Miriam, reside in Lafayette, Louisiana, where they raised their two children.

Mr. Omer F Kuebel III
Partner
Troutman Pepper Locke
http://www.lockelord.com
Omer F. "Rick" Kuebel III is a partner in the New Orleans office of Troutman Pepper Locke LLP and has served as co-chair of the firm's Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Group. His practice covers corporate restructuring and bankruptcy matters in industries including energy, manufacturing, gaming, health care, and retail, as well as distressed transactions, creditor collection and enforcement litigation, and oil and gas business and regulatory disputes. He has formed or represented unsecured creditors' committees in reorganizations including Seadrill, Diamond Offshore, and Yuma Exploration, and has represented companies in energy restructurings including McDermott International, Valaris, and Fieldwood Energy. [web]

Mr. Bassam Latif
Managing Director
Moelis
Bassam Latif is a Managing Director at Moelis & Company where he specializes in Capital Structure Advisory for companies, sponsors and creditors across a wide range of industries. He has also been instrumental in building out the Firm’s Maritime Shipping Advisory business where he focuses on M&A and strategic transactions.

Prior to joining Moelis & Company, he held roles at Rothschild Inc. where he focused on restructuring and M&A transactions. Bassam holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.A. in Economics from Rice University, and an M.B.A. from Columbia University.

Judge Keith M Lundin
United State Bankruptcy Judge (retired)
US Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
Judge Keith Lundin was appointed to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in 1982. He retired in June 2016. He served as a judge on the first Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Sixth Circuit from 1997-99. He is on the faculty of the Federal Judicial Center and is a Conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference. In addition to teaching as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt Law School, he taught at the University of New Mexico, where he was the Weihofen Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law in 2006, at Emory University School of Law and on numerous seminar and institute faculties. He received the Excellence in Education award from the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and the Norton Judicial Excellence Award from the American Bankruptcy Institute. He is the author of LundinOnChapter13.com and was managing editor of the Norton Bankruptcy Law Adviser (Thompson/Reuters/West) from 1982 to 2024. After earning his law degree from Vanderbilt, he clerked for Chief Judge Harry Phillips of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. While in private practice, he served as standing Chapter 13 trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee. He teaches Effective Legal Writing for the Real World; Discharge and Dischargeability; and Chapter 13.

Mr. Mark A. Mintz
Jones Walker LLP
Mark is co-lead of Jones Walker's bankruptcy and restructuring team, a multi-office practice whose attorneys regularly handle matters larger and more intricate than those typically seen by firms of comparable size. Mark’s own practice centers on debtor and debtor-adjacent representations, with a particular focus on cases marked by financial complexity, intense public scrutiny, and business and reputational consequences that reach well beyond the balance sheet.

Among recent matters, Mark served as lead debtor's counsel in the mass tort Chapter 11 of a major archdiocese in the southeastern United States, one of the most closely watched religious-institution bankruptcies in the nation. The case gave rise to novel legal questions, contested plan issues, and multiple appeals, and concluded with a resolution comprising hundreds of millions of dollars, including funds for disbursement to survivors, a related bond issue, significant real estate transactions, the sale of a healthcare system, and the transfer of a senior housing authority. In a separate engagement, Mark represented an association of parishes in the bankruptcy of a New England diocese, which produced the first mass tort bankruptcy plan confirmed following the US Supreme Court's decision in Purdue Pharma.

Mark joined Jones Walker after serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Carl J. Barbier of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Committed to the ongoing education of attorneys at every stage of their careers, Mark serves as adjunct professor of law at Tulane Law School, where he teaches business reorganizations, and writes and speaks frequently on a wide range of bankruptcy and restructuring topics.

Mr. Joseph R. Moore
Attorney
E. Orum Young Law, LLC
http://www.eorumyoung.com
Law School: Loyola University New Orleans College of Law 2011
Practicing in Consumer Bankruptcy and Litigation since 2012 with E. Orum Young Law
Partner E. Orum Young Law