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
United States Bankruptcy Judge
U.S. Bankruptcy Court
http://www.lawb.uscourts.gov
John S. Hodge serves as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Louisiana. Prior to his appointment 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. Benjamin W. Kadden
Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard
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
Locke Lord, LLP
Brad Knapp advises clients on a variety of litigation and bankruptcy matters. Brad has been involved in every aspect of the Chapter 11 process, including representing debtors, assisting with committee representations, representing buyers with bankruptcy acquisitions and representing creditors. Brad also has extensive experience with bankruptcy litigation on behalf of energy industry clients and consumer finance clients. Brad also represents energy clients in regulatory matters, particularly related to offshore oil and gas interests.

Judge John W. Kolwe
Chief 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
Locke Lord, LLP
http://www.lockelord.com
Rick Kuebel, Co-Chair of the Firm's Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Group, has extensive experience as the architect of corporate restructuring and bankruptcy solutions in multiple economic sectors, including energy, manufacturing, gaming, health care and retail. Rick has represented numerous companies in business litigation, arbitration matters and regulatory disputes involving oil and gas exploration, development, transportation, refining and marketing.

Rick also provides counseling for distressed transactions, including distressed asset acquisitions and divestitures, joint operations, regulatory implications and other financial risks. Successes include restructuring or distressed acquisition of Neuro Rehab Care, Delta Radiology and Denali/Zohar. He also represents creditors in commercial collection litigation, property litigation, enforcement of security rights and bankruptcy litigation.

In addition, Rick has formed or represented unsecured creditor committees in a number of reorganizations, including: Seadrill Limited, Diamond Offshore, Yuma Exploration, Evans Industries, the Fairgrounds, WRT Energy, Jitney Jungle, Delchamps, Forcenergy, Friede Goldman Halter, Orion Refining, Lundy Enterprises, Valentine Paper and WFA (West Feliciana Paper Mill).He has represented major companies in a number of energy or energy-related industry restructurings and bankruptcies, including McDermott International Diamond Offshore, Valaris Drilling, Fieldwood Energy, Castex Energy, Lyondell Basell, SemCrude, Flying J, Enron (North America), Getty Petroleum Marketing, ATP, Black Elk Energy, Energy XXI, Northstar Energy, VENOCO, Shoreline Energy, RDT, Dune Energy, EOTT, Panaco, Contour Energy, TDC Energy, Virgin Oil/Offshore, Watson Energy, TransTexas Oil and Gas, Forcenergy, WRT, Alma and Equinox, Rand Energy, NARCO, AP Green, Farmland Industries, PG&E, Babcock and Wilcox, Bethlehem Steel and Friede Goldman Halter.

Rick has acted as counsel in numerous commercial disputes arising from offshore exploration projects, including Macondo (Deepwater Horizon), Atlantis, Thunder Horse, Petronius, Mad Dog, West Delta and the Cook Inlet. Rick has represented numerous exploration and production companies with respect to regulatory disputes with BOEM, BSEE and numerous state regulatory agencies.

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)
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. 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 is the author of LundinOnChapter13.com and has been a managing editor for Norton Bankruptcy Law Adviser (Thompson/Reuters/West) since 1982. 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; Marijuana and Bankruptcy; Discharge and Dischargeability; and Chapter 13.

Mr. Mark A. Mintz
Jones Walker LLP
Mark Mintz is a partner in the litigation and bankruptcy group at Jones Walker LLP. His practice focuses on creditor and debtor rights, especially in the bankruptcy context. He has represented secured and unsecured creditors in bankruptcy cases and has also represented bankruptcy trustees in both Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 cases. Prior to his legal career, he was Deputy Press Secretary to U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu.

Mr. Mintz received his J.D. magna cum laude from Tulane Law school in May 2007, where he served as senior managing editor of the Tulane Law Review and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. Upon graduation, he clerk for the Hon. Carl Barbier, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana. He received his B.A. in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies from Emory University in May 2001.

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