David N. Phelps has been named director at Bridge Associates LLC, where he has been employed since 2002 and currently heads the restructuring group at Torch Offshore Inc. as Torch’s CRO. In addition, he co-heads the Bridge team providing advisory services to International Wire Group’s Insulated Wire Division. Richard Reighard has also been named a director at Bridge Associates LLC. Mr. Reighard has been with Bridge since 2000 and is currently co-heading the Bridge team working on the restructuring of International Garment Processors in El Paso, Texas, and Mexico. Mark Stickel has been promoted to chief administrative officer at Bridge Associates LLC. In 2001, Mr. Stickel became a founding member and managing director of Wind Down Associates LLC, a wholly owned Bridge subsidiary formed to manage post-confirmation trusts for emerging chapter 11 debtors, liquidations for the benefit of creditors in out-of-court proceedings and assignments for creditors’ committees prior to the confirmation of debtors’ plans of reorganization. Mr. Stickel, who joined Bridge as a principal in June 2000, will continue to manage Bridge’s wind-down services division and will now also oversee the administrative and human resource functions. John Pidcock has been named principal at Bridge Associates LLC. Since joining the firm in 2002, Mr. Pidcock has participated on the team that prepared a report on the feasibility of United Airlines Corp.’s business plan, represented creditors’ committees of various clients, and provided high-level analytical expertise on clients’ liquidation models.

Neal D. Colton of Cozen O’Connor in Philadelphia will serve as a visiting professor of law for the Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law’s 2006 spring semester study abroad program at its Tokyo campus. Mr. Colton will teach two accelerated eight-week courses: corporate reorganization in U.S. bankruptcy and international commercial arbitration. He currently serves as an adjunct professor of law at the Philadelphia campus, where he has taught a course on chapter 11 reorganizations since 1989. Mr. Colton is co-chair of the firm’s bankruptcy, insolvency and restructuring practice group.

Melanie Gray of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in Houston has been named to the board of trustees of the Syracuse University College of Law, from which she graduated in 1981. Named a partner at Weil, Gotshal in 1989, Ms. Gray has represented a variety of corporations and major banks, as well as publicly held debtors, secured creditors and court-appointed trustees. More recently, Ms. Gray spearheaded the firm’s representation of Enron in its chapter 11 case. She is currently one of Enron’s lead attorneys in more than 30 lawsuits seeking recovery in excess of $1 billion due to Enron under various trading contracts.

The Baltimore office of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll LLP hosted a delegation of 14 Japanese regional bankers in November. Joseph J. Bellinger Jr. briefed the guests on U.S. bankruptcy laws as well as systems and methods for managing the turnaround process of companies in financial trouble. Mr. Bellinger is a partner in Ballard’s litigation department and a member of the bankruptcy, reorganization, and capital recovery group. He has been a member since 1999.

Francine Gordon recently joined Kurtzman Carson Consultants LLC in Los Angeles as a senior bankruptcy consultant. In her new role, Ms. Gordon will provide consulting services to KCC’s clients while supporting business development for the firm. Prior to joining KCC, Ms. Gordon was vice president of The Trumbull Group, where she provided claims consulting services since she began with the organization as a consultant in 1999. She has been an ABI member since 1999.

Matthew Lesnick just formed his own law firm in Santa Monica, Calif., specializing in commercial bankruptcy, restructuring and litigation. Mr. Lesnick was previously a partner in the Los Angeles office of Bingham McCutchen LLP. He has been an ABI member since 1995.

Conway MacKenzie & Dunleavy (CM&D) has announced the opening of an office in Shanghai, China. The firm specializes in turnaround management, operations consulting, interim management, investment banking and litigation support services. ABI members include Kevin A. Berry, Van E. Conway, John H. Groustra, Gregory A. Charleston, Todd A. Eddy and Kevin J. Hand.

Scott D. Hazlett recently joined Conway MacKenzie & Dunleavy as the partner-in-charge of the operations consulting and interim management practice. Prior to joining CM&D, Mr. Hazlett was president of Cequent Transportation Accessories, a global manufacturer, marketer and distributor of a wide range of metal fabricated, plastic and electrical products.

Todd A. Eddy has also recently joined Conway MacKenzie & Dunleavy. As a senior associate, Mr. Eddy specializes in enhancing enterprise value for companies through a structured approach to operations and financial improvement. He is experienced in leading and managing manufacturing organizations and applying lean business strategies for improvements in safety, quality, delivery and cost. Before joining CM&D, Mr. Eddy was a principal partner with Caledonia Group.

Peter D. Lynch is a recent addition to Conway MacKenzie & Dunleavy in the role of senior associate. He specializes in the fields of strategic sourcing, low-cost country supplier development, post-acquisition integration, supplier bankruptcy management, e-commerce, and program launches, primarily for the automotive and consumer electronics industries. Prior to joining CM&D, Mr. Lynch was an associate director in the materials management group at Visteon Corp.

James H. Whitney has joined Conway MacKenzie & Dunleavy as a director in the Birmingham, Ala. office, where he focuses on turnaround consulting, business development, and sourcing engagement opportunities. Prior to joining CM&D, he was director of acquisitions for Summit Investment Management. Mr. Whitney earned his M.B.A. at the University of Michigan.

Thomas H. Gordy has joined Conway MacKenzie & Dunleavy’s management committee. The committee is responsible for establishing the strategic direction of the firm. Mr. Gordy is the managing director of CM&D Capital Advisors LLC, specializing in capital raising, debt restructuring, recapitalizations, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate finance advisory. He has more than 15 years of experience providing investment-banking assistance to middle-market companies.

Stephanie Wickouski of Gardner Carton & Douglas LLP has been appointed to serve as the managing partner of the firm’s new office in New York. She is the co-chair of the firm’s corporate restructuring and financial institutions practice groups. Ms. Wickouski has been a partner with GCD since 2002 and managing partner of its Washington, D.C. office for the past year. In 2004, Ms. Wickouski was recognized as one of the best bankruptcy lawyers in Washington, D.C., by Washingtonian Magazine and by The Best Lawyers in America. She is also the author of Bankruptcy Crimes. She has been a member since 1999. She will be joined by partner Janice Grubin, former chair of the bankruptcy practice of Wormser, Kiely, Galef & Jacobs LLP in New York City. Ms. Grubin represents debtors, creditors, trustees, receivers, examiners and official and unofficial committees in voluntary and involuntary bankruptcy proceedings and workouts in insurance, banking, manufacturing, real estate, energy, service and other industries in all jurisdictions. She has served as chapter 11 operating trustee and examiner in multiple cases pending in the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

Daniel Morse is also joining Gardner Carton & Douglas’s New York office. Mr. Morse recently received his LL.M. in bankruptcy from St. John’s University School of Law in Jamaica, N.Y. He is also a graduate of the University of Iowa and the University of Iowa College of Law, and formerly practiced with Mohr, Hackett, Pederson, Blakley & Randolph PC in Phoenix.

Brian C. Walsh has joined the international law firm Bryan Cave LLP as a partner in its St. Louis office, where his practice includes the representation of debtors, secured lenders and unsecured creditors in bankruptcy cases. Mr. Walsh received his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard University, where he was on the editorial board of the Harvard Journal on Legislation and earned his B.A. magna cum laude at Duke University. He has been an ABI member since 1999.

Neil P. Olack has been tentatively selected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for appointment as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge (S.D. Miss.; Jackson). Mr. Olack is currently a partner with Duane Morris LLP in Atlanta and serves on ABI’s Executive Committee as Vice President-Education. He graduated from Emory University School of Law in 1981 and has been an ABI member since 1985.

Jared Yerian, CFA, CIRA, has been promoted to managing director at AlixPartners LLC in Southfield, Mich., where he has been with the firm since May 1999. Mr. Yerian has developed complex capital restructuring plans, prepared business and asset valuations, performed portfolio rationalization analyses, assisted creditors and debtor senior management in developing operational and capital turnarounds. Mr. Yerian earned an M.B.A. in finance and accounting from the University of Chicago and a B.S. from Indiana University.

The British law firm Geldards announced that it has recently conclud-ed sponsorship arrangements with Nottingham Trent University to sponsor a chair in corporate and insolvency law. Prof. Adrian J. Walters will take the title “The Geldards LLP Professor of Corporate and Insolvency Law.” Mr. Walters will undertake a variety of training and promotional duties for the firm.

Brenda Martin is now of counsel to the bankruptcy group of Osborn Maledon PA in Phoenix, is a certified mediator for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and represents individual unsecured and secured creditors, committees and others in reorganizations and liquidations. She obtained her J.D. from Arizona State University and her B.A. from Williamette University. She has been an ABI member since 1999.

Bill Bensinger has joined the Charlotte, N.C., office of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, where he is a member of the firm’s financial restructuring team. Mr. Bensinger received his LL.M. from the St. John’s University School of Law and his B.S. degree in accounting from Samford University and his J.D. from Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Ala.

Ted Burr recently formed Sierra Consulting Group LLC, a financial restructuring and turnaround consulting firm, based in Phoenix. Sierra Consulting is comprised of several restructuring, litigation support and business valuation professionals and serves as examiner and trustee in bankruptcy-related matters. He has been an ABI member since 2000.