Alexandria, Va.— ABI announces the honorees of its 2021 “40 Under 40” initiative, which identifies 40 top industry professionals under age 40. The honorees will be recognized at a special ceremony to be held on Dec. 10 at ABI’s 2021 Winter Leadership Conference at Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. ABI’s 2021 class of “40 Under 40” honorees are:

• Arielle Adler of Lowenstein Sandler LLP (Roseland, N.J.)
• Darren Azman of McDermott Will & Emery LLP (New York)
• January Bailey of Prelle Eron & Bailey, P.A. (Wichita, Kan.)
• Michael Brandess of Sugar Felsenthal Grais & Helsinger LLP (Chicago)
• Jason Burgess of The Law Offices of Jason A. Burgess, LLC (Atlantic Beach, Fla.)
• John Cannizzaro of Ice Miller LLP (Columbus, Ohio)
• Andrea Chase of Spencer Fane LLP (Kansas City, Mo.)
• Adam Crane of Baker & Partners (George Town, Cayman Islands)
• Jeffrey Dutson of King & Spalding LLP (Atlanta)
• Uchechi Egeonuigwe of Brown Rudnick LLP (New York)
• Sarah Frankel of Stretto (Richmond, Texas)
• Kathleen Furr of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, P.C. (Atlanta)
• David Griffiths of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP (New York)
• Neil Gupta of SSG Capital Advisors (West Conshohocken, Pa.)
• Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez of Singapore Management University (Singapore)
• Sasha Gurvitz of KTBS Law LLP (Los Angeles)
• Matthew Harvey of Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell LLP (Wilmington, Del.)
• Michael Herz of Fox Rothschild LLP (Morristown, N.J.)
• Bankruptcy Judge Noah Hillen (D. Idaho; Boise)
• Jarret Hitchings of Duane Morris LLP (Wilmington, Del.)
• Diana Johnson of Legal Aid of NC, Inc. (Winston Salem, N.C.)
• Kyle Kimpler of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (New York)
• Jeffrey Kwong of Levene, Neale, Bender, Yoo & Brill L.L.P. (Los Angeles)
• Alexander Lees of Milbank LLP (New York)
• Luis Lluberas of Moore & Van Allen PLLC (Charlotte, N.C.)
• Jennifer Lyday of Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
• Samantha Martin of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP (New York)
• Erin McKeighan of Alvarez and Marsal (Chicago)
• Krystal Mikkilineni of Bradshaw, Fowler, Proctor & Fairgrave, P.C. (Des Moines, Iowa)
• Evan Miller of Bayard, P.A. (Wilmington, Del.)
• Joseph Pack of Pack Law (Miami)
• Kyu Paek of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (New York)
• Rachael Ringer of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP (New York)
• Michael Sabella of Baker & Hostetler LLP (New York)
• Eric Silver of Stearns Weaver Miller (Miami)
• Daryl Smith of the Chapter 13 Trustee's Office (Memphis, Tenn.)
• Jolene Tanner of the U.S. Attorney's Office (Los Angeles)
• Brett Theisen of Gibbons P.C. (Newark, N.J.)
• Lydia Webb of Gray Reed (Dallas)
• Sarah Withers of Inner Banks Legal Services, Inc. (Washington, N.C.)

“The 2021 honorees are a testament to the future of the insolvency profession, with exemplary accomplishments in both their careers and communities,” said ABI Executive Director Amy Quackenboss. “We look forward to this diverse collection of young leaders propelling ABI's full range of activities forward to advance the profession.”

Honorees were chosen from both large and small firms from every region of the country, and represent diverse practice areas such as law, finance, consulting, academia, government and more. The age range of this year’s class is between 33 and 40 years old, with 24 of the honorees having applied previously to ABI’s “40 under 40” initiative. Sixteen members of the 2021 “40 under 40” class are female and 24 are male, and 8 of the honorees are people of color. One honoree is located in Singapore, and one is located in the Cayman Islands.

Nominations were submitted earlier this year by the candidates themselves or by colleagues via the initiative’s website, http://abi40under40.org. More than 200 candidates, each with outstanding records of professional achievement and community leadership, were evaluated by 20 judges. The majority of the applicants were partners, directors or managing directors at their firms.

A steering committee chaired by Wayne P. Weitz of B. Riley Advisory Services (New York) included experienced professionals from ABI’s current leadership (including four former honorees), established the criteria for selection and chose this year’s class. Members of the steering committee included Marchand Boyd of Axos Bank (New York), Prof. Anthony J. Casey of the University of Chicago Law School (Chicago), Jody A. Corrales of DeConcini McDonald Yetwin & Lacy, P.C. (Tucson, Ariz.), Melissa Davis of KapilaMukamal, LLP (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Swapna Deshpande of Ankura Consulting Group, LLC (New York), Paul H. Deutch of Omni Agent Solutions (New York), Rosa J. Evergreen of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP (Washington, D.C.), Jeremy R. Fischer of Drummond Woodsum (Portland, Maine), Mariaelena Gayo-Guitian of Genovese Joblove & Battista, PA (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Allen G. Kadish of Archer & Greiner PC (New York), Hon. Cynthia A. Norton (W.D. Mo.; Kansas City), William T. Reid IV of Reid Collins & Tsai LLP (Austin, Texas), Ivan J. Romo Valdovinos of SOELI Consulting (Mexico City, Mexico), Alexandra Schnapp of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta), Bradley D. Sharp of Development Specialists, Inc. (Los Angeles), Glenn E. Siegel of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP (New York), David P. Simonds of Hogan Lovells US LLP (Los Angeles), Elizabeth Vandesteeg of Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC (Chicago) and Lynnette R. Warman of Culhane Meadows PLLC (Dallas).

The goal of ABI’s “40 under 40” initiative is not simply to create a one-time ceremony, but to fully engage those selected as future leaders in the insolvency profession and to build on the initiative each year. ABI staff have created a year-round promotional campaign in the ABI Journal and at all of its CLE programs in consultation with the steering committee.

For more information about ABI’s “40 under 40” initiative, visit http://abi40under40.org/.

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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes nearly 10,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abi.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abi.org/calendar-of-events.