Avoiding the Dreaded B-Word: Alternatives to Bankruptcy

Kathleen Parker is director of business development at HYPERAMS, LLC in Wood Dale, Ill., and joined the firm in 2012. Since that time, she has held several titles and was responsible for the implementation of HYPERAMS’s auction operations and processes.

Ms. Parker’s current duties include establishing and maintaining relationships with machinery and equipment and inventory appraisal clients, including financial institutions and asset-based lenders, in the Midwest and Southeast territories. She is also an integral member of the Auction Services team and provides auction operations support.

Ms. Parker is invested in professional development and is an active member of several industry organizations, including the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) Midwest Chapter and the Secured Finance Network (SFNET).

Ms. Parker is a Repperts Auction School graduate and currently holds an auction license in the state of Illinois.

Jason J. DeJonker is a partner and co-global practice group leader of Finance Transactions at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP in Chicago. His experience includes lender and borrower-side loan workouts, representations of debtors and secured creditors in chapter 11 bankruptcy cases (including DIP and exit finance), and the plan-confirmations, commercial foreclosures, and complex collection and judgment collection matters. Out of the courtroom, he routinely counsels clients on structuring distressed transactions (including traditional M&A and commercial real estate transactions involving all asset types), provides advice to corporate management and boards of directors on fiduciary duty issues, and helps private-equity and traditional lender clients in structuring commercial real estate and C&I loans.

Mr. DeJonker serves on the firm’s Global Leadership Board and is actively involved in the management of the firm. He previously held leadership positions with the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), the Asian American Bar Association of Chicago (AABA), the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), and the Chicago Committee for Minorities in Large Law Firms.

Mr. DeJonker has been listed in Chambers USA and The Best Lawyers in America. He received his B.A. in 1997 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his J.D. cum laude in 2000 from the University of Illinois.

Jason W. Bank is a member of Kerr, Russell and Weber, PLC in Detroit and chairs the firm’s Bankruptcy and Restructuring Practice Group. He practices in the areas of commercial bankruptcy, outof- court workouts, corporate restructurings and creditors’ rights.

Mr. Bank has successfully guided numerous businesses through out-of-court restructurings, chapter 11 reorganizations and other judicial proceedings. He has negotiated resolutions of complex financial issues and debtor/creditor disputes, and achieved consensual restructurings while avoiding bankruptcy or litigation.

Mr. Bank is a certified mediator and vice chair of the Mediation Panel for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He also is the former president of the Detroit Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association and served as adjunct professor of law at Michigan State University College of Law.

Mr. Bank received his A.B. from the University of Michigan and his J.D. from Wayne State University Law School.

Alpesh Amin has over 20 years of experience in the areas of corporate finance, restructuring, and management consulting. He has served as an interim manager to companies and as an advisor to both companies and their stakeholders. Alpesh’s background includes corporate turnarounds and restructurings, strategic planning, business plan development and analysis, cash flow and liquidity management, mergers and acquisitions advisory, debt and equity capital raises, and transaction services. His industry experience includes automotive, building products, construction equipment, consumer products, direct marketing, distribution, financial services, food and beverage, gaming, grocery, healthcare, manufacturing, metals, packaging, printing, and technology. Prior to joining Riveron, Alpesh was managing director at MorrisAnderson where he specialized in working with underperforming companies and their stakeholders.

Prior to MorrisAnderson, Alpesh held management consulting positions with Huron Consulting Group where he focused on restructuring and turnarounds and with Bridge Associates, LLC where he specialized in turnaround and interim management services. He was also part of Merrill Lynch’s Investment Banking Group, providing mergers and acquisitions advisory and spent time working in Bank of America’s leveraged finance and syndication groups.

Mr. Amin is a member of ABI and the Turnaround Management Association. He received his B.B.A. with concentrations in finance and management information systems from Miami University.