Taming a Black Swan: Establishing Feasibility in Uncertain Times

William G. Cross is an associate with Markus Williams Young & Hunsicker LLC in Denver, where he focuses his practice on business bankruptcies and restructurings, creditors’ rights and bankruptcy litigation. Prior to joining the firm, he clerked for Chief Judge Michael E. Romero of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado.

Mr. Cross previously spent several years in private practice in Chicago, where he focused on bankruptcy and commercial litigation practices. He received his B.S. in economics in 2004 from the University of Illinois and his J.D. in 2009 from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

Matthew H. Connors, ASA, CPA, ABV, CFE is a managing member at Rocky Mountain Advisory, LLC in Salt Lake City and leads the firm’s business and intellectual property valuation practice. His expertise includes expert witness services in complex commercial litigation disputes and valuing equity securities in and outside of litigation disputes.

Mr. Connors has testified in federal and state courts multiple times. He is an expert in calculating economic damages, business valuation, intellectual property valuation, intangible asset valuation and damages related to such intangible assets. He also has expertise in preparing and rebutting expert opinions in the above areas and has testified numerous times.

Mr. Connors’s practice also includes the valuation of intangible assets, intellectual property, and goodwill for purposes of financial reporting. He has extensive experience investigating fraud schemes of various types and has spent significant time investigating alleged fraud schemes, including Ponzi schemes, misappropriation of assets, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations and evaluating business solvency.

Mr. Connors received a B.S. in accounting and a B.S. in information systems, both magna cum laude, and his M.B.A. from the University of Utah.

Katherine R. Catanese is a partner and bankruptcy and restructuring attorney with Foley & Lardner LLP in New York, where she focuses her practice on the representation of creditors’ committees, post-confirmation trusts and trustees, especially in fraud-based litigation. She also focuses her practice on cross-border fraud and representation of investors and managers in hedge funds both onshore and offshore in bankruptcy ligation including involuntary bankruptcies and chapter 15 bankruptcies. In this regard, she assisted in filing an involuntary petition for a group of hedge fund creditors, then assisted in procuring a settlement in that bankruptcy that resolved over a dozen lawsuits in the U.S. and offshore and is liquidating the remaining hedge fund assets. She also has experience in bankruptcy appeals and successfully persuaded a federal appeals court to affirm the dismissal of a “rogue” bankruptcy petition by the ousted former board of directors of a scandal-plagued Chinese clean energy company.

Ms. Catanese focuses on for-profit schools and higher-education restructuring generally, with an emphasis on fraud investigation and intervention. She is building a practice focusing on representing higher-education institutions, lenders and private-equity funds in all forms of litigation related to the business and financial restructuring of these schools.

Ms. Catanese is a member of the Bankruptcy and Health Care Restructuring subteam at Foley and the women’s retention coordinator for Foley’s Women’s Network in the New York office, and she was named one of ABI’s “40 Under 40” emerging leaders in insolvency practice in 2018. Prior to joining Foley, she was an associate at Allard & Fish, P.C., where she represented a chapter 7 trustee and corporate debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, and trustees in all aspects of bankruptcy litigation.

Ms. Catanese is admitted to practice in New York and Michigan. She is also a lifetime member of the Michigan State University alumni association and a member of the MSU Law Alumni Board.

Ms. Catanese received her B.A. in psychology summa cum laude in 2001 and her J.D. cum laude in 2004 from Michigan State University. During law school, she clerked for Hon. David L. Jordon.

Dr. Daniel Bachman is a senior manager with Deloitte Services LP in Washington, D.C., and is responsible for Deloitte’s quarterly U.S. Economic Forecast. Prior to coming to Deloitte, he worked as a forecaster, economic analyst and model expert at the U.S. Commerce Department and for several economic consulting companies. He also taught economics at Temple University.

Dr. Bachman’s first professional job was at Israel’s Ministry of Finance. He is a participant in the Wall Street Journal’s Economic Forecasting panel and George Washington University’s H.O. Stekler Research Seminar on Forecasting. He is an active member of the National Association for Business Economics and the National Economics Club.

Dr. Bachman has published a number of articles in peer-reviewed economics research journals. He received his B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and his Ph.D. from Brown University.

Adam L. Hirsch is a partner in the Finance & Acquisitions Department of Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, where he focuses his practice on representing clients across the U.S. in all aspects of bankruptcy, business restructuring, and related transactions. He advises secured and unsecured lenders, DIP lenders, Chapter 11 plan sponsors, acquirers of assets in Section 363 asset sales, landlords and tenants, equipment lessors and lessees, IP licensors and licensees, and providers of various goods and services. He also represents clients in transactional matters involving financially distressed parties and debtors reorganizing under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Mr. Hirsch, who joined DGS in August 2020, brings to the firm extensive experience in representing companies in varied economic conditions and offers an in-depth understanding of commercial creditor and debtor rights under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Mr. Hirsch received his J.D. in 2004 from Tulane University Law School and his B.A. in 2001 from Northwestern University. He is admitted to practice in Colorado and New York, as well as before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and the U.S. District Courts for the District of Colorado, the Southern District of New York, and the Eastern District of New York. Prior to joining DGS, Mr. Hirsch was a partner in Kutak Rock LLP’s Denver office and, before that, worked for a large New York law firm, where he represented clients in a range of bankruptcy and finance-related matters during the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent economic recession.