The Impact of the Pandemic on Brick and Mortar: A New Paradigm or the Next Stage in the Evolution of Retail?

Jennifer McLain McLemore advises commercial creditors, business creditors, banks and credit unions in bankruptcy and bankruptcy litigation matters. She frequently represents clients in matters involving debtor-in-possession financing arrangements and asset identification and recovery matters. She also represents clients in bankruptcy litigation situations involving avoidance actions, claim objection disputes and discharge/dischargeability claims.

Jennifer has handled bankruptcy cases for numerous clients, including business owners, corporate entities and contract counterparties; commercial and retail landlords; banks and other lenders; Official Committees of Unsecured Creditors; Chapter 7 trustees; Chapter 11 trustees; and debtors.

Jennifer is listed in The Best Lawyers in America? for Bankruptcy & Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency & Reorganization Law (2013-present). She is listed in Virginia Super Lawyers for Bankruptcy Law (2014-present), Chambers USA for Bankruptcy/Restructuring (2021) and has been named among Virginia’s “Legal Elite” by Virginia Business for Bankruptcy/Creditors’ Rights (2011-2017, 2019-present).

Jennifer is a past chair of the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC). She founded IWIRC’s Virginia network in 2006, and, in 2012, she received the IWIRC’s Melnik Award, which is awarded to a member who has made an exceptional contribution to IWIRC, either through efforts over the past year or for the culmination of efforts over a period of years.

She currently serves on the board of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and served as co-chair of the ABI’s Southeastern Bankruptcy Workshop Advisory Board from 2019-2021. She was a member of Leadership Metro Richmond’s Class of 2016 and is a sustainer for the Junior League of Richmond.

Jennifer earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Richmond School of Law, where she served as an associate editor for the University of Richmond Law Review. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude and with university honors, from Miami University.

Anthony Calascibetta is a Partner in the Financial Advisory Services Group, with nearly 30 years of public accounting and consulting experience. As an industry expert, Tony provides consulting on bankruptcy cases, litigation matters, financial and related advisory services to creditor committees and individual creditors, Chapter 7 & 11 trustees, debtors in possession and bankruptcy examiners.

Tony has also been appointed as a bankruptcy examiner, Chapter 7 trustee, Chapter 11 trustee, plan trustee, fiscal agent and as a future asbestos claims representative. He has assisted trustees and their counsel in performing forensic and fraud investigations, Rule 2004 investigations, and has assisted in the development of plans of reorganization. Working across an array of industries, his litigation consulting experience includes cases involving white-collar crime, purchase price disputes, breaches of contract, fraudulent financial reporting and damage calculations, mergers and acquisitions, tax investigations, environmental evaluations and divestitures.

Tony has lectured to attorneys and other professionals, including the National Association of Federal Equity Receivers Offshore Conference, New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants, and the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges on topics such as business fraud, municipal bankruptcy, common fraudulent schemes, and locating hidden assets.

Most client problems do not fall neatly into one category or another. Many involve overlapping concerns which require a comprehensive approach in order to achieve an effective resolution. As a member of both the firm’s bankruptcy and creditors’ rights practice and the firm’s commercial real estate practice, Kristen provides a “big picture” perspective to businesses, lenders and individuals to achieve their business goals, whether through a financial restructuring, formal bankruptcy, or the purchase, sale or refinancing of real property.

Kristen represents debtors and creditors in bankruptcies and financial workouts in Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Maryland. On the debtor side, she has represented business debtors in chapter 11 reorganizations and liquidations, chapter 7 liquidations, financial workouts, and dissolutions. On the creditor side, Kristen has represented business and individual creditors, as well as unsecured creditor committees, in chapter 11, chapter 7 and chapter 13 bankruptcy cases, adversary proceedings, mediations, and related civil litigation. She has also served as counsel to chapter 11 and chapter 7 trustees and to post-confirmation liquidating trusts.

Kristen also represents buyers, sellers, and lenders in the sale and financing of shopping centers, hotels, and residential/mixed use developments in the DC metro area and nationally. These transactions have involved traditional financing, mezzanine financing, and preferred equity agreements. Kristen works with clients to leverage new financing vehicles, including Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) and EB-5 financing transactions.

In addition to her work with business clients, Kristen also has represented numerous pro bono clients in domestic relations, estate planning and landlord-tenant matters.

Ian Bambrick is a seasoned restructuring practitioner who has guided a wide range of clients through their reorganizations and the chapter 11 process. With a unique breadth of experience as counsel to debtors, lenders, ad hoc lender and noteholder groups, and independent directors in chapter 11 proceedings and out of court restructurings, he approaches each representation from a practical perspective with the know-how to craft solutions to complex issues. Ian is also active in the area of cross-border insolvencies, having represented a number of foreign companies and foreign representatives in their chapter 15 proceedings.

Ian represents clients in complex business restructurings and reorganizations, both in and out of court, and in related mergers and acquisitions. He serves clients as a primary point of contact on their restructurings, developing overall strategy and managing all aspects of the restructuring process, including pre-filing preparations, general case administration, plan and sale negotiations and preparation, and claims administration.

Arielle’s practice focuses on corporate bankruptcy and creditors’ rights matters, including bankruptcy and insolvency-related litigation. Her ability to analyze complex issues and business operations and strategies benefits her clients both inside and outside of the insolvency environment. Arielle brings diligence, poise, productivity, and a unique, multidisciplinary experience to her bankruptcy practice. She previously represented companies of all sizes in a wide range of labor and employment matters before federal and state courts and administrative agencies.

Arielle is dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, and is a frequent speaker on these issues. She is an active member of the firm’s LGBTQ Alliance, with a particular emphasis on its recruiting, retention, and strategic planning initiatives. Arielle manages the firm’s Name Change Project in partnership with the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, which provides low-income transgender individuals with representation in legal name change proceedings. Her pro bono practice also includes representing low-income individuals seeking relief in Chapter 7 proceedings. She previously served as a court-appointed attorney for clients in guardianship proceedings and drafted an employee handbook for a nonprofit organization focused on empowering students to attend and succeed in college.

Outside of the firm, Arielle holds a number of positions within the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA). Arielle recently completed her term as Chair of the LGBT Rights Section and serves as its Immediate Past Chair for the 2021-2022 term. She also serves as Treasurer of the Federal Practice and Procedure Section. Arielle was also appointed by the President of the NJSBA to co-chair the NJSBA’s standing Diversity Committee for the 2021-2022 term. She is a member of the Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey (AFBNJ) and serves as Vice Chair of the Chapter 11 Practice Subcommittee of the Bankruptcy Committee of the AFBNJ. She is an active member of the International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), serving on its Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee, and the National LGBT Bar Association.

Arielle was selected as a 2019 National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges Honorable Cornelius Blackshear Presidential Fellow, an elite program for which she was nominated based on her professional accomplishments to date and her strong promise of continued leadership within the field of bankruptcy law.

Arielle served as senior law clerk to the Honorable Stacey L. Meisel and as a term law clerk to the Honorable Rosemary Gambardella, both of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.