Alan Resnick
Hofstra University School of Law

Alan N. Resnick is the Benjamin Weintraub Distinguished Professor of Bankruptcy Law at Hofstra University School of Law. He has taught in the bankruptcy, corporate reorganization, commercial law and contracts areas for more than 30 years. He served as interim dean of the law school in 2004-2005, and as associate dean from 1979 to 1981. He was a visiting professor at New York University School of Law in 2004.

Professor Resnick is a nationally recognized authority on bankruptcy law. He is editor-in-chief of Collier on Bankruptcy (15th ed.), the leading multi-volume treatise on the subject of bankruptcy. He also is the author of a one-volume treatise, Bankruptcy Law Manual (5th ed. 2002). He was editor of Bankruptcy Practice and Strategy, and co-editor (with the late Professor Eugene M. Wypyski) of the 17-volume Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978: A Legislative History. Professor Resnick’s articles have appeared in Boston College Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Rutgers Law Review, William and Mary Law Review, American Bankruptcy Law Journal, Banking Law Journal, Commercial Law Journal, and in other professional publications. He also was the author of a quarterly column on bankruptcy law published in the Uniform Commercial Code Law Journal. Professor Resnick’s writings have been cited in more than 150 judicial opinions, including opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States and the U.S. Court of Appeals in several circuits.

Professor Resnick is of counsel to the law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP in New York City, where he consults on bankruptcy, insolvency, and commercial law issues in connection with complex debt restructurings, chapter 11 reorganization cases, and corporate transactions.

In 1987, Professor Resnick was appointed by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist to serve as reporter to the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules of the Judicial Conference of the United States. As reporter, Professor Resnick acted as the initial drafter and consultant to the Advisory Committee regarding amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure promulgated by the Supreme Court. The chief justice appointed Professor Resnick to serve as a member of the Advisory Committee in 1999, and he served in that capacity until 2005. Since 2003, Professor Resnick also has served as chairman of the Local Rules Committee of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Professor Resnick also has been active in other law reform activities, having testified on federal bankruptcy law issues before committees of the House of Representatives and the National Bankruptcy Review Commission. He participated at meetings on law reform sponsored by such organizations as the Rand Institute, the Executive Office for the U.S. Trustees, and the Judicial Conference of the United States.

A frequent speaker at professional seminars, Professor Resnick has lectured to audiences of bankruptcy judges in every region of the nation and has addressed the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges at several of its annual conventions. He has taught at seminars for newly appointed bankruptcy judges, sponsored by the Federal Judicial Center. He has been a regular member of the faculty of the annual New York University Bankruptcy and Reorganization Workshop.

Professor Resnick is an elected member of the American Law Institute, in which he serves on an advisory consultation group on transnational insolvency. He is an elected member of the National Bankruptcy Conference and a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He also is an elected fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and served as that organization’s scholar-in-residence from 1999 to 2005. Professor Resnick is also a past member of the panel of commercial arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association.

Professor Resnick recieved his B.S. from Rider College in 1969, his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1972, and his LL.M. from Harvard Law School in 1974.

Bonnie Fatell
Blank Rome LLP

Bonnie Glantz Fatell is a partner at Blank Rome LLP. She chairs Blank Rome’s business restructuring and bankruptcy practice group, with professionals in the firm’s New York, Philadelphia and Delaware offices. For 25 years, Ms. Fatell has concentrated her practice on bankruptcy reorganizations, out-of-court restructurings, and related litigation. She represents parties in all aspects of bankruptcy, including creditors’ committees, debtors, institutional lenders, trade creditors, landlords, real estate and equipment lessors, and asset purchasers. Ms. Fatell serves clients in a wide range of areas, including:

Ms. Fatell is recognized by Chambers USA as a leading bankruptcy lawyer. She also is frequently recognized in The Deal as a top bankruptcy attorney. Ms. Fatell is only the second practicing Delaware attorney to become a member of the prestigious American College of Bankruptcy. In 2008, she was elected a regent of the American College of Bankruptcy for the Third Circuit.

She frequently lectures and writes on issues involving corporate restructuring and bankruptcy, and is a contributing author to Colliers Bankruptcy Forms Manual (3rd ed.) and Best Practices for Corporate Restructuring (Aspatore Books, 2006).

Ms. Fatell recieved her B.S. from Pennsylvania State University in 1973 and her J.D. from Temple University Beasley School of Law in 1981.

Edwin Smith
Bingham McCutchen LLP

Edwin E. Smith is co-chair of the Financial Institutions Area at Bingham McCutchen LLP. Since joining the firm in 1974, he has concentrated his practice in general corporate and commercial law, debt financings, structured financings, workouts, bankruptcies and international transactions. Having actively participated in the drafting of a number of the recent revisions to Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), Chambers USA, 2005 notes he “probably knows as much about UCC as anybody in the country.”

Prior to being named a partner in 1981, Mr. Smith spent three and a half years in the firm’s London office, where he concentrated in international financing and commercial transactions.

He has been a guest speaker for bar and trade organizations including ALI-ABA, the American Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the International Insolvency Institute, the Association of Commercial Finance Attorneys, the Boston Hedge Fund Group, the Commercial Finance Association, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the Equipment Leasing Association, the Practising Law Institute and the Risk Management Association.

Mr. Smith’s publications include:

• “The Effect of the Uniform Certificate of Title Act on Secured Transactions,” Consumer Finance Law Quarterly Report, Vol. 60 (Summer 2006)
• Reporter, “Initial Report of the Joint Task Force on Deposit Account Control Agreements,” The Business Lawyer, Vol. 61 (February 2006)
• “Second Liens Highlight Potential Pitfalls in Workouts,” Renaissance (Morris Anderson & Associates Ltd., 2005)

Mr. Smith was selected as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” for the last 10 years. His other awards include inclusion in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for the years 2005 and 2007. He was named a leading lawyer in banking and corporate law in Best Lawyers in America, 2006 edition, and was nominated as a top banking expert in Boston by Expert Guide to the World’s Leading Banking Lawyers. Mr. Smith is listed in Chambers Global and Lawdragon 3000 Leading Lawyers in America, both for 2006.

Mr. Smith recieved his B.A. from Yale University in 1968, and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1974.

Mary Walrath
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware

The Honorable Mary F. Walrath was appointed U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Delaware in Wilmington and became Chief Bankruptcy Judge on Sept. 9, 2003.

Judge Walrath was an associate at Clark Ladner Fortenbaugh & Young from 1982 to 1987 and a partner from 1987 until the firm’s dissolution in 1996. She then became a partner at Walrath & Coolidge in 1996 and later a shareholder of Jacoby Donner PC. Judge Walrath’s 17 years of legal experience as an attorney concentrated in the areas of debtor/creditor rights and commercial litigation.

At Princeton University, Judge Walrath earned an A.B. in history as well as four varsity letters, and was captain of the women’s basketball team. She earned her J.D. cum laude from Villanova University, where she was a member of the Villanova Law Review for two years and was awarded the Order of the Coif.