Tips from the Titans
Wednesday, October 28, 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Learn from the Best of the Best in the Restructuring Industry! While luck can increase the chances of being successful, success is rarely a result of luck. Successful professionals in their field, or titans of their trade, have through mentorship, good habits and efforts endeavored to become the professionals they are today, and the Tips from the Titans panel will feature prominent restructuring professionals discussing how they got to where they are and tips to help young professionals become elevate themselves and their practice to the next level.
1.2 CPE in Personal Development / 1.2 CEUs available
Prerequisites: none
Turnaround Management Association (TMA) is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.
Panelists:
Carrianne Basler, AlixPartners LLP (TMA Chicago/Midwest)
Lauren Berret (moderator), CBIZ Corporate Recovery and Litigation Services (TMA Philadelphia/Wilmington)
George Klidonas, Latham & Watkins LLP
Demetra Liggins – Thompson & Knight LLP (TMA Houston)
Linc Rogers, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (TMA Toronto)
About the Speakers:
Carrianne Basler, AlixPartners LLP
Carrianne Basler is a Managing Director in the Turnaround and Restructuring group at AlixPartners, LLP. She has over 25 years of extensive financial consulting experience combined with hands-on management in the areas of contingency planning, financial strategy, contract negotiations, litigation management, treasury, business planning, plan administration, and risk management. Her clients benefit from her collaborative approach and creative problem solving.
Over the years, Carrianne has served in a number of interim management roles including serving on the management team of Motors Liquidation (formerly General Motors Corporation) and recently as the Chief Financial Officer of Aceto Corporation. In addition, she has provided Chapter 11 case leadership for clients such as Eastman Kodak, McDermott, Altegrity, C&J Energy Services, David’s Bridal, Mirant, and Dana Corporation.
Carrianne has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Insolvency and Reorganization Advisors. Carrianne is also the past International Chair of the International Women’s Insolvency and Reorganization Confederation (IWIRC).
Lauren Berret (moderator), CBIZ
Lauren is a Manager in the CBIZ Corporate Recovery & Litigation Services Group. She has experience in financial advisory and consulting services working as a financial advisor to parties-in-interest in bankruptcy proceedings. Her forensic accounting background includes transaction analysis, fraudulent conveyance litigation, and conducting fraud investigations. Lauren is also a licensed attorney with experience in consumer bankruptcy and general business litigation.
George Klidonas, Latham & Watkins LLP
George Klidonas is a partner in the Restructuring & Special Situation Group of Latham & Watkins LLP and focuses his practice on in-court and out-of-court corporate restructurings. George’s practice involves representing companies (including portfolio, privately-held, and public companies), equity owners and sponsors, and committees and distressed investors (including hedge funds and private equity funds), in acquisitions, out-of-court restructurings, and chapter 11 cases. George also advises boards of directors, board committees, and senior management of financially troubled companies on a range of issues, including fiduciary duties and corporate governance. Recent examples of restructurings that George was involved with include American Energy - Permian Basin, LLC, APC Automotive, FULLBEAUTY Brands Holdings Corp., Lonestar Resources US Inc., Mallinckrodt plc, One Call Corporation, Sungard AS Capital, Inc., and Windstream Holdings, Inc.
Mr. Klidonas previously worked on secondment at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in the Special Situations Group. In this role, he advised the investment team on existing portfolio investments as well as new investments. He also supported the KKR team with distressed investments / transactions and new investment opportunities, including rescue financing, debtor-in-possession and exit financing, recapitalizations, equity investments, distressed trades, and other opportunistic investments.
Mr. Klidonas graduated from Fordham University and received his J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Mr. Klidonas also received his LL.M. in Restructuring from St. John’s University School of Law.
Demetra Liggins – Thompson & Knight LLP
Demetra Liggins is a Partner in Thompson & Knight’s Bankruptcy and Restructuring Practice in the Firm’s Houston office. She has two decades of experience in business finance and restructuring for a variety of large and small public and private companies. As a trusted business advisor, Demetra partners with her clients to identify and achieve their goals in the bankruptcy process, navigating through complex corporate reorganizations and distressed acquisitions.
Demetra has led many of Thompson & Knight’s representations of bankruptcy clients, working on both in-court and out-of-court restructurings. A thoughtful and creative problem solver, she is highly regarded for her ability to quickly and efficiently help clients assess the effects of a bankruptcy on their corporate and financial transactions. Her clients include health care systems, retail corporations, financial institutions, oil and gas companies, partnerships, and private-equity funds, among others.
Demetra received a J.D., cum laude, from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in 2000 and a B.S. in Business Administration, cum laude, from Christian Brothers University in 1997. Following law school, she clerked for the Honorable U.W. Clemon, Chief Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Demetra is licensed to practice in both Texas and New York. 
Linc Rogers, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Linc Rogers is a partner with Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP in Toronto. Linc’s practice focuses on complex corporate reorganizations, financial restructurings, distressed M&A and debtor-in-possession financings. Linc has a recognized expertise in cross-border matters and his clients include leading international private equity and hedge funds, large foreign and domestic commercial lenders, multi-national corporations and prominent financial advisory firms acting in various court appointed capacities. Linc has been an advisor on a number of significant cross border and domestic matters and has extensive experience in a wide variety of industry sectors including mining, aeronautics, automotive, retail, manufacturing, high tech, financial services, and oil and gas. Recent engagements include acting as lead or co-lead Canadian counsel to the debtor on the $1.1 billion cross border balance sheet restructuring of the syncreon Group, to the DIP lender in the US$2.3 billion DIP facility to Toys “R” Us Canada and its US parent and the court-appointed monitor in the restructuring proceeding of JTI MacDonald Corp. in connection with proposed settlement over half-a-trillion dollars of litigation claims.