Career-Development Paths for Mid-Level Associates

Seth Van Aalten is a partner with Cooley LLP in New York, where he concentrates his practice in the areas of corporate restructuring and creditors’ rights, with an emphasis on the representation of official committees of unsecured creditors and other parties in complex commercial chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in industries including retail, manufacturing, metals and mining, media, technology, health care, food and beverage, airlines and hotels. He is experienced in litigating issues involving solvency, valuation, financing and cash collateral contests, ? 363 asset sales, recharacterization, equitable subordination, substantive consolidation and similar disputes.

Mr. Van Aalten specializes in the prosecution of fraudulent transfer, D&O litigation and other bankruptcy estate causes of action on behalf of debtors and creditors, including his representation of the creditors’ committee in the Mervyn’s chapter 11 case, where he led the prosecution and successful resolution of a $1.2 billion litigation against certain significant companies, private-equity firms and financial institutions. He is experienced in representing official committees of unsecured creditors in such prominent chapter 11 cases as RadioShack, Blockbuster, Magnetation, Mervyn’s, Sharper Image, Sbarro, Midway Gold, Baha Mar, Eddie Bauer, Vertis Holdings, SkyMall, Allens Vegetables, KB Toys, Frederick’s of Hollywood, Alco Stores, Elephant Bar Restaurants, ConnectEdu, Scooter Stores, Norstan Apparel and Today’s Man.

Mr. Van Aalten has been listed in New York Super Lawyers since 2013 and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York. He was also named as one of the “Top 40 Bankruptcy Lawyers Under the Age of 40 in New York” by the American Society of Legal Advocates.

Mr. Van Aalten received his B.A. cum laude in 2000 from Binghamton University and his J.D. in 2003 from Boston University School of Law.

Sarah L. Schultz is a partner in Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP’s financial restructuring group in Dallas and has extensive experience representing debtors, official and unofficial committees of creditors, secured lender groups, debtors-in-possession lenders, acquirers of assets, and vendors in large, complex cases and out-of-court restructurings. Her restructuring matters encompass a variety of industries, with a heavy emphasis on oil and gas.

Ms. Schultz’s recent engagements include representation of Quicksilver Resources Inc. as debtor, the official committee of unsecured creditors of Swift Energy Co., et al., the official committee of Emerald Oil, the ad hoc committee of Black Elk Energy bondholders, and a number of smaller and/or confidential matters. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas, was recognized as an “Outstanding Young Bankruptcy Lawyer” in 2015 in Turnarounds & Workouts, and has been listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2013-16), “Texas Rising Star” (2009-15), “Forty Under 40” (2010), Legal 500 US in 2016 for Finance – Corporate Restructuring (including bankruptcy), and as one of Dallas’ Best Women Lawyers in the area of Bankruptcy/Workouts by D Magazine (2010).

Ms. Schultz received her B.A. summa cum laude in 1998 from the University of North Dakota and her J.D. cum laude in 2001 from the University of Minnesota Law School, where she was a member of the Minnesota Law Review in 2000 and 2001.

Peter S. Kravitz is a principal with Province, Inc. in Henderson, Nev., and primarily serves as CRO, advisor to and member of bankruptcy oversight and creditor committees, chapter 11/liquidating trustee/plan administrator, disbursing agent, and member of boards of directors. As president of a winding-down insurance company, he personally managed the resolution of billions of dollars of personal- injury, workers’ compensation and environmental claims returning over $20 million in previously unaccounted for returns to the related bankruptcy estate and its beneficiaries. He also served as executive vice president of Business Affairs to the largest privately held RV dealership group ($475 million in annual revenues). Mr. Kravitz undertook a prominent role within the industry by reshaping manufacturer-dealer agreements and manufacturer indemnification obligations, forcing repurchases of entire aging inventories, ensuring financial compliance practices and managing the industry-wide restructuring crash by chairing numerous official unsecured creditors’ committees.

Previously, Mr. Kravitz was a partner with Venable LLP and a senior associate with Heller Ehrman LLP. Rated AVPreeminent by Martindale-Hubbell, he is listed in the American Lawyer Top 100 and as a Southern California Super Lawyer for Bankruptcy, Litigation and Trusts from 2013-14. Mr. Kravitz is admitted to practice in California and in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Claifornia.

He received his B.A. from Lehigh University in 1992 and his J.D. from Rutgers University Law School in 1995, where he was on the editorial board of the Rutgers Law Review. He is also a 2013 Directors’ Consortium graduate of a joint offering by the Chicago Booth School of Business, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Rock Center for Corporate Governance and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Hon. Kevin Gross is a Bankruptcy Judge with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington, appointed on March 13, 2006. He served as Chief Judge from July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2014.

Previously, he practiced general litigation, representing shareholders, and was a director for Rosenthal, Monhait & Goddess PA in Wilmington, Del., which he joined in 1985. He most recently served as an ombudsman for the U.S. District Court from 1977-2006 and was a member of the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Delaware Supreme Court from 2005-06. He was also the chair of the Advisory Committee for the U.S. District Court of Delaware from 1995-2005. Judge Gross has been listed several times in The Best Lawyers in America and was awarded the first annual Caleb R. Layton III Service Award by the district court in 1996. Judge Gross’s recent cases include Nortel Networks Corp., Los Angeles Dodgers, NewPage Corp., Friendly’s Ice Cream Corp., Boscov’s, Pierre Foods, Mervyn’s Holdings, Sharper Image, Cadence Industries, Dynamerica Manufacturing, Intermet Corp., Aventine Renewable Energy, Fisker, Tuscany Holdings, Greenfield Energy, Trump Entertainment, Magnum Hunter, Emerald Oil and DexMedia.

A former clerk for the Delaware Court of Chancery, he received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Delaware in 1974 and his J.D. in 1977 from American University Washington College of Law, where he served on its law review.