Paths for Committees Post-Jevic

David E. Rice is a judge on the United States bankruptcy court, District of Maryland. He was appointed on April 1, 2011, and her current term will expire on March 31, 2025.

Rice began his legal career serving as a law clerk to Judges Harvey M. Lebowitz and James F. Schneider of the United States bankruptcy court, District of Maryland. He then joined Venable LLP in 1982, where he practiced bankruptcy and creditors' rights law, eventually joining the firm's partnership. He remained with the firm until he was called to the bench.

Rice earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from the University of Baltimore.

Michele Michaelis is a Managing Director in the New York office of BDO Consulting. She has nearly 20 years of experience in matters relating to bankruptcy and insolvency, accounting and auditing, business disputes, and forensic investigations. Michele has worked with troubled and insolvent companies involving both reorganizations and out-of-court workouts representing debtors, unsecured creditors and secured lenders. She has routinely evaluated liquidity issues, including the formulation, review and analysis of short term cash flow projections, as well as assessed the viability of business operations of troubled businesses by conducting detailed liquidation analyses, leading to rapid stabilization with sustainable results.

Michele has significant experience serving clients in a wide range of industries including retail, apparel, manufacturing, healthcare, mortgage, jewelry, finance, and telecommunications. She is knowledgeable in conducting investigations with regard to substantive consolidation issues and fraudulent conveyances, has prepared expert reports on solvency issues, has testified in bankruptcy proceedings, and has extensive experience in pre-planned and pre-negotiated bankruptcies.

Maris J. Kandestin focuses her practice on financial restructuring.

Maris primarily represents publicly-held and privately-held multi-national companies in numerous industries (including manufacturing, oil and gas, retail, airline, pharmacology, real estate and healthcare) in their efforts to restructure. Maris also represents secured lenders, indenture trustees and unsecured creditors, among others, and advises clients in out-of-court restructurings.

Prior to joining DLA Piper, Maris worked at firms in Wilmington and Philadelphia as a corporate bankruptcy and restructuring attorney. Maris also clerked for The Honorable Gloria M. Burns in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.

A trusted advisor to unsecured creditors, creditors' committees, and distressed companies, Jeff's tenacious counsel adds steady momentum to our growing client base in retail bankruptcy and is a strong resource to distressed clients in the technology sector. His practice centers on Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganizations and related litigation. Current representations include the creditors’ committees in Gibson Guitar, Gander Mountain and Vitamin World; individual creditors Under Armour and Est?e Lauder in Bon-Ton Stores chapter 11, Est?e Lauder in Sears Canada proceedings, National Football League in Cumulus Media chapter 11 and participant lenders in Toys “R” Us and Tops Markets chapter 11 cases.

Jeff often provides advice to private equity-sponsored and venture capital backed distressed investors, representing boards of directors and management in the out of court wind down or distressed M&A process in the following industries: healthcare, internet-connected home devices, digital content delivery websites, digital advertisement and content delivery through television and alternative media.

As a certified bankruptcy mediator and an approved fee examiner by the U.S. Trustee for Region 3, Jeff most recently served on the Official Fee Review Committee in the Adelphia Communications bankruptcy cases and as the fee examiner in the Endeavour Operating chapter 11 case.