The Retail Business is Booming (in Bankruptcy)

Richard A. Robinson is the managing partner of Burr & Forman LLP’s Wilmington, Del., office and has more than 25 years of experience in counseling corporate clients in connection with chapter 11 cases and insolvency matters. He represents lenders, borrowers, debtors-in-possession, liquidators, buyers, creditors, consultants, lessors, contractors, trustees and receivers in every aspect of business bankruptcy and insolvency law, including the negotiation, structuring and documentation of complex commercial loans and related transactions, as well as in out-of-court workouts and related restructurings. He also litigates and provides clients with advice in connection with the structuring of complex lending and other commercial transactions. Mr. Robinson has experience in numerous industries, including health care, food, real estate development, music, construction, gaming, heavy manufacturing and distribution. He is a frequent media source and speaker on issues related to bankruptcy and insolvency matters.

Previously, Mr. Robinson practiced for more than nine years as a partner in the Delaware office of Reed Smith and for more than 12 years at BakerHostetler in Orlando, Fla. He is a member of the American Bar Association, ABI, Turnaround Management Association and Commercial Finance Association, and he has been listed in Chambers USA for Bankruptcy/Restructuring from 2011-17.

Mr. Robinson received his B.A. from Binghamton University, State University of New York, Harpur College in 1987 and his J.D. in 1990 from Vanderbilt University School of Law.

Jeffrey M. Pomeroy is executive vice president and general counsel of Bayer Properties, L.L.C., a Birmingham, Ala.-based developer, owner and operator of premium lifestyle, mixed-use, office and power center projects throughout the country. He joined Bayer in 2003 as vice president and assistant general counsel, then was named general counsel in 2011 and executive vice president in 2013. Mr. Pomeroy serves on the company’s Executive Committee and directs all legal, risk-management and lease-administration activities for Bayer and the company’s real estate portfolio.

Prior to joining Bayer Properties, he was in private practice with the law firm of Sirote & Permutt, P.C. in Birmingham, where he was a member of the firm’s Business and Financial Services practice group. He was also previously in-house counsel for AmSouth Bank and AmSouth Bancorporation. Mr. Pomeroy has been a panelist at ICSC’s annual Law Conference. He is a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel and a past president of the board of directors of the Alabama chapter. He is also a member of the American and Birmingham Bar Associations, and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

Mr. Pomeroy received his undergraduate degree from Birmingham-Southern College and his J.D. from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University.

Hon. Benjamin A. Kahn is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina in Greensboro, sworn in on Feb. 3, 2014.

Prior to his appointment, he was a member of Nexsen Pruet PLLC and clerked for Bankruptcy Judge Jerry G. Tart of the Middle District of North Carolina. Judge Kahn was recognized as among the Top 10 North Carolina Super Lawyers across all practice areas for the two years immediately preceding his appointment, was elected to the Legal Elite Hall of Fame by Business North Carolina Magazine in 2014 as a result of being the category winner in North Carolina for bankruptcy, and was included among Band 1 bankruptcy practitioners in North Carolina in Chambers & Partners USA.

He is certified as a specialist in business and consumer bankruptcy law by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization and by the American Board of Certification, for which he served as a member of its board of directors until his appointment to the bench. Judge Kahn is a conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference and an inactive certified mediator with the State of North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission.

He received his B.A. in political science and history in 1990, and his J.D. with honors in 1993, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Jay C. Jacquin, CIRA is a managing director with Guggenheim Securities, LLC in Atlanta and has more than 18 years of investment banking experience, focusing on middle-market merger and acquisition, financing, and restructuring advisory services. He is experienced in a wide variety of corporate finance transactions, including restructurings, reorganizations, exclusive sale mandates, acquisitions, debt and equity financings, leveraged buyouts, fairness opinions, business valuations and intangible-asset valuations.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Jacquin has completed in excess of 80 transactions totaling more than $5 billion in enterprise value. He has worked with clients across a diverse range of industries, including telecommunications, housing, energy, transportation, plastics, sporting equipment, restaurants, health care, retail, software, manufacturing, paper and packaging, and amusement. Most recently, Mr. Jacquin was a director with Morgan Joseph TriArtisan LLC in its Recapitalization & Restructuring Group.

Before joining Morgan Joseph, he was a senior director with Alvarez & Marsal Corporate Finance, and before that, he spent eight years in the Corporate Finance and Restructuring practices of Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, where he was most recently a vice president. While at Houlihan Lokey, he was primarily responsible for engagement management and personnel development. Mr. Jacquin is a FINRA General Securities Registered Representative (Series 7, 63, 79), and in 2012, he was recognized in the M&A Advisor as a “Top 40 Under 40” advisor for his achievements in the M&A, Financing, and Turnaround industry.

He received his bachelor’s degree in commerce, with concentrations in finance and marketing, from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.