Alexandria, Va. — The following members of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) were elected to leadership positions as officers and directors:
Hon. Bruce A. Harwood (ret.) (San Francisco) has become ABI President for a one-year term, succeeding Christopher A. Ward of Polsinelli (Wilmington, Del.), who will now assume the position of Immediate Past President. Soneet R. Kapila of KapilaMukamal, LLP (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) will serve as Chairman. Stephen D. Lerner of Squire Patton Boggs (Cincinnati), formerly ABI’s Vice President-International, was named President-Elect and will become ABI President in April 2026.
Katherine R. Catanese of Foley & Lardner LLP (New York) replaces Lerner as ABI Vice President-International. James R. Irving of Dentons (Louisville, Ky.) replaces Jerry M. Markowitz of Markowitz Ringel Trusty & Hartog, PA (Miami) as ABI Vice President-Membership. Adrienne K. Walker of Foley & Lardner LLP (Boston) replaces Eve H. Karasik of Levene, Neale, Bender, Yoo & Golubchik LLP (Los Angeles) as ABI Vice President-Diversity & Inclusion. They will serve two-year terms. In addition, Clifford A. Zucker of FTI Consulting, Inc. (New York) was elected to serve as an At-Large member of the Executive Committee, replacing Franklind Davis Lea of J.S. Held LLC (Alpharetta, Ga.).
The following Executive Committee members were reappointed for second terms: Hon. Hannah L. Blumenstiel of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California (San Francisco) as ABI Vice President-Research Grants, Hon. Michelle M. Harner of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland (Baltimore) as ABI Vice President-Education and Bradley D. Sharp of Development Specialists, Inc. (Los Angeles) as ABI Vice President-Development, as well as Stephen A. Spitzer of AlixPartners LLP (New York) as an At-Large member of the Executive Committee.
Other Executive Committee members who have been renominated for an additional term include Hon. Paul R. Hage of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit) as ABI Secretary and Jennifer M. McLemore of Williams Mullen (Richmond, Va.) as ABI Vice President-Communications & Information Technology.
Sonia Colón of Ferraiuoli LLC (San Juan, Puerto Rico), Kristina M. Johnson of Jones Walker LLP (Jackson, Miss.), Kenneth W. Mann of SC&H Capital (Ellicott City, Md.), Eric J. Monzo of Morris James LLP (Wilmington, Del.), Kristina M. Stanger of Nyemaster Goode, PC (Des Moines, Iowa), Elizabeth B. Vandesteeg of Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC (Chicago) and Wayne P. Weitz of B. Riley Advisory Services (New York) have also been renominated for additional terms as ABI Director.
Nine ABI members were elected to their first terms on ABI’s Board of Directors:
- John C. Cannizzaro of Ice Miller LLP (Columbus, Ohio)
- Rebecca Redwine Grow of Hendren, Redwine & Malone, PLLC (Raleigh, N.C.)
- Hannah White Hutman of Hoover Penrod PLC (Harrisonburg, Va.)
- Kenneth D. Kraft of Dentons Canada LLP (Toronto)
- Hon. Christopher M. Lopez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Houston)
- Ryan A. Maupin of Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics LLP (New York)
- Alan R. Rosenberg of Markowitz, Ringel, Trusty & Hartog, PA (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
- Tara J. Schellhorn of Riker, Danzig LLP (Morristown, N.J.)
- Evan J. Zucker of Blank Rome LLP (New York)
Of note, seven of the nine new members of the Board of Directors this year are former ABI “40 under 40” honorees.
There are 60 members on the ABI Board of Directors. The complete list of directors and officers is available at https://www.abi.org/about-us/board-directors.
