August September 2009 Articles

Author:
Grant T. Stein
Alston & Bird LLP

Letter from the President

I would like to thank the entire Planning Committee, and Mark Bloom, Mark Duedall, and Maggie Smith, the Co-Chairs of the AIRA’s 25th Annual Bankruptcy & Restructuring Conference held in Orlando this past June.  The programs were both fresh and excellent.  The highest compliment I can pay is to acknowledge that I have already used written materials from this year’s conference in practice. 

The special recognition and honors awarded to the founders of the AIRA during the 25th Annual Conference was a very special moment in the history of the organization.  Their comments during our Annual Dinner reminded us of the very simple foundation of our organization, how we have grown, and what we have become under the leadership of our long time Executive Director, Grant Newton.  We should not take for granted what we do, and the important role the AIRA and its members serve in our business community. 

* * * *

The economic crisis we have all dealt with directly for the past year, at both a personal and professional level, has taken a tremendous toll.  I do not need to recite the direct and indirect impact it has had on every one.  The harder question to assess, and the one that is continuously asked, is whether the decline has bottomed out and thus whether we are on an upward swing.  Recent profits reports, improvement in stock values, news of stabilization in the housing market, and anecdotal experience where investment and lending activity appear to be on an upswing, are all geared toward a more positive outlook for the economy.  But, depending on where you live, or your business, the turnaround may not be in prospect in a reasonable time.  Based on news reports, Michigan, California, and Florida are in more dire financial straits than the rest of the country.  Many believe that certain industries such as commercial real estate are still in the early stages of their downturn.

The point of the foregoing is that there does not appear any near term likelihood of a drop off in the need for the services of insolvency and restructuring professionals.  Our goal at the AIRA is to continue to provide the best educational programs available to assist you in expanding and refining the scope of your skills.  Our Annual Restructuring Conference, Regional Programs such as the Annual Plan of Reorganization Conference in New York, Annual Breakfast Seminar at the NCBJ, VALCON, Web Casts, and the CIRA and CDBV classes, are all calculated to provide you with high quality, current, exposure to new ideas and developments with a view toward practical application in the real world.  It is what has always been our focus and we are pleased to have been able to continue to meet the high standard you expect from us.  We look forward to working with you in the months and years ahead.

Author Bio:

Grant Stein is a partner in Alston & Bird’s Bankruptcy, Reorganization and Workouts Group. His diverse practice includes the representation of debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, creditors’ committees, and fiduciaries in complex and difficult out-of-court workouts, debt restructurings, bankruptcy cases, and financial transactions throughout the United States and internationally. He also regularly represents officers, directors, and other parties in bankruptcy litigation of all kinds. His restructuring experience includes manufacturing, real estate, wholesale, retail, distribution companies, health care, communications, technology and intellectual property issues.

Mr. Stein is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and is identified as a top practitioner in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers magazine. He serves as a director and president-elect of the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA). He also is a director and president-elect for the Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute. He recently served as a Member of the executive committee of Emory University’s Board of Visitors. He has written numerous articles on bankruptcy and workout issues and regularly lectures around the country. Mr. Stein served as law clerk to The Honorable W. Homer Drake, the senior judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia, following his graduation, with honors, from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1981. He received his B.B.A., with high honors, from Emory University in 1978.