Michael Schwartz Managing Director, North American Investment Team Strategic Value Partners

Mr. Schwartz is a member of the North American investment team and joined SVPGlobal in 2006

Mr. Schwartz has a particular focus on global restructurings involving bankruptcies, administrations, workouts, and litigations, leveraging his prior experience as a corporate and restructuring attorney. From 2005 to 2006, Mr. Schwartz was an associate in the Transactional group of Arnold & Porter LLP’s New York office, where he focused on representing investment funds in acquisitions, divestitures, financings and restructuring transactions. From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Schwartz was an associate in the Mergers and Acquisitions group of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, where he focused on private M&A transactions in the financial services industry.

Mr. Schwartz received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2003 and his B.A. from Wesleyan University in 2000, where he double majored in Economics and Psychology and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Since 2022, Mr. Schwartz also serves as the Firm’s General Counsel.

Paul J. Keenan Jr. Partner Baker & McKenzie

Biography

Paul Keenan is a partner with the Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Group based in the Firm's Miami office. His practice includes the representation of foreign and domestic corporate debtors and creditors in out-of-court restructurings, bankruptcy cases, receiverships, assignments for the benefit of creditors, distressed asset sales, corporate wind downs and UCC foreclosures. Paul has been recognized by Chambers & Partners in corporate restructurings every year since 2014.

Paul has been inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and a member of the International Insolvency Institute.

Practice Focus

Paul has substantial experience in cross-border restructurings and bankruptcies. He speaks Spanish and has significant experience living and working in Latin America and the Caribbean. He is a Fellow of INSOL International for having completed an intensive course in cross-border restructurings. Among other accomplishments in this area, Paul represented a leading Latin American airline in its successful out-of-court restructuring of USD 2.5 billion in debt and a Mexican satellite company in its restructuring of USD 420 million in debt through a prepackaged plan of reorganization in Delaware. Paul has significant experience with the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (enacted as Chapter 15 under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code). He obtained official recognition in Colombia of a U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization case, and also official recognition in the United States of a Colombian restructuring proceeding. In each case, it was the first time that the courts of Colombia and the United States had recognized each other’s corporate restructuring proceedings.

Paul represents clients in courts across Florida and nationwide, including wide-ranging experience before the bankruptcy courts in Delaware. He is a past President of the Bankruptcy Bar Association for the Southern District of Florida. He also provides insolvency-related structuring advice and legal opinions in connection with complex financial transactions.

Before attending law school, Paul served as an officer in the United States Navy on active duty for seven years.

Brent Herlihy Managing Director PJT Partners

Brent Herlihy is a Managing Director in the Restructuring and Special Situations Group at PJT Partners, based in New York. Since joining PJT Partners’ predecessor firm Blackstone in 2013, he has advised companies, creditors and sponsors in restructurings, special situations, financings, mergers and acquisitions. He has worked across numerous industries including retail, industrials, power and energy, shipping and telecom. Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Herlihy worked as an investment banker at Lazard, providing M&A and corporate finance advice to consumer, food and retail clients. Mr. Herlihy received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a JD from Harvard Law School, where he graduated cum laude. Mr. Herlihy also received a BA in Politics from Princeton University, where he graduated cum laude.