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Baker Donelson Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC. Birmingham, Alabama

I am a member of the firm's Bankruptcy and Restructure Practice Group. My practice focuses primarily on the representation of special servicers, banks, financial institutions and asset-based lenders in loan workouts and insolvency, with an emphasis on creative restructuring of problem loans in long-term care and seniors' housing defaults. In addition, I serve as Office Managing Shareholder for the Birmingham Office of Baker Donelson.

I served as Bankruptcy Committee Chair, (1997 – 1998); Committee Director, (1998 – 1999); Liaison Coordinator (1999 – 2000); Committee Director, (2000 – 2001); and Membership Chair (2002 – 2003). I also served as YLD Liaison to the ABA Standing Committee on Membership and YLD Liaison to the Section of Business Law.

I became involved in the Section as a second year associate through the Section's Business Bankruptcy Committee. The Business Bankruptcy Committee meets in conjunction with the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. My mentor had me attend the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges meeting with him. I was then introduced to the Section's Business Bankruptcy Committee and therefore the Section.

I remained distantly involved in the Section for a number of years through some of the Bankruptcy Subcommittees. I became more involved in Section activities when I applied for and received a position as a Section Fellow for the years 1999 - 2001. As a Fellow I was appointed to the Business Bankruptcy Committee. In addition, following the Fellowship I served as YLD Liaison to the Section. My initial draw into the Section, however was to through the substantive work of the Business Bankruptcy Committee and its Subcommittees.

Following my service as a Fellow and YLD Liaison to the Section, Steve Weise appointed me as Section's Membership Chair in 2003. I served in that role through 2007, including the implementation of the Membership Point Person initiative. I served as the Inaugural Chair of the Young Lawyer Forum ("YLF") that started in 2004 during Barbara Mendel Mayden's year as Chair of the Section. I served as YLF Chair for two years. In August 2007, I became a member of the Section's Council. My term on the Council will expire in 2011. In August 2008, I will become Chair of the Section's ABA Relations Committee.

Within the Business Bankruptcy Committee, I have served as Vice Chair of the Chapter 11 Subcommittee, 2005 - present; Vice Chair, Litigation Subcommittee, 2003 - 2005; Vice Chair, Legislation Subcommittee, 2002 - 2003; and Vice Chair, Membership, Minorities and Young Lawyers Subcommittee, 2000 – 2002.

Through the Section's support and efforts, I served as a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Membership (2003-2006) and currently serve as a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Technology.

The leading business lawyers in the country are actively involved in the Section. The opportunity to interact, learn and work together with luminaries in the profession has been invaluable to me in building my own expertise and expanding my practice on a national level. It is through relationships that I have built through the Section that I have been able to grow my own practice. The leadership skills that I have developed in the Section have been invaluable as I have taken leadership roles in my firm. Through the Section, I am able to keep on top of the latest business law developments as they evolve so that I am better able to serve my clients. I remain on the cutting edge of emerging legal trends through the Section's publications, programs and website.

The Section is the best value proposition for young lawyers in learning the law. The practical advice, training, tools and programs are second to none. The interaction with top-notch counsel from around the country will assist in elevating your expertise and network of referral sources. Not only will you become a better lawyer through membership in the Section by taking advantage of all these various resource, but you will also create a network of referral sources that will help with your marketing and client development. I do not think that there is any better place for a young lawyer to grow and mature in the substantive areas of law, professional development, marketing and networking than in the Section.

Be persistent in your efforts to become involved in the Section. You should define your objectives for participating in the Section and pinpoint those efforts that will help you met your goals. Be prepared to do what may be "unglamorous" work for a Committee or Subcommittee. When I had been practicing bankruptcy law for four years, I found a particular area of interest in one of the Business Bankruptcy Subcommittees. At a Spring Meeting of the Section in Nashville, I attended a meeting of a Subcommittee focused on the area of interest. At that meeting, the leaders of the Subcommittee were looking for volunteers to summarize recent cases on the topic for an annual compendium that was distributed. I volunteered to work on the project. Working with the chair of the Subcommittee, lead to an idea for a seminar presentation at the following years' Spring Meeting. I was asked to participate based on my work summarizing cases for the compendium.

In the audience at the presentation was the editor of a leading bankruptcy treatise. The treatise needed an attorney to fill an opening on a chapter on the specific area of business law that was the subject of the program. He asked me to serve on the editorial board of the treatise to address updates on the particular chapter. I have now spoken at several seminars hosted by the treatise and published many articles on the topic. A lot of these opportunities began with a commitment to do a job that other attorneys on the Subcommittee did not want to undertake.