A research and technical conference presented by the Insolvency Service 2023

Andrew Keay is Professor of Corporate and Commercial Law in the School of Law at the University of Leeds, and a barrister practising in the corporate and insolvency fields at Kings Chambers and 9 Stone Buildings, Lincoln’s Inn.  Previously, and before coming to the UK, Andrew was at various times a partner in an Australian law firm, a Deputy Registrar of the Australian Federal Court and a Deputy Registrar in Bankruptcy, and an academic teaching at several Australian universities. Andrew has published a number of books, the most recent of which are, in the insolvency field: Company Directors’ Liability and Creditor Protection Corporate (Routledge, 2023), Corporate Governance and Insolvency (with Professor Peter Walton and Joseph Curl KC) (Edward Elgar, 2022), McPherson and Keay’s Law of Company Liquidation (5th ed, Sweet and Maxwell, 2021), Doyle, Keay and Curl: Annotated Insolvency Legislation (with Louis Doyle KC and Joseph Curl KC) (11th ed, Lexis, 2023),  and many articles, a significant number of which have been cited by superior courts in various countries, including in the UK: the Supreme Court, the English and Wales Court of Appeal, the Inner House of the Scottish Court of Session, and the Privy Council. Andrew is one of the editors of both Bankruptcy and Personal Insolvency Reports and the Edward Elgar Corporate and Insolvency Law and Practice Series. He is a contributor to Gore-Browne on Companies, Tolley’s Insolvency Law and Tolley’s Company Law.

Professor Peter Walton is a Professor of Insolvency Law who has taught at the University of Wolverhampton for over 30 years. Widely published, his work has been cited in court both at home and abroad, including by the UK Supreme Court. He has completed various research projects including those for the UK Government and the UK insolvency trade and professional bodies.

Dr Bolanle Adebola is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Reading. She has broad interests in international commercial law, with particular interest in debt and corporate insolvency law at national and international levels. Bolanle engages actively in capacity building and the development of modern corporate and commercial law practices in emerging markets. She established the Commercial Law Research Network Nigeria (CLRNN) funded through the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) to responds to the challenges that emerging economies like Nigeria face in designing commercial laws that fit both their realities and the interconnected global systems. She sits on executive committees of Recognised Professional Bodies in Nigeria and is a member of several national and international professional bodies. 

Stuart Hopewell FCICM has been a director of Pre-Pack Pool Ltd, the “directorate body” of The Pre-Pack Pool, since its inception.  Previously the Credit Manager for FUJIFILM UK Ltd from 1989, in 2006 Stuart was elected Chair of The Institute of Credit Management (CICM) which he served for 2 years.  After 40 years membership representing creditors on various consultancy bodies involved with the Regulation of the Insolvency profession, he is now one of their Honorary Vice Presidents.  Stuart also currently serves as a lay member on the IPA’s (Insolvency Practitioners Association) Disciplinary and Appeals committee.

Katie joined the FCA as a manager in the Resolution and Insolvency Department after 25 years at the Insolvency Service.  Her role as Official Receiver in the Public Interest Unit dealt with large and complex compulsory liquidations.  Previous roles include working on the Thomas Cook liquidation team and as Official Receiver for the Birkenhead and Blackpool offices.

Meghan is an insolvency lawyer within the Restructuring and Insolvency team at Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP, with experience in a wide variety of restructuring and insolvency work and personal insolvency for high-net worth individuals.  She specialises in advisory work to boards, corporate recovery, complex corporate restructuring, advising directors, and reviewing and enforcing security for lenders.  Meghan is also a member of the East Midlands’ Turnaround Management Association’s Next Gen committee.

Biography to follow

Professor Gerard McCormack is currently Professor of International Business Law at University of Leeds.  He previously held positions at notable universities around the UK, and been a Visiting Professor in Singapore and a Marie Curie Fellow at the Centre for European Law and Politics, University of Bremen.  Gerry also led on a number of research projects including a collaboration with the University of Wuhan, and European Commission funded projects with teams across 28 EU Member States. His research interests in the corporate and commercial field of internationally comparative insolvency laws led to two recent books on The European Restructuring Directive and EU Insolvency Law.

Professor Irit Mevorach is a Professor of International Commercial Law at University of Warwick after serving as Chair, founder and co-Director of the University of Nottingham Commercial Law Centre.  She practised law at Lipa Meir & Co (Tel-Aviv, Israel) between 1998-2003, and has been an expert adviser to the UK government's delegation to UNCITRAL since 2006, was appointed Senior Counsel to the World Bank in 2013 and headed the Bank's Global Initiative on Insolvency and Creditor/Debtor Regimes until 2015.  A member of the International Insolvency Institute (III) since 2012, Irit was the co-Chair of their academic wing between 2020-2023 and is currently a member of the board.  In addition to her many international appointments, Irit is a member of INSOL, ILA, CERIL, the IEEI, and the World Bank Task Force on Creditor-Debtor Regimes and Insolvency, and was appointed to the Lord Chancellor's Committee on Private International Law in 2020.

Dr Riz Mokal is a barrister whose practice extends to all aspects of domestic and cross-border insolvency, restructuring, bank resolution, and trust law, with a particular focus on matters involving complex policy considerations. He has a doctorate from University College London, where he held the Chair of Law and Legal Theory. Among his many achievements, he served as Senior Counsel to the World Bank and Head of the Bank’s Global Initiative on Insolvency and Creditor/Debtor Regimes, he worked with the governments of 20 countries, and was leader of the World Bank’s delegation to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law.

Sarah Paterson is a professor of law.  Her main areas of research are corporate reorganization and insolvency.  She is a member of the Technical Committee of the Insolvency Lawyers’ Association, and a member of the General Technical Committee of the Association of Business Recovery Professionals.  Before joining LSE, she was a partner in Slaughter and May in London with whom she retains a consultancy.  

Dr Neeti Shikha joined the University of Bradford after working as an Associate Dean at the Indian School of Public Policy, New Delhi.  Previously, she was the founding Head of the Centre for Insolvency and Bankruptcy, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.  She is the recipient of the prestigious Hague Scholarship.  She serves as a member of the INSOL Academic Steering Committee, a pre-eminent Committee of INSOL International.  She also serves on the board of editors of the International Insolvency Review journal and the board of advisors for India’s Centre for Civil Society.  She co-chairs the Insolvency Scholars’ Forum, India’s leading insolvency law think tank of scholars under the aegis of Insolvency Law Academy.  She contributes regularly to leading dailies in India including Bloomberg Quint, Mint, and Financial Express.

Professor Rebecca Parry is a Co-Director of the Centre for Business and Insolvency Law, Nottingham Trent University, who has written widely on aspects of domestic and international insolvency laws. She has a particular recent interest in the intersection between technology and law and vulnerabilities arising from the provision of public services by private companies.