Media Mentions
2005
James Shein's article "Trying to Match Sox: Dealing with New Challenges and Risks Facing Directors" was published in the Spring 2005 issue of The Journal of Private Equity. The article deals with the converging forces, new challenges and risks facing directors of public and private companies. These include: Federal and state enforcers, as well as plaintiffs, increasingly deciding to go after the personal assets of directors; the increased burden created by corporate governance reforms (e.g., Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002); and courts recently deciding that the confidentiality privilege between directors and their lawyers can be broken a lot easier than once believed.
James B. Shein, Corporate, Restructuring & Insolvency
James Shein was profiled in the first issue of Forrester magazine (February 2005) in "The Turnaround Template," which looks at previous turnarounds and identifies some common themes in their approach. Recognized as the vice president of the Turnaround Management Association, Mr. Shein commented that effective turnaround leaders are "stress-junkies – they like pressure." He continued by emphasizing that turnaround specialists bring warring parties together, staying calm in the middle of emotional static.
James B. Shein, Corporate, Restructuring & Insolvency
2004
James Shein was quoted in the October 20 issue of The Wall Street Journal in regard to the increase of turnaround professionals. Jim, who teaches a "Managing Turnarounds" class at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern, commented he is trying to bring real-life sensibilities to his students. He said that during the bankruptcy phase of his course he has students take positions as unsecured creditors, banks, shareholders and management. "They have to fight out how to manage the company. Then I bring in top turnaround consultants and CEOs to talk to the class," commented Mr. Shein. "One of the things we talk about in class is that there are corporations interested in hiring people who have knowledge of corporate renewal. The earlier you detect a problem, the easier it will be to fix. I believe the market will grow in that area faster than turnaround consultants themselves."
James B. Shein, Corporate, Restructuring & Insolvency
James B. Shein was quoted and the Firm was mentioned in the summer 2004 issue of In Depth, the Kellogg World Alumni Magazine. In the article he commented on the profession of the turnaround specialist and how the skills acquired at Kellogg are helping many of them with the corporate restructuring issues they are facing at their current companies and to realize that "issues" do not happen overnight. Mr. Shein commented, "One of the things we teach at the Kellogg School is that very few companies fall off a cliff. There is usually some decline that's been going on, whether it's an emphasis on the wrong products, an especially challenging competitor or some kind of financial trouble. The company has been going through a slide, though they might attribute it to market forces or a stupid competitor. But the longer you fail to take action, the more dangerous a decline becomes."
2001
James Shein commented on proposed legislation regarding bankruptcy law in the May 14 issue of Crain's Chicago Business. Due to the increased leverage available to creditors in the proposed legislation, Mr. Shein commented on the potential explosion of filings before the bill's effective date and the need to have a plan of reorganization ready, versus creditors' possible inclination to wait to make their demands known.
