This year's institute will be held IN-PERSON at the CBA Headquarters. Login to the website and click the "Register" button to register. You will receive a confirmation email from the Columbus Bar. 

The CLE will end at 12:15 pm and will be immediately followed by lunch so you can network with your colleagues and the judges.

AGENDA

9:00 - 10:00      Sub-Chapter V – Nuts & Bolts for Consumer and Business Practitioners Alike 

10:00 – 11:00    Using AI In Your Bankruptcy Practice                    

11:00 – 11:15    Break

11:15 – 12:15    View from the Bench

12:15 – 1:15 Lunch and Networking

PRESENTERS:

Matthew T. Schaeffer, Esq. 

Matt is of counsel at Bailey Cavalieri LLC in Columbus and Dayton. He is a Subchapter V trustee and a Chapter 7 trustee for the Southern District of Ohio.  Outside of his trustee work, he has represented debtors, financial institutions, trustees, and a variety of secured and unsecured creditors in bankruptcy proceedings, litigation, and workouts.

Will M. Henry, Esq.

Will is a Partner in the Corporate Transactions & Securities practice group in the Cleveland office of Thompson Hine LLP and is the firmwide chair of its M&A subgroup, specializing in M&A, private equity, commercial contracts, and corporate organization and governance matters. He has extensive experience in middle-market M&A transactions, with a track record of leading deals ranging from less than $1 million to over $500 million. His clientele includes private equity firms and privately- and publicly-held companies, and his work involves both domestic and international transactions. Will is a graduate of The University of Texas School of Law and Case Western Reserve University. He has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2024 for Corporate Law, and is one of only 21 lawyers in the United States to be recognized as a “Leading Individual” in sub-$500 million M&A deals by the Legal 500.

Merisa K. Bowers, Esq.

Merisa joined the Ohio Bar Liability Insurance Company (OBLIC) in 2023 after nearly 14 years in private practice.  As Loss Prevention & Outreach Counsel, Merisa supports fellow attorneys through proactive policy development, risk management, and best practice guidance.

Raised in Canton, Ohio, she earned her law degree cum laude from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with Departmental Honors from the University of Cincinnati. She has received recognition from the National LGBT Bar Association as a Top 40 Under 40 Attorney in 2016 and regular SuperLawyers Rising Star designations. Merisa is an active member of the Ohio State Bar Association, local and affinity bars, and a 2024 Ohio State Bar Foundation Fellow. 

Merisa proudly serves as City Council President in Gahanna. She has led the City to enact laws to stabilize housing, curb youth tobacco addiction, and to offer clean energy to residents and small businesses that reduces carbon emissions and lowers costs. She and her husband Curtis enjoy spending time outdoors and cheering on the Cleveland Guardians with their son, Everett.

The Honorable Mina Nami Khorrami 

Judge Mina Nami Khorrami was appointed on September 10, 2021, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to serve as a bankruptcy judge for the Southern District of Ohio. Judge Nami Khorrami began her career in St. Louis, Missouri, where she practiced bankruptcy law and litigation as an associate with the firms of Vogler & Associates and then with Compton, Wells & Hamburg. In 1991, Judge Nami Khorrami relocated to Columbus, Ohio, to open her own firm. Her practice focused on complex Chapter 7 and 13 bankruptcies, general civil litigation, foreclosure defense, and issues relevant to small businesses. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Nami Khorrami also served as a chapter 7 panel trustee.
 

While in practice, Judge Nami Khorrami also served on numerous local committees related to the Columbus bankruptcy bar and was a frequent speaker at CLE programs. She has long been committed to bankruptcy pro bono service in the Columbus community. In 2013, she received the Columbus Bar Association and Foundation Award for her involvement in the implementation of the chapter 7 bankruptcy pro bono project in Columbus. Judge Nami Khorrami served as a co-chair of the Columbus chapter of the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) and co-chair of the Bankruptcy Law Institute (BLI) Planning Committee. Judge Nami Khorrami also served on the board of trustees for the Credit Education Coalition (CEC) and was a member of the Chapter 13 Liaison Committee.
 

Since her appointment to the bench, Judge Nami Khorrami has been actively involved in numerous local and national professional organizations and committees, including the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, ABI, and IWIRC. She is a frequent speaker for programs presented by the American Bankruptcy Institute, including the Central States Bankruptcy Workshop, the Midwest Regional Bankruptcy Seminar, and the Consumer Practice Extravaganza; and she is a board member of ABI’s Midwest Regional Bankruptcy Seminar Planning Committee. Judge Nami Khorrami is also the Secretary of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges for the 2025-2026 term.

The Honorable Tiffany Strelow Cobb

After graduating from Washington University School of Law, Judge Strelow Cobb began her legal career with Coburn & Croft (now Thompson Coburn, LLP), in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1997, she moved to Columbus, Ohio and later became a partner with Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, LLP, where she practiced for over twenty-six years. Before taking the bench, she chaired the firm’s bankruptcy and creditors’ rights practice group and served on numerous firm committees, including the firm’s management, hiring, and ethics committees. In her practice, she represented unsecured creditors, secured creditors, trustees, creditors’ committees and other parties in interest in chapter 11 reorganization cases, chapter 7 cases and in related litigation on a national basis and acted as co-counsel on an international basis.

Judge Strelow Cobb regularly speaks at national and regional conferences. She is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. She has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America (including the 2024 “Lawyer of the Year” in Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law) and has been ranked by Chambers and Partners. Judge Strelow Cobb is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and served as a cochair of the ABI Midwest Regional Bankruptcy Conference for two years. She also filled leadership roles on the Court’s Attorney Advisory Committee and Mediation Project Committee.

The Honorable Tyson A. Crist 

Tyson A. Crist was appointed a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Ohio for a term of fourteen years beginning on June 3, 2025. Judge Crist’s duty station is Dayton.

Judge Crist is a graduate of The College of Wooster (B.A. 1996) and The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law (J.D. 1999). He served as Law Clerk to the Honorable J. Rich Leonard, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina, before joining the creditors’ rights, corporate trust, and business restructuring group of Schottenstein, Zox & Dunn Co., LPA in 2000. Judge Crist was a partner of the firm since 2008, which later merged with Ice Miller LLP. He has been fortunate to litigate a variety of matters in bankruptcy and state courts, and to handle appeals to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel and Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He primarily represented clients in bankruptcies and state court receiverships, protecting and restructuring financial interests, and enforcing debtor-creditor rights. His clients included unsecured creditors’ committees, liquidation and indenture trustees, governmental pension plans, financial institutions, and other creditors and business debtors.

Judge Crist was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, 18 years running, in the practice areas of bankruptcy and debtor-creditor rights, and in bankruptcy litigation. He frequently wrote articles and book chapters for a variety of publications, including an in depth article on Stern v. Marshall in the American Bankruptcy Law Journal, and he often spoke at legal education programs on the topics of bankruptcy, receivership, and debtor creditor law. Through his involvement with the Ohio State Bar Association as Chair of the Banking, Commercial & Bankruptcy Law Committee, he testified before committees of both the Ohio House of Representatives and Senate on revisions to Ohio’s foreclosure and receivership statutes, which he helped to draft, and other debtor-creditor laws. As an inaugural three-year member of the Chapter 11 Subcommittee of the Attorney Advisory Committee to the Court, he worked on the Procedures for Complex Chapter 11 Cases. He also served the federal legal community for over seven years as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Columbus Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, as Membership Chair, Vice President/President Elect, President, and Immediate Past President. He also organized, hosted, and moderated the annual Demystifying Federal Court program. And he is a longtime member of both the Bankruptcy Law Committee of the Columbus Bar Association and the American Bankruptcy Institute. Recently, he has become an active member of the Thomas F. Waldron American Bankruptcy Law Forum.

The Honorable Beth A. Buchanan

Beth A. Buchanan was appointed as United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Ohio on May 10, 2011.  Prior to her appointment, Judge Buchanan practiced exclusively in the areas of bankruptcy and insolvency law, representing debtors, creditors’ committee, secured lenders and unsecured creditors in numerous complex chapter 7, 11 and 15 bankruptcy proceedings.  Before obtaining her law degree, Judge Buchanan worked in banking for over eight years with two major financial institutions.

Judge Buchanan is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Cincinnati Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Chapter, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the Thomas F. Waldron American Bankruptcy Law Forum, and is the Co-Chairperson of the Local Bankruptcy Rules Standing Committee for the Southern District of Ohio. She also served on the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Sixth Circuit from 2018 through 2020.

Judge Buchanan graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.S.B.A. degree and earned her J.D. summa cum laude from the University of Dayton School of Law.

3.0 CLE Hours, with 1.0 Professional Conduct