Bernard A. Katz, CPA, CIRA, CFE, CFF
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Functional Expertise
Bernard A. Katz is a partner and co-practice leader of J.H. Cohn’s Business Investigation Services Group. Mr. Katz has extensive experience advising financially troubled companies, secured and unsecured creditors, and other parties-in-interest in workout, turnaround, and bankruptcy situations. His specialties also include forensic accounting, litigation support, crisis management, and valuation of troubled companies.
Mr. Katz has served as a court-appointed receiver, special fiscal agent, and examiner and has acted as a fiduciary in numerous matters. He has testified as an expert witness in bankruptcy and valuation matters in Federal and state courts and in arbitration proceedings. Mr. Katz has been selected as a mediator for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.
Mr. Katz’s diverse background and more than 20 years of experience extend into numerous industries, including construction, distribution, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, real estate, telecommunications, and professional services.
Mr. Katz is a member of the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants, Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, American Bankruptcy Institute, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the Healthcare Financial Management Association
Bankruptcy and Restructuring
Mr. Katz’s bankruptcy and restructuring expertise includes the assessment of businesses’ viability, liquidation analyses, business plan reviews, financial modeling, valuation of business enterprises and transactions, negotiations with stakeholders, and facilitation of financing arrangements. He has served as a Court-approved Liquidating Supervisor and/or Liquidating Trustee in numerous Chapter 11 matters and he has been successful in obtaining substantial recoveries to the estates through the identification of various causes of action.
Mr. Katz has led many large and high-profile Chapter 11 assignments, including WorldCom, TOUSA, Fleming, Wallace’s Bookstores, and Marcal Paper Mills.
Forensic Accounting
Mr. Katz has conducted a broad array of white-collar investigations on financial crimes such as embezzlement, misrepresentation of financial facts, bankruptcy fraud, investment fraud, kickbacks, commercial bribery, and computer fraud. Mr. Katz led the J.H. Cohn team that served as financial advisors to the Court-appointed Examiner in the WorldCom, Inc. matter. In that case, he coordinated the investigations into allegations of fraud, dishonesty, incompetence, and misconduct in the management of the affairs of the Debtor entities. The investigation identified potential causes of action against the Company’s former independent public accountants, breaches of duties by the Company’s CEO, and the fraudulent manipulation of the Company’s financial statements.
Litigation Support
Mr. Katz has provided litigation support services to counsel on a wide variety of matters, including breach of contract, insolvency, business interruption, insurance claims, and lost profits. He is highly skilled in the presentation of complex financial information in support of liability and damages in litigation matters. He has rendered expert testimony in numerous cases involving damages, alleged preferences, substantive consolidation, due diligence of lenders, solvency, and viability of businesses.
In his role as Liquidating Supervisor of Wallace’s Bookstores, Inc., Mr. Katz filed actions against numerous parties to recover alleged preferential payments. Certain of the defendants, four state-run Virginia universities, petitioned the Supreme Court to take up the issue of whether state governments were immune from Federal bankruptcy proceedings. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that states are not immune from bankruptcy preference actions. This ground breaking positive ruling in Central Virginia Community College v. Katz is one of the more significant bankruptcy cases in the U.S.
Turnaround and Crisis Management
Mr. Katz provides turnaround and crisis management services to troubled companies in a broad array of industries. His expertise includes financial management, conflict management and conflict resolution among hostile constituent groups, reorganization planning and execution, asset disposition, and Chapter 11 case management and confirmation.
Accreditations
Certified Public Accountant, New Jersey, 1979
Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor, 1992
Certified Fraud Examiner, 1995
Education
Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, with a concentration in Accounting,
Rutgers University, 1977