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By Kathryn Pamenter, The Garden City Group, Inc.

Be informed. Be involved. Be passionately focused. This is Jack Butler's sage advice to young TMA members. Butler stated:

By informed, I mean that they should do all of the hard work to be in the upper margin of their particular industry for the particular stage of their careers (which requires them to be aware of industry best practices, current developments and future trends). By involved, I mean that they should participate in their own organizations as much as they can (including by finding a mentor to help them advance), and they should also reach out to network across disciplines and industries through the TMA and elsewhere so that they build their own network of relationships that will advance over the years as they do. By being passionately focused, I mean just that there is no substitute for loving what you do, developing a vision, and pursuing your vision with intensity and focus.

In offering this advice, Butler provided the key to his distinguished career to date, as well as the foundation for the honor of being inducted as one of two attorneys in the ten member inaugural class of the Turnaround, Restructuring and Distressed Investing Industry Hall of Fame at the 20th Anniversary Convention of the Turnaround Management Association ("TMA").

Since joining the TMA as one of the first lawyer members in 1988, the year that the organization was founded, Butler has encouraged the organization's growth and outreach with a major focus on education and delivering services to members. Butler recalled that he "encouraged the organization's big tent membership approach with the belief that members would find real value in their networking with fellow members from other disciplines. He was also one of the organizers of the original Cornerstone educational fund and has helped raise millions of dollars to further TMA's mission. Butler served as the Chairman of the TMA in 1996 and 1997, as a director on the international board for eleven years and as chairman of the TMA's 10th and 15th anniversary conventions in 1998 and 2003.

In addition to the TMA, Butler has been involved in several professional and philanthropic organizations. He is a Fellow of both the American College of Bankruptcy and the International Insolvency Institute, has served as chairman of the American Board of Certification and Commercial Finance Association Education Foundation, and has been a director of the American Bankruptcy Institute. Butler also founded INSOL International's Group of 36 as part of the 1997 World Congress and co-chaired the 2005 World Congress in Sydney, Australia. His civic organization involvement has included the Hugh O' Brian Youth Leadership (Board of Governors, 1998 - present) and the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation (Executive Advisory Council). Butler spends pro bono time each year serving as a guardian ad litem in contested guardianship cases in Cook County Probate Court.

Butler's legal career as a partner and co-leader of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP's global corporate restructuring practice is known worldwide. Last quarter, his team completed the four-year reorganization of Delphi Corporation, the global automotive supplier and technology company, which commentators have called "an essential element" in the Chrysler and GM restructurings. Delphi's restructuring journey began in 2005 when Delphi filed the then largest reorganization case ever for a manufacturing company. Delphi's core businesses are now part of a private company owned by a group of investors, with the go-forward business having more than 100,000 employees in 270 locations in 32 countries. Since the Delphi restructuring, Butler has been working on several transactions in the retail, telecommunications and transportation (non-automotive) industries. Some of the other successful restructurings that he has worked on include Kmart Corporation, Rite Aid Corporation, Singer N.V., Sprint Nextel Corporation, US Airways Group, Inc., Venator Group, Inc. and Xerox Corporation as well as special counsel engagements for Enron Corporation and The Warnaco Group.

Butler is the proud parent of four primary school-aged children, and makes time to be very active in their lives at school and church, coaching soccer and teaching Sunday School. Illustrative of his longtime passion for sports, Butler officiated high school and college football for almost 25 years and is a life member of the American Football Coaches Association. In terms of ranking his induction into the TMA Hall of Fame among his accomplishments to date, Butler commented that “being recognized by your peers for a lifetime of commitment to advancing the interests of the turnaround, restructuring and distressed investing industries is a wonderful honor which means a great deal to me personally. Sharing the stage with nine other people who have made a real difference over the years was wonderfully reaffirming. I also applaud the decision to make the other past chairs of TMA honorary members of the Hall of Fame, because each of them has made important contributions to the growth and sustainability of the association. That being said, at the age of 54, I am blessed to have a partner and four young children who keep me grounded and actively looking forward to the next set of deals!