With the Professor Lawrence P. King Award

Jeff is the co-founder and managing principal of Centerbridge Partners. Jeff oversees the firm’s investment activities and serves as a member of the Management Committee. 

Jeff has been active in alternative investments, including credit, distressed strategies & special situations, private equity, and real estate, for more than 30 years. Prior to co-founding Centerbridge, Jeff was a partner at Angelo, Gordon & Co., where he led that firm’s distressed securities and leveraged loan efforts. Before joining Angelo, Gordon & Co. in 1989, Jeff served as senior corporate counsel at L.F. Rothschild & Co. He began his career as a securities attorney with the law firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP. 

Jeff is the former chair and a current member of the Board of Trustees of Johns Hopkins University and also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Johns Hopkins Medicine and New York University School of Law. He is a director and member of the Executive Committee of The Partnership for New York City. 

Jeff received a B.A., with honors, from Johns Hopkins University and a J.D. from the New York University School of Law.

With the Professor Lawrence P. King Award

James “Jamie” H.M. Sprayregen is the founder of Kirkland & Ellis’ worldwide Restructuring Group, building the group from inception in 1990 to become the premier restructuring group in the world, and the only such group ranked tier 1 in every major region of the world. He is a partner in the Chicago and New York offices of Kirkland & Ellis and served on Kirkland’s worldwide management committee 2003 – 2006 and 2009 – 2019. He was a managing director at Goldman Sachs and co-head of the Restructuring Group from 2006-2008 and returned to Kirkland at the end of 2008. Described as “a legend in the bankruptcy space” and “one of the United States’ most sought-after bankruptcy attorneys,” Jamie has led some of the most complex Chapter 11 filings in recent history. He has extensive experience representing major U.S. and international companies in restructurings both in and out of court and has handled matters for clients in industries as varied as manufacturing, technology, transportation, energy, media, retail, and real estate. He has extensive experience advising boards of directors, and generally representing debtors and creditors in complex workout, insolvency, restructuring, and bankruptcy planning matters worldwide.

Chambers & Partners has praised Jamie for his “outstanding reputation for complex Chapter 11 cases,” most recently noting he is a “a go-to for big issues” and a “bankruptcy guru.” Chambers said that clients it spoke to noted that he is “probably the best restructuring lawyer in the world” and is “a luminary in the field” of restructuring and insolvency. Sources have also commented that he is “a premier restructuring expert” and “in a class of his own” with “unbelievable technical capabilities” and “deep experience he can draw upon.” He has been praised as a “great clients’ lawyer, admired for his unflustered ways” and for his ability “to take extraordinarily complex issues and make them understandable for boards and executive management teams.” Prior editions of Chambers guides have described James as “a world-class practice leader,” “one of the deans of the Bar,” and “a restructuring genius and one of the best strategists in the country” noting that clients look to him as someone who is “providing leadership and strategic guidance on the big issues.” Sources commended Jamie for his “incredible work ethic and skill” and for his ability to “bring a mastery of the law to practical application.” Clients are “impressed by his boundless energy to work on issues” and note that James is “very good in complicated and difficult situations.”

In March 2010, Jamie was selected by The National Law Journal as one of “The Decade’s Most Influential Lawyers.” Jamie was named “Global Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyer of the Year” in 2013 by Who’s Who Legal Awards, receiving more votes from clients and peers than any other individual worldwide. In October 2013, James was inducted into the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) Turnaround, Restructuring, and Distressed Investing Industry Hall of Fame‎. From 2013 to 2015, James was appointed to serve a two-year term as the president of INSOL International, the world’s leading international insolvency association. Jamie is also an adjunct full professor of finance at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where he teaches a course on corporate restructuring.