Development Specialists Inc. Launches New Mediation Group

CHICAGO, Feb. 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Development Specialists Inc., a leading provider of management consulting and financial advisory services for distressed businesses, has launched a new mediation practice group and has named one of its own to head the national effort. Senior Vice President Geoffrey L. Berman, who has worked as a financial consultant with DSI since 1997 and has also served as a certified mediator in bankruptcy cases, now heads the DSI Mediation Practice Group.

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"Geoff has offered mediation as part of his own practice, but we felt the time was right to leverage his experience and talents to build a group with him at the helm," said Bill Brandt, President / CEO of Development Specialists Inc.  "With Geoff's reputation in the industry and credibility among his peers, including attorneys, fellow mediators and the courts, this practice group will foster the one key ingredient needed in any dispute resolution process – unsurpassed trust in the mediator."

Berman has invested most of his professional career building that trust. He has more than 35 years of general experience in all types of insolvency and restructuring case administrations and has mediated more than 100 separate cases. Berman currently mediates a variety of commercial litigation cases, including those in the bankruptcy arena. An executive with DSI since 1997, Berman is a certified mediator through Pepperdine University and he presently serves on the Bankruptcy Mediation Panel for the Central District of California and the Register of Mediators for the District of Delaware.

Berman has served as Chairman of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), and previously was its President and, before that, its Vice President of Publications with oversight of the ABI Journal and other publication projects. He has been a member of ABI's Executive and Management Committees, its Board of Directors from 2002 through 2014, was the chair of the ABI Task Force on General Assignments and author of the ABI manual on general assignments.  Geoff formed the ABI Commission for the Study of Reform of Chapter 11 during his year as ABI's President and served as an ex-officio member of the Commission.  The Commission released its Report in December 2014 with over 240 recommendations for reforming the chapter 11 process.

"My legal training, my skill as a mediator and my commitment as a fiduciary should instill trust and confidence in clients, their partners and their legal counsel," said Berman. "Throughout my career, I've built my reputation on quality of service, professionalism and civility, all of which comes from being truly a neutral arbiter, as opposed to someone from some insider's network. I believe my more than 20 years of service with the American Bankruptcy Institute establish my credibility in the industry."

Berman was a member of the inaugural faculty for the ABI Mediation Training program, conducted at the St. John's University Hugh Carey School for Dispute Resolution in New York. He also is a member of the Los Angeles and Bay Area (California) Bankruptcy Forums.

Along with his mediation practice, Berman's endeavors have had a special emphasis on general assignments for the benefit of creditors as well as post-confirmation estate management through both liquidating and creditor trusts under confirmed Chapter 11 Plans of Reorganization. He is a frequent speaker on topics related to out-of-court and post-confirmation case administration issues.

Berman graduated with honors with a degree in business administration (accounting and finance) and wrote his undergraduate honors thesis in Finance, from the University of the Pacific in Stockton. He also earned his Juris Doctor from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles.

About Development Specialists Inc. (DSI)

Based in Chicago, IL, DSI is a leading provider of management consulting and financial advisory services, including turnaround consulting, fiduciary roles, financial restructure, litigation support, wind-down oversight and forensic accounting services. Clients include business owners, corporate boards of directors, financial services institutions, secured lenders, bondholders, unsecured creditors and creditor committees. For more than 30 years, DSI has been guided by a single objective: Maximizing value for all stakeholders. With its highly skilled and diverse team of professionals, offices throughout the United States and in Europe, and an unparalleled range of experience, DSI not only achieves that objective, but has also built a solid reputation as an industry leader. For more log on to www.dsi.biz.

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SOURCE Development Specialists Inc.

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