Kevin leads FORVIS’ restructuring and special situations team and has more than 25 years of professional experience.  Prior to joining FORVIS, he was an owner and managing member of an Indianapolis firm where he specialized in restructurings and turnarounds, financial and strategic consulting, special situations practices, financial due diligence, transaction support, debt and capital transactions and originations, forensic accounting, and litigation support.

Kevin has represented both public and private companies, banks, law firms, family offices, and private equity groups. He has served as an interim officer, chief restructuring officer (CRO), state court receiver, federal Chapter 11 trustee, and federal bankruptcy court CRO. He has provided professional depositions and testimony, both with and without written reports.

He has supported clients and their counsel in the financial elements of judicial proceedings, including preferences and fraudulent conveyances, and provided court testimony on various matters in proceedings conducted under U.S.C. 11.

Kevin also has performed financial and accounting work and forensic analysis for trustees and served as both a fact witness and an expert witness in his areas of expertise.
He is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and Indiana CPA Society. He also is a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA).

Robert Thomson, a certified public accountant (CPA), has served as the board-appointed Indianapolis Airport Authority Treasurer since 2014 after assuming the position of Senior Director of Finance in 2013.  Thomson began his career in Indianapolis with Geo S. Olive & Co. (now FORVIS, LLP), where he was an audit and tax specialist focusing on manufacturing, dealerships, and employee benefits.  Subsequently, Thomson served as controller of Indianapolis Newspapers, Inc., focusing on systems implementation and profit-driver financial management.  He later served as the Chief Financial Officer for a local family-owned manufacturer.  

Thomson joined the Indianapolis Airport team in 2004 as Accounting Director for BAA Indianapolis (BAAI), responsible for operating budgets, reporting, and financial systems.  Thomson paused his airport career between 2007 and 2009 and pursued a business ownership opportunity with a Midwest-based, middle market, contractor that provided hard-earned experience in cash flow management, contract negotiation, and crisis management.  The hard-earned experience allowed Thomson to successfully lead the Indianapolis Airport Authority through the 2020 economic disruption. In 2016 and 2017, respectively, Thomson was named CFO of the Year by the Indianapolis Business Journal and the Medium Hub Airport Finance Professional of the Year by ACI North America for his leadership and contributions to the aviation industry.  Thomson, an Illinois native, holds a degree in accounting from Cedarville University.

Robert graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering and has over 35 years of experience in the construction industry, specifically underground utilities and earthwork.  He is the President of Solo Gratia which is the holding company for Weihe Construction, Inc., Weihe Transport, LLC. and Arrow Construction, LLC. He is very involved in every facet of the organization.  Robert has experience working in the field as well as project managing and estimating.  

Matthew Horowitz has been representing sureties and fidelity carriers in Connecticut and Massachusetts for approximately 30 years. He regularly assists sureties with performance and payment bond disputes and claims arising under probate and other commercial bonds, as well as in salvage and recovery matters. He litigates in state and federal courts, appellate courts, and arbitration forums, as well as representing sureties in mediations and informal negotiations. He also provides representation to sureties in transactional matters, including drafting and negotiating takeover and tender agreements, completion contracts and documents in aid of indemnity obligations.

Matt is a member and has held leadership positions in the Fidelity and Surety Law Committee of the American Bar Association. He is a co-sponsor of the Northeast Surety and Fidelity Claims Conference held annually in New Jersey. He has published extensively in the surety industry including contributing chapters or serving as editor for ABA publications such as the Law of performance Bonds, the Law of Payment Bonds and the Law of Commercial and Miscellaneous Bonds. Matt is a frequent speaker at surety and fidelity conferences. He has developed extensive relationships in the surety industry and is in regular contact with surety claims professionals, surety claims consultants, and surety lawyers from other jurisdictions.

Matt frequently teaches as an adjunct professor in the mediation program at the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Institute of Community Research, a non-profit organization located in Hartford, Connecticut. He is also a member of the Town of West Hartford Civilian Police Review Board.

He earned his B.A, summa cum laude from Tufts University and his J.D. from New York University School of Law. He is admitted to practice in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Texas, and the District of Columbia. In addition, he is admitted to practice in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Fifth Circuit, and the United States District Court, District of Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Eugene Polyak is a Partner in the Fort Lauderdale office of Smith, Currie & Hancock LLP. He is Board Certified in Construction Law by the Florida Bar. Gene specializes in drafting and negotiating construction, construction management, design-build, EPC, design, and other contracts on behalf of owners, general contractors, subcontractors, architects/engineers, and consultants. Gene provides advice during ongoing construction projects and serves as counsel in the development, prosecution, and defense of construction-related claims. 

https://www.smithcurrie.com/professionals/eugene-polyak/

Melissa Rice is an Executive Specialist at Crum and Forster handling contract surety claims. Melissa graduated from Cabrini University in Radnor, Pennsylvania with a Master of Accounting. She is also obtained her bachelor’s degree in History and Secondary Education Certification at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. In her spare time, Melissa enjoys gardening and spending time at the beach. 

Melissa Jane Lee is a principal with Manier & Herod practicing primarily in the areas of surety law, construction law, and general insurance coverage and litigation. In 2007, Ms. Lee graduated magna cum laude from the Honors College at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Political Science. Ms. Lee received her Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 2010.

Ms. Lee is a construction surety lawyer and has represented numerous clients with respect to every aspect of surety law, including takeovers and relets, bond claim analysis, bankruptcy matters and litigation in various courts in the Southeast. Ms. Lee also represents clients in matters involving general construction law and miscellaneous surety bonds. Ms. Lee has the unique perspective of being both a litigator and a transactional attorney, having both courtroom and arbitration experience and having represented clients in large scale workouts. Additionally, Ms. Lee assists insurers with preliminary coverage analysis and coverage dispute litigation involving a variety of insurance policies, from commercial general liability policies to fidelity bonds. Ms. Lee is a member of the American Bar Association, Tennessee Bar Association, Nashville Bar Association and is active in the Surety and Fidelity Law Committee of the Torts, Trial & Insurance Practice Section of the ABA. Ms. Lee is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and is currently Vice-Chair of FSLC’s Construction Law Subdivision. Ms. Lee is a graduate of the TIPS Leadership Academy and has been recognized as a “Rising Star” in the area of insurance coverage by Mid-South Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, since 2013.

Elizabeth Paquet joined Beacon Consulting Group's team in 2019. With more than 20 years of construction industry experience and a Master’s Degree in Construction Management from Steven's Institute of Technology, Elizabeth’s background and deep industry knowledge have made her an invaluable member of Beacon's Construction Consulting team.

Elizabeth's experience in the construction industry goes back to her early teen years when she started working part time at her father's firm M.J. Paquet, Inc., a construction company specializing in complex heavy transportation projects for the public and private sector. During her high school and college years, Elizabeth started working full time during school breaks as an administrative assistant and intern at the company where she played an active role helping to support and manage large highway / infrastructure projects. During that time, Elizabeth learned about all aspects of bidding on, managing, and completing large construction projects, including both the business and technical aspects.

After spending several years working in the family business, Elizabeth started up her own firm, Empco Contracting, Inc., based in Haworth, NJ. The company took on numerous projects, grew to employ more than 25 people, and solidified Elizabeth's knowledge of all aspects of the construction business. After running Empco for more than six years, Elizabeth took on progressive roles at other construction companies. She served as Director of Operations at a regional Contracting / Construction Management company and then as Manager of Purchasing, Project Management & Project Coordination at another construction company based in Northern NJ, focusing on bridge construction, rehabilitation, and other heavy construction projects.

Michael Bond joined Markel Surety in January of 2021 as Chief Underwriting Officer – National Accounts.  In that role, he oversees the underwriting of accounts requiring surety capacity from $50 million to $500 million.  The National Accounts offering adds to Markel Surety’s well-established track record and existing business in Contract and Commercial Surety.  Markel Surety’s primary mission is to help our partners profitably grow their business through all market cycles.

Prior to Markel Surety, Mr. Bond was Head of Surety for Euler Hermes North America.  Prior to Euler Hermes, Mr. Bond work at Zurich Insurance Company in a variety of executive roles, including the Head of the Zurich Credit & Political Risk team and the Head of Zurich Surety.  As Head of Zurich Surety, he was responsible for a $600 million surety business, which serves contract and commercial surety customers in North America and around the world.

Prior to joining Zurich, Mr. Bond served as a senior insurance officer at Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), underwriting political risk insurance coverage for projects in a variety of industrial sectors.  Previously, Mr. Bond worked as a municipal development advisor with the U.S. Peace Corps in Honduras and as a project manager with Law Environmental in Atlanta, Georgia.

Mr. Bond is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Surety and Fidelity Association of America (SFAA), the Management Committee of the International Credit Insurance & Surety Association (ICISA) and the Executive Committee of the Pan American Surety Association. Mr. Bond holds a B.S. from Rutgers University, an M.S. from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Loyola College. He is fluent in Spanish.  He resides in Olney, Maryland.  He is actively involved in fundraising and advocacy on the behalf of the ALS Association.  

Ms. Klinger serves as the Managing Partner of SMTD Law’s Los Angeles office. She is involved in all aspects of construction law on a state and national level, representing the full spectrum of the construction industry, from owners, contractors, subcontractors and sureties. 

Ms. Klinger’s practice includes time-related claims and litigation (e.g., delay/impact), legal advice and counsel regarding the contracting process (e.g., bidding and contract disputes/performance bond claims), payment enforcement/defense (e.g. payment bonds/mechanics liens/stop payment notices), administrative and scope claims and litigation (e.g., differing site conditions, change and extra work orders/inadequate plans and specifications and subcontractor substitutions) and counseling and transactional services to the construction industry (e.g., general advice and counsel, including contract preparation, evaluation and negotiation). 

In addition, she has extensive experience in dispute resolution including litigation, trial, appeals, arbitration and mediation.

David Jean is a principal at Albin, Randall & Bennett specializing primarily in financial accounting and consulting for construction, manufacturing and real estate development companies. He provides tax, accounting and management advisory services to contractors, manufacturers and developers throughout New England. David also serves as the Managing Partner of New England Funds Control, LLC (NEFC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ARB. NEFC specializes in providing funds control services for sureties, contractors and banks.

Marty McCarthy is the office managing partner of Marcum’s Blue Bell, PA, and Tinton Falls, NJ offices and serves as the Firm’s Mid-Atlantic Construction practice leader. With more than three decades of experience working with construction companies, his collaborative and solution-focused approach, technical proficiency, and deep industry knowledge have made him a trusted advisor to contractors looking to operate more efficiently and optimize growth.

Before merging his practice into Marcum in 2023, Mr. McCarthy was the managing partner of McCarthy & Company, PC. Under his leadership, McCarthy & Company was named one of The Top 50 Construction Accounting Firms™ by Construction Executive for four consecutive years (2019-2022) and recognized by Accounting Today as a 2023 Mid-Atlantic Regional Leader and one of the “Best Accounting Firms to Work For” (2019-2022). City & State Pennsylvania named Mr. McCarthy to its 2023 Construction Power 100 List. He was the only accountant to earn the distinction.

Julian is the Principal-In-Charge of CliftonLarsonAllen LLP's Walnut Creek office. He is a member of the firm's Executive Leadership Team for the Construction Industry group and has nearly three decades of experience in accounting in the construction industry. Before joining CliftonLarsonAllen, Julian spent time as a controller with a large general contractor based out of Northern California.

Julian is a member of the AICPA, California Society of Certified Public Accountants, Construction Financial Management Association and a member of the CPA Advisory Council to the National Association of Surety Bond Producers.  Julian is also the Chairman of the AICPA's National Construction Industry Program Conference Planning Committee for the 2017 Conference.

Paul Giovannoni's focus at FMI is partnering with private equity firms to assist in developing strategic insights into businesses and market opportunities within the built environment. Paul concentrates on providing commercial diligence studies to support transactions in the industrial sector as well as post-close value creation activities by leveraging FMI's deep relationships in the industry and a nuanced understanding of how businesses in the sector operate and win.

Segments where Paul has direct experience include infrastructure services, engineering, building products and distribution, industrial services, energy and cleantech, HVAC services, construction materials, construction technology, utility services, specialty trade contractors, general contractors, and construction equipment and tools.

Before focusing his efforts on supporting private equity firms, Paul worked closely with some of the nation’s largest trade contractors and building product manufacturers to help develop their organizational strategies and go-to-market plans. Through these engagements, Paul developed an insider’s understanding of the drivers of value for these businesses, which he leverages for his current clients.