James Doak

James is Head of Miller Buckfire. James's experience includes M&A, financing, and restructuring transactions on behalf of Gymboree, Aéropostale, the City of Detroit, the Mashantucket (Western) Pequot Tribal Nation, Broder Bros. Co., Magna Entertainment Corp., Standard Pacific Corp., Allied Holdings, Hines Horticulture, ITC^DeltaCom, Level 3 Communications, Kanebo Ltd., Burlington Industries, Horizon Natural Resources, CenterPoint Energy, and Gilat Satellite Networks. James has also represented creditor constituents in various restructuring transactions including The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., COFINA/Puerto Rico, Idearc, Wilton Brands Inc., and The Lenox Group and advised several non-disclosed sovereigns and municipalities. 

James is a former member of the financial restructuring group of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. Prior to joining Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, he was an investment banker at Goldman, Sachs & Co. 

James has focused on a variety of sectors throughout his career, including municipal/sovereign financial distress, retail, gaming, transportation, telecommunications, distribution, home goods, information technology, textiles, and power generation and transmission. He is a member of the Turnaround Management Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, and a frequent panelist at industry conferences. James recently served on the Federal Judiciary’s Chapter 9 Roundtable. He has authored several articles on corporate distress and turnaround leadership and in June 2011 was selected as one of The M&A Advisor’s 40 Under 40 leading M&A, financing and turnaround professionals. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Heat and Warmth Fund, a leading non-profit provider of utility assistance to Michigan residents in need. 

James received his MBA (with high distinction) from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar, a J.D. (cum laude) from Harvard Law School, and an A.B. (magna cum laude) from Harvard University with a concentration in Social Studies.