Kevyn Orr is Partner-in-Charge, U.S. Offices, for the global law firm Jones Day where he provides strategic advice in novel or first impression situations with an eye toward developing creative but practical business-oriented solutions. He has practiced in the areas of business restructuring, M&A, corporate governance and complex commercial litigation and settlement negotiations for more than three decades. He is experienced in all aspects of complex and precedent-setting matters, and The National Law Journal recognized him as a “Crisis Trailblazer” in 2021.
Kevyn left Jones Day for an extended period to serve as Emergency Manager of the City of Detroit, where he was charged with restructuring the city’s finances and operations. During his tenure, he oversaw the largest and most complicated municipal bankruptcy proceeding in the nation’s history, and the city successfully restructured $18 billion in debt, reduced overall debt by $7 billion, developed and implemented a multiyear $1.7 billion revitalization plan for city services and operations, streamlined key city operations, helped improve public safety, put the city’s art in a perpetual public trust, and avoided drastic cuts to pension and related retiree benefits. Kevyn received Turnaround Management Association’s Mega Transaction of the Year Award for the City of Detroit, Michigan in October 2015.
The inaugural Eradicate Hate Summit was a truly impressive gathering of leaders dedicated to finding lasting and effective solutions to violent extremism. I was particularly moved by the prominence given to survivors and family members of victims of hate and violence throughout the event. Their stories and those of so many others must be at the center of what we do and why we do it.
