Wurst, who joined Meridian in February, previously had been withthe Dallas law firm of Munsch, Hardt, Kopf & Harr. Wurstspecializes in commercial bankruptcy and commercial real estatelaw.

Wurst's appointment is in line with a board expansion from sixto nine members, which had taken effect earlier this week inconcert with the bankruptcy court's approval of the company'sreorganization plan. Joining Wurst are John R. Cooper of PG&ENational Energy Group in Bethesda, MD; Alan M. Jacobs of AMJAdvisors LLC of Woodmere, NY; Donald J. MacKinnon of Realm, NewYork City; and Donald C. Wood of Federal Realty Investment Trust inBethesda.

Criimi Mae's reorganization plans calls for repayment of about$847 million to creditors through recapitalization financing, ofwhich about $267 million will be secured through creditors MerrillLynch Mortgage Capital Inc. and German American Capital Corp.Another $161 million will be secured from existing unsecuredcreditors and about $419 million will be generated from proceeds ofalready completed sales of commercial mortgage-backedsecurities.