Bankruptcy Judge Bruce Harwood Named ABI President-Elect
The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) announces that Bankruptcy Judge Bruce Harwood (D. N.H.; Manchester) has been selected by the ABI Board of Directors to be President-Elect. He will become president for a one-year term starting at ABI’s 2025 Annual Spring Meeting. An ABI member since 1989, Judge Harwood is a former Secretary of ABI’s Executive Committee and a past program co-chair of ABI’s Northeast Bankruptcy Conference, and he has served on ABI’s Board of Directors’ Communication, Information and Technology Committee and as Northeast Regional Chair of the ABI Endowment Fund’s Development Committee.
Judge Harwood was appointed to the bench of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Hampshire in March 2013. Prior to taking the bench, he chaired the Bankruptcy, Insolvency and Creditors’ Rights Group at Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green in Manchester, N.H., where he represented business debtors, asset-purchasers, secured and unsecured creditors, creditors’ committees and trustees in bankruptcy and served on the panel of chapter 7 trustees in New Hampshire. Judge Harwood also mediated disputes arising in debtor/creditor relations and represented insurance and banking regulators in connection with the rehabilitation and liquidation of insolvent insurers and trust companies. He was named in the bankruptcy law section of The Best Lawyers in America for more than 10 years, as well as in New England SuperLawyers, and he has been honored in the Chambers USA guides with a “Band 1” ranking in the field of corporate/commercial bankruptcy. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. Judge Harwood is set to retire from the bench in August 2024. He received his B.A. from Northwestern University and his J.D. from Washington University School of Law.
The complete list of directors and officers is available at https://www.abi.org/about-us/board-of-directors.
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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes nearly 10,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html.
Christopher A. Ward Named ABI President
The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) announces that Christopher A. Ward of Polsinelli (Wilmington, Del.) has been selected by the ABI Board of Directors to be President for a one-year term. An ABI member since 2003 and formerly an ABI Vice President-Development, Ward was previously the chair and education director of ABI’s Financial Advisor and Investment Banking Committee, a member of the Mid-Atlantic ABI Endowment Committee, and a co-author of ABI’s A Business Creditor’s Guide to Distressed Vendors, Debt Collection and Bankruptcy; The Chief Restructuring Officer’s Guide to Bankruptcy: Views from Leading Insolvency Professionals; and The Zone of (In)solvency: Fiduciary Duties and Standards of Review for Corporations and Limited Liability Companies.
As chair of Polsinelli’s Bankruptcy and Restructuring practice and managing shareholder of its Delaware office, Ward routinely tackles financial restructurings and distressed litigation. He has significant experience in representing chapter 11 debtors, unsecured creditors’ committees, and asset purchasers, working all sides of the restructuring industry. Ward is ranked in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for Bankruptcy/Restructuring (Delaware), and has been named in The Best Lawyers in America for Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law and in Delaware Super Lawyers and Delaware Today magazine. He received his B.A. from Moravian College in 1995 and his J.D. cum laude from Widener University School of Law in 1999.
The complete list of directors and officers is available at http://www.abi.org/about-us/board-directors.
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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes nearly 10,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abi.org/calendar-of-events.
New ABI Officers and Directors Elected
The following members of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) were elected to leadership positions as officers and directors:
Christopher A. Ward of Polsinelli (Wilmington, Del.) has become ABI President for a one-year term, succeeding Soneet R. Kapila of KapilaMukamal, LLP (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), who will now assume the positions of both Immediate Past President and Acting Chairman; due to the unfortunate passing of Hon. Kevin J. Carey (ret.) of Hogan Lovells US LLP (Philadelphia), who was to be named Chairman, ABI’s bylaws stipulate that Kapila will serve as Interim Chairman of the Board until next year, when he becomes Chairman for a one-year term. Hon. Bruce Harwood (D. N.H.; Concord), formerly ABI Vice President-Communications & Information Technology, was named President-Elect and will become ABI President in April 2025.
Jennifer McLemore of Williams Mullen (Richmond, Va.) replaces Judge Harwood as Vice President-Communications & Information Technology and will serve a two-year term. Ericka Johnson of Bayard (Wilmington, Del.) was elected to serve as an At-Large member of the Executive Committee. The following Executive Committee members were reappointed for second terms: William Henrich of Getzler Henrich & Associates LLC (New York) for ABI Treasurer, Paul Hage of Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, LLP (Southfield, Mich.) for ABI Secretary and Paul Leake of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (New York) for ABI Vice President-Publications.
Five ABI members were elected to their first terms on the ABI Board of Directors:
· Timothy Anzenberger of Adams and Reese (Jackson, Miss.)
· Amber Carson of Gray Reed (Dallas)
· Lindsay Milne of Bernstein Shur (Portland, Maine)
· Megan Murray of Underwood Murray (Tampa, Fla.)
· Jolene Wee of JW Infinity Consulting, LLC (New York)
Of note, the five new members of the Board of Directors this year are former ABI “40 under 40” honorees.
There are 60 members on the ABI Board of Directors. The complete list of directors and officers is available at http://www.abi.org/about-us/board-directors.
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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes nearly 10,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abi.org/calendar-of-events.
ABI Subchapter V Task Force Final Report Provides Key Recommendations to Bolster the Ability of Small Businesses to Reorganize Under Subchapter V of the Bankruptcy Code
The ABI Subchapter V Task Force unveiled its final report of recommendations, revealing that subchapter V of chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code is achieving its objective of helping more small businesses reorganize efficiently in bankruptcy while also offering best practices and potential statutory amendments for policymakers, judges and practitioners to consider. The key recommendation highlighted by the Task Force’s Final Report was the support for permanently maintaining the filing eligibility limit of $7.5 million in aggregate noncontingent, liquidated debt for small businesses looking to reorganize under subchapter V.
To download the Final Report, please visit https://subvtaskforce.abi.org/.
The Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA) went into effect on February 19, 2020, with a debt-eligibility limit of $2,725,625 for struggling small businesses looking for a more economical and efficient way to reorganize their debts within chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. In March 2020, the eligibility limit was expanded to $7.5 million through the CARES Act of 2020, and it received subsequent legislative extensions that are scheduled to sunset in June 2024.
The Task Force was created in April 2023 with a nine-member expert panel comprised of judges, practitioners, trustees and academics that examined case law and statistical data under subchapter V since its enactment through the present. The Task Force’s Final Report is the result of nine months of public hearings, roundtable discussions and an industry survey inviting comment on subchapter V.
Key recommendations in the Final Report centered on the following subchapter V issues:
· Eligibility
· The Role of the Subchapter V Trustee
· Case Administration
· Plan and Confirmation Issues
· Post-Confirmation Administrative Matters
To download a copy of the full report, please click here.
The Task Force is grateful for the financial support it received from ABI’s Anthony H.N. Schelling Endowment Fund.
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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes nearly 10,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html.
ABI Applauds Introduction of Bipartisan Legislation Providing a Two-Year Extension to Maintain Greater Access to Bankruptcy for Struggling Small Businesses and Consumers
ABI APPLAUDS INTRODUCTION OF BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION PROVIDING A TWO-YEAR EXTENSION TO MAINTAIN GREATER ACCESS TO BANKRUPTCY FOR STRUGGLING SMALL BUSINESSES AND CONSUMERS
April 18, 2024, Alexandria, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) supports the recently introduced S. 4150 by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) to extend key provisions of the “Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment and Technical Corrections Act” that were due to sunset on June 21 for an additional two years to 2026. S. 4150, cosponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Christopher Coons (D-Del.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), would maintain the debt limit at $7.5 million for small businesses electing to file for bankruptcy under subchapter V of chapter 11. The bipartisan measure also maintains the debt limit for individual chapter 13 filings to $2.75 million and removes the distinction between secured and unsecured debt for that calculation.
"We commend Sen. Durbin and the co-sponsors on the introduction of this important legislation and look forward to working with members of Congress to having it signed into law so that struggling small businesses and consumers continue to have greater access to bankruptcy and achieving a financial fresh start," said ABI President Soneet Kapila. “Maintaining the $7.5 million eligibility limit is consistent with the findings of ABI’s Subchapter V Task Force to help more small businesses keep their doors open, save jobs and benefit the overall economy.”
The Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA) went into effect on February 19, 2020, with a debt eligibility limit of $2,725,625 for struggling small businesses looking for a more economical and efficient way to reorganize their debts within chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. In March 2020, the eligibility limit was expanded to $7.5 million through the CARES Act of 2020, and it received subsequent legislative extensions that are scheduled to sunset in June 2024.
ABI’s Subchapter V Task Force will be releasing its Final Report on April 19, which reveals that nearly 30% of all chapter 11 bankruptcy cases filed since the enactment of the SBRA have been subchapter V cases. Significantly, the Task Force found that more than 25% of these subchapter V debtors would have been ineligible for subchapter V relief under the lower cap.
Members of the press can attend a special briefing on the Final Report by members of the Task Force live tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. EDT on location at ABI’s Annual Spring Meeting by contacting ABI Public Affairs Officer John Hartgen at [email protected], or by clicking on the following link to attend remotely via Zoom.
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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes nearly 10,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org.
ABI Mourns the Passing of ABI Immediate Past President Hon. Kevin J. Carey
Bankruptcy Filings Increase Across All Chapters in First Quarter 2024
Bankruptcy Filings Increase Across All Chapters in First Quarter 2024
Commercial Chapter 11s Up 43 Percent
NEW YORK/ALEXANDRIA, VA – April 2, 2024 – New bankruptcy filings during the first calendar quarter of 2024 (Jan. 1 through March 31) registered year-over-year increases across all U.S. major filing categories, according to data provided by Epiq Bankruptcy, the leading provider of U.S. bankruptcy filing data.
Total commercial chapter 11 filings (including subchapter V) registered the largest increase, as the 1,894 filings during the first quarter of 2024 were up 43 percent from the 1,325 total commercial chapter 11s during the same period in 2023. Total overall commercial bankruptcies increased 22 percent in the first quarter of 2024, as the 7,113 filings surpassed the 5,820 commercial filings during the first quarter of 2023. Subchapter V elections for small businesses increased 30 percent to 606 filings in Q1 2024 from the 465 filed during Q1 2023.
The 120,094 total bankruptcy filings represented a 14 percent increase from the 105,497 total filings during the same period last year. Consumer filings increased 13 percent, to 112,981 filings in the first quarter of 2024 from the 99,677 consumer filings during the same period in 2023. Individual chapter 7 filings during the first quarter of 2024 were 66,861, a 17 percent increase over the 57,158 individual chapter 7 filings during the same period in 2023. Individual chapter 13 filings during the first quarter of 2024 were 45,958, a 9 percent increase over the 42,362 individual chapter 13 filings in the same period of 2023.
“As we expected, the upward trajectory in both commercial and individual related bankruptcy filing volumes continue,” said Michael Hunter, Vice President of Epiq AACER. “March marks 20 consecutive months that total, individual, and commercial bankruptcy filings have registered monthly year-over-year increases. Factors contributing to this trend are the higher cost of funds and interest rates, a reduction in consumer discretionary spending, higher housing, costs, and a continued drawdown of excess savings. These factors coupled with the post-pandemic anticipated normalization of bankruptcy volumes lead me to believe this upward trend will continue through 2024.”
New bankruptcy filings in March 2024 also registered year-over-year increases across all U.S. major filing categories. A total of 44,453 new bankruptcies were filed in March, up 5 percent from the 42,412 filings registered in March 2023.
Year-over-year commercial filings were up 3 percent to 2,434 compared to 2,372 in March 2023. Commercial chapter 11 filings (including subchapter V) increased 6 percent to 605 versus the 570 filings registered the previous March. Subchapter V elections in March represented the largest monthly increase, as the 217 filings were up 50 percent over the 145 filings in March 2023.
Total individual filings increased 5 percent in March 2024 to 42,019 vs. 40,040 in March 2023. Year-over-year individual chapter 7 filings increased 7 percent to 26,124 vs. 24,455 in March 2023, and individual chapter 13 filings were up 2 percent to 15,844 vs. 15,532 in March 2023.
“Bankruptcy is an indispensable tool for distressed consumers and businesses aiming to repair their balance sheets in this challenging economic environment,” said ABI Executive Director Amy Quackenboss. “As the expanded eligibility limit that enabled more struggling small businesses to reorganize under subchapter V is set to expire in June, ABI's Subchapter V Task Force will soon be releasing its Final Report urging Congress to extend or permanently maintain the increased limit, allowing more small businesses to successfully restructure, reduce liquidations and save jobs.”
The debt eligibility limit of $7.5 million for small businesses looking to elect subchapter V reorganization under chapter 11 is due to sunset back to $2,725,625 in late June. ABI's Subchapter V Task Force will present its final report and recommendations at the 2024 ABI Annual Spring Meeting on April 19 in Washington, D.C. The Task Force on Dec. 15, 2023, transmitted its “Preliminary Report of ABI’s Subchapter V Task Force on Maintaining the $7,500,000 Debt Cap for Subchapter V Eligibility” to Congress, and its findings support permanently maintaining the eligibility limit of $7.5 million in aggregate noncontingent, liquidated debt for small businesses looking to reorganize under subchapter V.
Epiq Bankruptcy is a division of Epiq and is the leading provider of data, technology, and services for companies operating in the business of bankruptcy. Its Bankruptcy Analytics subscription service provides on-demand access to the industry’s most dynamic bankruptcy data, updated daily. Learn more at https://bankruptcy.epiqglobal.com.
About Epiq
Epiq, a global technology-enabled services leader to the legal industry and corporations, takes on large-scale, increasingly complex tasks for corporate counsel, law firms, and business professionals with efficiency, clarity, and confidence. Clients rely on Epiq to streamline the administration of business operations, class action and mass tort, court reporting, eDiscovery, regulatory, compliance, restructuring, and bankruptcy matters. Epiq subject-matter experts and technologies create efficiency through expertise and deliver confidence to high-performing clients around the world. Learn more at https://www.epiqglobal.com.
About ABI
ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes nearly 10,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abi.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abi.org/calendar-of-events.
ABI's Subchapter V Task Force Provides Supplemental Input to Congress on Maintaining the Eligibility Standards for Small Businesses Looking to Reorganize under Subchapter V
Alexandria, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute’s (ABI) Subchapter V Task Force today transmitted a letter to key members of Congress providing further supplemental input regarding its “Preliminary Report of ABI’s Subchapter V Task Force on Maintaining the $7,500,000 Debt Cap for Subchapter V Eligibility” (“Preliminary Report”), released in December 2023.
“Since issuing its Preliminary Report, the Task Force was asked to consider whether, based on its recent in-depth study of Subchapter V cases, a change to address affiliate and insider debt for debtor eligibility is advisable,” ABI President Soneet Kapila of KapilaMukamal (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) writes in the letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Richard Durbin (D-Ill.); Ranking Member Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.); Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust; and Rep. Luis Correa (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the subcommittee.
The letter highlighted a few of Task Force’s findings to support the conclusion that no changes are needed to the eligibility standards for Subchapter V:
• Requiring smaller businesses to include affiliate or insider debt in the Subchapter V eligibility standard would discourage smaller business owners, shareholders or related entities from extending loans or credit to the debtor business, which is a form of funding frequently relied upon by smaller businesses.
• The Task Force did not receive or uncover any evidence that affiliate or insider debt was allowing larger or more complex businesses to file for Subchapter V bankruptcy or otherwise abuse the system.
• The Task Force’s study demonstrates that Subchapter V is working as intended by Congress, helping smaller businesses reorganize their businesses and make payments to their creditors.
“Based on the foregoing, the Task Force strongly recommends no change to the eligibility standards under Subchapter V at this time,” Kapila writes.
The Task Force’s Preliminary Report found that nearly 30% of all chapter 11 bankruptcy cases filed since the enactment of the SBRA have been Subchapter V cases. Significantly, the Task Force found that more than 25% of these Subchapter V debtors would have been ineligible for Subchapter V relief under the lower debt cap.
The Task Force will be issuing its Final Report on April 19 at ABI’s 2024 Annual Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C. To access the Preliminary Report and find out more about the work of ABI’s Subchapter V Task Force, please visit https://subvtaskforce.abi.org/.
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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes nearly 10,000 attorneys, financial advisors, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org.
Small Business Subchapter V Issues, Commercial Real Estate, AI in Practice and More to Be Discussed at ABI's 2024 Annual Spring Meeting in April in Washington, D.C.
Alexandria, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute's (ABI) 2024 Annual Spring Meeting returns to the Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C., April 18-20. ABI’s largest annual conference features timely concurrent sessions tailored for commercial and consumer practitioners. NBC journalist Chuck Todd will be providing his perspectives on the upcoming November elections during the conference’s keynote address.
In addition, a special plenary session will be examining the final report and recommendations of ABI's Subchapter V Task Force, to be released in April during the conference. The current debt-eligibility limit of $7.5 million for small businesses looking to elect subchapter V reorganization under chapter 11 is due to sunset back to $2,725,625 in late June. After nine months of public hearings, roundtable discussions and an industry survey inviting comment on subchapter V, the Task Force released a preliminary report in December encouraging Congress to permanently maintain the eligibility limit of $7.5 million in aggregate noncontingent, liquidated debt for small businesses looking to reorganize under subchapter V.
The conference will conclude with a special interview with Tara Twomey, the director of the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees.
Sessions at the 2024 Annual Spring Meeting include:
· Plenary Session: ABI Talks
· Advanced Fraud-Based Litigation and Uncovering Hidden Assets
· Exporting Corporate Bankruptcies
· Whatever Happened to DIP Financing?
· AI as a New Tool
· A Potpourri of Ethical Considerations in Real Estate Bankruptcy
· Private Credit Restructurings and Trends
· Commercial Real Estate
· Sub V vs. Traditional 11? Confirmation and Other Key Plan Issues
· The Impact of Business Email Compromise in the Bankruptcy Arena: Strategies and Tools to Protect Bankruptcy Participants
· Plenary Session: Subchapter V Task Force Report and Recommendations
· Privilege Issues in Bankruptcy
· Unique Asset Sale Issues in Health Care
· A Brave New World: Use of Technology and Ethical Considerations in Post-Pandemic Practice
· How Do We Get to Valuation?
· Cross-Border Recovery in Fraudulent Schemes
· Mediation of Consumer Bankruptcy Issues
· Working Together: Collaboration Between Secured Creditors and Unsecured Constituents
· Mental Health Issues: What to Look For, and How to Get Help
· Preserving the Public Trust: The Need for Strict Adherence to the Code of Judicial Conduct, the Rules of Professional Conduct, and Other Ethical Principles
· Plenary Session: Conversation with EOUST Director Tara Twomey
To see the full conference schedule, please click here.
Press interested in attending the conference should contact ABI Public Affairs Officer John Hartgen at 703-894-5935 or [email protected].
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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes nearly 10,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abi.org/calendar-of-events.
University of Texas School of Law Wins 32nd Annual Conrad B. Duberstein National Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition
The University of Texas School of Law won the 32nd Annual Conrad B. Duberstein National Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition, held March 2-4 in New York City. The competition is co-sponsored by the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and St. John’s University School of Law. Florida International University College of Law took second place in the competition, and teams from Fordham University School of Law and the University of Memphis-Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law shared third-place honors. Florida International University College of Law won for Best Brief, and Tansy Nicholson of Baylor University School of Law won the Best Advocate award.
The competition consisted of eight rounds of oral arguments and final rounds. ABI practitioners and academics coached many of the teams, and nearly 200 lawyers and federal judges donated their time and expertise to help judge the event. The fact pattern for the competition focused on two key developments in bankruptcy law. The first issue looked at whether any post-petition, pre-conversion increase in equity in a debtor’s property inures to the benefit of the debtor or to the bankruptcy estate upon conversion of a case from chapter 13 to chapter 7 pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 348 and 541. The second issue looked at whether a chapter 7 trustee may sell, as property of the bankruptcy estate, the ability to avoid and recover transfers pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 547 and 550.
Final-round judges for the 2024 competition were Bankruptcy Judge Jil Mazer-Marino (E.D.N.Y.), Chief Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn (S.D.N.Y.), U.S. District Court Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil (S.D.N.Y.) and Chief Judge R. Guy Cole, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Paul Hage of Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, LLP (Southfield, Mich.) and Bankruptcy Judge John T. Gregg (W.D. Mich.; Grand Rapids) drafted this year’s fact pattern.
The Duberstein Competition, named for the late Judge Conrad B. Duberstein, a St. John’s alumnus and former ABI director, has grown into the largest appellate moot court competition in the nation. ABI’s Endowment Fund awarded $13,000 in cash prizes for the winners during a gala reception held at the New York Marriott Downtown on March 4. The gala featured a special memoriam for retired St. John’s University Law School professor Robert M. Zinman, who helped found ABI and the ABI Law Review, and establish the Duberstein Moot Court Competition. Zinman passed away on Saturday at the age of 92.
For more information on the Conrad B. Duberstein National Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition, please go to https://www.stjohns.edu/law/academics/centers-institutes/center-bankruptcy-studies/32nd-annual-duberstein-bankruptcy-moot-court-competition.
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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes nearly 10,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abi.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abi.org/calendar-of-events.