ABI's Legislation Committee, which analyzes proposed and pending bills of interest to the membership and monitors congressional action, is co-chaired by Hon. David W. Houston III and Hon. George C. Paine II. At this year's Annual Spring Meeting, April 28-May 1, 2005, the committee will address some of the most important changes made by S. 256. The impact of the budget problems on the administration of the courts will also be discussed.

Judge Houston is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Mississippi in Aberdeen,. He is a member of the Federal Judicial Center, the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association, the Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute and the South Florida, Memphis and North Carolina Bar Associations. Judge Houston is a past president of the NCBJand an ABI director. He earned his business degree from the University of Mississippi and his J.D. from the University of Mississippi Law School.

JudgePaine is the chief judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville. He has also served as a designated judge in the Eastern District of Michigan, the District of Kansas, the District of Maryland and the Eastern District of Tennessee. He is a past president of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and a past vice president of ABI. Judge Paine is the secretary of the Nashville Committee on Foreign Relations and is a member of the AFCR's council, where he once served as president and a board member. He is also a member of the International Judicial Relations Committee with the Judicial Conference of the United States and has done extensive work with Russian and Eastern European judges, bankers and attorneys in the areas of commercial and insolvency. Judge Paine is an Army veteran; he served as an infantry platoon leader in Vietnam.

More Members in the News

Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP in Wilmington, Del., announced its election of M. Blake Cleary as partner early this year. A member of the firm's bankruptcy and corporate restructuring section, Mr. Cleary focuses on bankruptcy restructurings, liquidations and litigation matters, and represents major constituencies in complex restructuring and liquidations that include debtors, official creditors' committees, purchasers and unsecured creditors for industries that include telecommunications, health care, retail, enterprise software and manufacturing. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia with a B.A. in economics, and he received his J.D. from the Widener School of Law. The firm also welcomes new associate Donald J. Bowman Jr. to its office. Mr. Bowman is a former Wilmington, Del., police detective lieutenant and has now joined the firm's bankruptcy and corporate restructuring practice. He earned his J.D. from the Widener School of Law following a distinguished 15-year career in law enforcement.

Stephanie M. Wickouski was named managing partner of the Washington, D.C., office of Gardner Carton & Douglas LLP early this year, where she previously served as hiring partner and now serves as co-chair of the firm's corporate restructuring and financial institutions practice group. She recently was named one of Washington's top bankruptcy lawyers in Washingtonian Magazine's "Top Lawyers" profile. She also is recognized as one of the best lawyers in Washington by The Best Lawyers in America. Ms. Wickouski is the author of Bankruptcy Crimes, the leading authoritative treatise on the subject of bankruptcy fraud. She also has a national reputation in health care insolvency and is a frequent lecturer, author, and commentator on bankruptcy subjects. She has served as a panel trustee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and as a mediator for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland. She presently is a panel mediator for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

In addition, Gardner Carton & Douglas LLP recently announced the relocation of its Milwaukee office to its permanent location in the U.S. Bank Building at 777 East Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 2000, Milwaukee, WI 53202-5319. The office provides a full range of services to clients. Founded more than 95 years ago in Chicago, Gardner Carton & Douglas is a national law firm with additional offices in Washington, D.C., and Albany, N.Y. The firm has more than 260 lawyers and advisors practicing in corporate law, corporate restructuring, government relations, health law, HR law, intellectual property, litigation and dispute resolution, Indian tribal governments, real estate and environmental and wealth planning, and philanthropy. ABI members include Kristin K. Going, Mark F. Hebbeln, Harold L. Kaplan, Mark S. Melickian, Jeffrey M. Schwartz, Tracy L. Treger, Andrew E. Weissman and Stephanie M. Wickouski.

The Miami law firm of Markowitz, Davis, Ringel & Trusty PA named bankruptcy attorney Ross R. Hartog a partner. Mr. Hartog has been an associate with the firm since 2002 and is a member of its bankruptcy practice group, where he concentrates on the representation of trustees, creditors, creditors' committees and debtors in cases proceeding under chapters 7, 11 and 13. He is admitted to practice before state and federal courts in Florida and Arizona, including the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Hartog is a member of the Bankruptcy Bar Association and the Case Management and Electronic Filing (CM-ECF) Advisory Committee of the Southern District of Florida, the Dade County Bar Association and the South Miami-Kendall Bar Association. He also serves as a mentor in the Bankruptcy Assistance Clinic sponsored by St. Thomas University School of Law and the "Put Something Back" program. Mr. Hartog earned his J.D. from the University of Arizona College of Law, where he was an editor of the Arizona Law Review, a member of Phi Delta Phi and a member of the Dean's List. He also holds a B.S. in business economics from the University of Arizona.

Bridge Associates LLC, a New York-based turnaround, crisis and interim management firm, announced the appointment of Gary W. Burns as a senior consultant in March. Mr. Burns previously served as the partner in charge of KPMG's corporate recovery practice, where he focused on advising debtors, secured creditors, unsecured creditors and other parties in troubled company and chapter 11 situations. Prior to his work at KPMG, Mr. Burns was with Ernst & Young, where his practice included auditing companies, evaluating business plans, developing information for financing and public offerings, and forensic accounting investigations for potential fraud. He is a former member of ABI's Board of Directors. Mr. Burns has taught at Michigan State University and has been an adjunct professor at the University of North Texas and Southern Methodist University. He has also been published in the Journal of Accounting, the publication of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He earned his B.A. in accounting and his M.B.A. in finance from Michigan State University.

GE Commercial Finance Corporate Lending in Norwalk, Conn., named Gerard Hanabergh as managing director of the business credit group. He succeeds Andrew Waterson, who has been named managing director, corporate lending west region, based in Beverly Hills, Calif. ABI members include Paul J. Brenman, David A. Burger, Henry Cruz, Penny Friedman, James Hogan, Thomas Hruden, Elias Makris, Robert M. McMahon, Carl W. Peterson Jr., Howard Steinberg, John Stine and Robert W. Wotten.

Five partners in Clifford Chance's New York bankruptcy group have joined Kaye Scholer. Led by Margot Schonholtz, the group also includes Michael Liscio, Madlyn Primoff and two others, according to the New York Lawyer. Ms. Schonholtz will be co-head of Kaye Scholer's bankruptcy group.

Kenneth Klee, a professor of law at UCLA Law School and a member of the firm of Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP in Los Angeles, was honored by the Century City Bar Association on March 29 for being named "Bankruptcy Lawyer of the Year." He is a frequent lecturer and is often featured in the media. Past awards includethe Distinguished Service Award from the Bankruptcy Developments Journal of Emory Law School and the Fredric P. Sutherland Public Interest Award from the UCLA School. Prof. Klee earned his A.B. at Stanford University and his J.D. at Harvard Law School.

Mark Duedall was recently elected to the partnership of Alston & Bird LLP in Atlanta. He focuses his practice on corporate reorganizations and structured finance.