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BROOKLYN LAW SCHOOL WINS ABI’S 15th ANNUAL DUBERSTEIN NATIONAL BANKRUPTCY MEMORIAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION

March 21, 2007, Alexandria, Va. — A team from the Brooklyn Law School won the 15th Annual Chief Judge Conrad B. Duberstein National Bankruptcy Memorial Moot Court Competition, defeating a team from the Mississippi College School of Law in the final round. Despite a severe winter storm complicating travel, 42 teams comprised of 2-3 students each from 31 American Bar Association (ABA)-accredited law schools took part in this year’s competition in New York from March 17-19. The competition, the nation’s only moot court competition devoted entirely to bankruptcy, is jointly sponsored by American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and St. John’s University School of Law, and is named for St. John’s alumnus and former ABI Director Chief Judge Conrad B. Duberstein.

Both schools have achieved success in previous Duberstein Moot Court Competitions as the Brooklyn Law School won the first place award in 2002 and Mississippi took the top prize in 1997.

'This was the best Duberstein competition ever, despite all that Mother Nature threw at us,' said G. Ray Warner, Professor of Law and Director of the Bankruptcy LL.M. program at St. John's. 'Our St. John's students, the competitors, the New York bankruptcy bar and the bankruptcy judges all went to extraordinary lengths to make this a success.'

The ABI Endowment Fund provided $13,000 in prize money to the top team and individual competitors. The first-place winner received $5,000 and the second-place team won $3,000. The University of Chicago Law School and the second team participating from the University of Miami School of Law each received $1,500 for their third-place tie. The University of Miami School of Law team won the award for the Best Brief. Sara M. Patterson, a student at the South Texas College of Law, earned recognition as Best Oralist.

Leading bankruptcy lawyers and judges helped judge the event, which included eight rounds of arguments. The final-round judges were Judge Stuart M. Bernstein (Chief Bankruptcy Judge, S.D.N.Y), Judge Carla E. Craig (Chief Judge, E.D.N.Y.), Judge Michael J. Melloy (U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit), Judge Marjorie O. Rendell (U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit), Judge Laura Taylor Swain (U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y.) and Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich (U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit).

Further information on the 15^th Annual Chief Judge Conrad B. Duberstein National Bankruptcy Memorial Moot Court Competition, as well as information on previous winners, can be found at http://www.abiworld.org/moot/details.html.

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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 more than 11,000 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.