Contact: John Hartgen
             703-739-0800
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JUDGE BARRY RUSSELL ELECTED TO ABI’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS

April 11, 2008, Alexandria, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) announces that Judge Barry Russell of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California (Los Angeles) has been elected to ABI’s Board of Directors. An ABI member since 1985, Judge Russell has served as the co-chair for ABI’s Bankruptcy Litigation Committee and is a frequent speaker at ABI events. Hewill serve a term of three years on the 60-member ABI Board of Directors.

Judge Russell has been serving as a bankruptcy judge for the Central District of California since his appointment in 1974. He was also appointed and served on the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit from 1988-2001, and was its presiding judge from 1999-2001. Judge Russell also serves as a faculty member of the Federal Judicial Center, as an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Southern California and as the mediation program administrator for the Central District of California. He received the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s “Outstanding Jurist” award in 2004.

The complete list of directors and officers is available at http://www.abiworld.org/Content/NavigationMenu/About_ABI/Board_of_Directors/Board_of_Directors.htm.

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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 11,700 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.