Prof. LoPucki Defends New Book at ABI's New York City Conference

Prof. Lynn LoPucki (UCLA Law School) has written a controversial new book, Courting Failure: How Competition for Big Cases Is Corrupting the Bankruptcy Courts (University of Michigan Press), alleging that bankruptcy judges, assisted by venue rules that permit corporate cases to be filed in distant, debtor-friendly locations, are subverting the bankruptcy system. Prof. LoPucki's conclusions are based on his study of nearly 700 large chapter 11s filed between 1979 and 2004, cases that frequently resulted in marginally feasible reorganization plans, high professional fees, questionable judicial decisions benefitting the debtor, and regular refilings after the plans failed. He takes special aim at the "affiliate" venue rule invoked to allow certain large cases to be filed in the Southern District of New York. This venue provision is the subject of a new Senate bill (S. 314) that would restrict the range of venue choices now available to corporate debtors. Prof. LoPucki has agreed to defend his provocative theory at a special forum during ABI's 7th Annual New York City Bankruptcy Conference on May 9. Register for the program online at http://www.abiworld.org/nyc05.

Endowment Benefit Dinner for New Donors Coming to Annual Spring Meeting

Georgetown's historic Tudor Place House and Garden is the venue for this year's dinner to honor new donors to the ABI Endowment Fund. Tudor Place, built by Martha Washington's granddaughter, Martha Custis Peter, brings to life the cultural and social history of the last 180 years. The gardens, landscaping and architecture are preserved in their original plan. The dinner, on Friday, April 29, is sponsored through the generous support of Bridge Associates LLC. Invitations will be sent to those making new contributions and pledges at the Benefactor Level ($5,000 and up) during this spring's fund campaign. The ABI Endowment supports scholarly research and educational projects, including the Conrad Duberstein National Moot Court Competition, the ABI/Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin Corporate Restructuring Competiton, the St. John's University School of Law LL.M. program and the Robert M. Zinman ABI Resident Scholar, as well as empirical study, such as the major project on professional fees now underway. Please watch for the letter about the spring campaign and consider a generous, tax-deductible gift to the Fund.

Litigation Skills Symposium Set for New Orleans Law School in May

ABI's popular symposium providing intensive training on litigation skills and trial tactics will be held May 23-26 at the Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. The symposium combines quality instruction with individualized critique. The expert faculty demonstrates specific advocacy skills necessary to be an effective practitioner. "Learn by doing" is the training model. Participants work in small groups, with their performances videotaped and reviewed by the faculty. Final-day trials before bankruptcy judges with live witnesses will be held at the Hale Boggs Federal Courthouse. Program co-chairs are Dillon Jackson (Foster Pepper & Shefelman; Seattle) and Scott Williams (Haskell Slaughter et al.; Birmingham, Ala.) Enrollment is limited to the first 24 registrants. Get more details at http://www.abiworld.org/LitiSkillsSym05.htm.

Second Annual Corporate Restructuring Competition Date Set

The ABI/Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin (HLHZ) Corporate Restructuring Competition will be held Nov. 11-13 at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.). Second-year MBA students will be competing again for the Bettina M. Whyte trophy, won last year by Stanford University's Graduate Business School. Twelve of the nation's top programs are expected to compete, including Harvard, Michigan, Chicago, Penn, NYU, Columbia and Northwestern. ABI leaders planning the event include Becky Roof and Bettina Whyte (AlixPartners LLC) and Jeffrey Werbalowsky (HLHZ). Check ABI World for more details, including the tentative schedule and competition rules, at http://www.abiworld.org/CRC.

Consumer Bankruptcy Seminar Coming to Detroit this Fall

ABI and the Consumer Bankruptcy Assn. of the Eastern District of Michigan are joining to provide a new, high-quality consumer bankruptcy program in Detroit. More than 250 are expected to attend. The event will be held Nov. 11 at Wayne State University. Judge Steven Rhodes chairs the program, with practitioners Richardo Kilpatrick (Kilpatrick & Associates; Rochester Hills, Mich.) and Stuart Gold (Gold Lange & Majoros; Southfield, Mich.), joined by a strong group of prominent local attorneys and trustees. The program will cover the basics of chapters 7 and 13 under both current law and prospective changes that may arise from a new bankruptcy law.

New Guide on Professional Fees to Be Released

ABI's Professional Compensation Committee has produced Getting Paid: Retention and Compensation in Bankruptcy Cases, A Guide for Non-attorney Professionals. The editor is C.R. (Chip) Bowles (Greenebaum Doll & McDonald; Louisville, Ky.). The guide is one of several new ABI products for 2005. Also coming soon are updates of ABI titles on Healthcare Insolvency, Pre-bankruptcy Planning in Chapter 11 and a new Manual on Bankruptcy Issues for Commercial Landlords, Tenants and Mortgagees, by David R. Kuney (Sidley Austin Brown & Wood; Washington, D.C.). ABI publications can be ordered online at http://www.abiworld.org/abistore; members receive a discount. Another new title on municipal bankruptcies under chapter 9, written by Alexander M. Laughlin (Wiley Rein & Fielding; McLean, Va.) is available online at http://www.abiworld.org/pdfs/municipal_primer.pdf. This primer covers guidelines for potential creditors and debtors in dealing with the unique treatment of municipal debts.

Resident Scholars Announced for 2005-06 Academic Year

Prof. Nathalie Martin will be the Robert M. Zinman Resident Scholar for the fall semester. She is the Dickason Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico School of Law, where she teaches bankruptcy, business law and contracts. She joined the UNM faculty in 1998 after 10 years in private bankruptcy practice. Prof. Martin was recently named to serve on the American Board of Certification Board of Directors. She earned a law degree from Syracuse University College of Law, where she edited the Law Review, and an LL.M. from Temple University.

Prof. John D. (Jack) Ayer of the University of California-Davis School of Law will be the Zinman Scholar for the spring 2006 academic semester. A former bankruptcy judge in Los Angeles and practitioner at Stutman, Treister & Glatt, Prof. Ayer has also taught at Cardozo Law School, the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University and the University of Texas-Austin. Inducted into the second class of Fellows of the American College of Bankruptcy, he is also the co-author (with Michael Bernstein; Arnold & Porter) of Bankruptcy in Practice, published by ABI in 2002. Prof. Ayer has been on the faculty of ABI's fundamentals course, Nuts & Bolts for Young and New Practitioners.