It was at the 2001 Annual Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C., where Judge Wesley Steen, Tony Schnelling, Becky Roof and Bettina M. Whyte first decided that students at the top MBA schools deserved the same type of opportunity to prove their knowledge and skills as their counterparts from the law schools who compete in the annual Chief Judge Conrad B. Duberstein National Bankruptcy Memorial Moot Court Competition. So it was in 2004, with much help from St. John's University School of Law Prof. Robert Zinman, ABI Executive Director Sam Gerdano, and Profs. Tim Thompson and Todd Pulvino from Northwestern University that the ABI Corporate Restructuring Competition was initiated.

Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin quickly signed on as corporate sponsor, and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University as academic and venue sponsor. A beautiful crystal trophy, named in honor of Bettina Whyte, a prominent member of the financial restructuring community and the first nonattorney president of the ABI, is awarded to the winning school.

Students compete in teams of three or four, and are provided a case study of a hypothetical distressed company, with all the twists and turns that restructuring professionals encounter in their daily work. Whether addressing labor issues, unprofitable restaurant locations or a failed brand execution strategy at the hypothetical Crystal Holdings, as they did in 2004, or confronting competing interests in the capital structure coupled with insider issues on the board of directors at Delicious Donuts (this year's case), students are challenged to quickly assess the major issues and make financial, operational and structural recommendations.

The case is developed by professionals from Houlihan Lokey's restructuring group, assisted by professionals from AlixPartners LLP. Judges for the competition come from Chicago's restructuring community and other ABI members, as well as individual senior executive who sit on public company boards.

Eight schools participated that inaugural year, with Stanford University Graduate Business School as the winner. The competition was expanded to 12 schools in 2005. There is now a waiting list for schools who want to enter future competitions. The schools entered for the 2007 competition, to be held Jan. 19-21 at Northwestern's campus in downtown Chicago, are University of California-Berkeley Haas School of Business, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business, Duke University Fuqua School of Business, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, New York University Stern School of Business (2005 champion), Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, Notre Dame Mendoza School of Business, University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business, Stanford University Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia Darden School of Business and Yale University School of Management. The 2007 competition will be held in conjunction with a reception and dinner for Chicago ABI members on Jan. 21.

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New from ABI: General Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors, Second Edition

The update to the 2000 manual on general assigments is now available. This handbook, revised to include the new bankruptcy law, provides information on how general assignments are administered and the differences that various state laws have on the administration of the assignment estate. The guide was developed for debtor and creditor lawyers, as well as for creditor professionals who are faced with the prospect of a state law liquidation.
Order online at www.abiworld.org/abistore.

Winter Issue of Law Review Treats Cars, Homes in Chapter 13 Post-BAPCPA

Noted scholar David Gray Carlson (Cardozo Law School) has the lead article in the forthcoming issue of the ABI Law Review, "Cars and Homes in Chapter 13 After the 2005 Amendments to the Bankruptcy Code." The Winter issue also features an article by Stephen J. Lubben (Seton Hall Law School) on "Choosing Corporate Bankruptcy Counsel," following up on his ABI-funded and original work in the professional fees area. Other articles deal with the latest on critical vendor and related orders, post Kmart and BAPCPA, and two international articles. Also included is an LL.M. thesis on trends in substantive consolidation theory and a student note on §548(a).

The ABI Law Review continues its impressive climb up through the Washington & Lee School of Law citation rankings of specialty law journals. The ABI Law Review, in just its 14th year, is now ranked just behind the American Bankruptcy Law Journal (published for some 80 years), and is well ahead of the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal and the Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law in terms of citation impact.

The ABI Law Review is published by Thomson West in partnership with the St. John's University School of Law, under the direction of Prof. G. Ray Warner. The spring 2007 issue will feature a symposium on federalism in bankruptcy, following up on Katz and other 11th amendment cases. Those interested in contributing to a future issue should contact Prof. Warner at [email protected].

Gino Tonetti Named ABI Scholar at St. John's LL.M. in Bankruptcy Program

Gino G. Tonetti has been named the recipient of the $15,000 American Bankruptcy Institute Scholarship in the St. John's Bankruptcy LL.M. program. Mr. Tonetti received his J.D. degree from St. John's University School of Law in June of 2006. As a law student, he served as Editor-in-Chief of the New York Real Property Law Journal, a publication for which Prof. Robert M. Zinman serves as advisor. Mr. Tonetti's interest in bankruptcy law stems from his business and finance background and his work with Prof. Zinman. In addition to the Real Property Law Journal, Mr. Tonetti served as vice president of the St. John's Bankruptcy Law Society and worked closely with Prof. Zinman on a joint ABI-New York Bar project to draft a model contract for §363 sales of real property. As a J.D. student, Mr. Tonetti also headed a video history project of influential bankruptcy leaders. His interviews of the late Chief Bankruptcy Judge Conrad B. Duberstein formed the core of the "Duberstein on Duberstein" video that was shown at the 2006 Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition Awards Banquet to commemorate Judge Duberstein's life. Mr. Tonetti will join the New York office of Greenberg Traurig LLP, upon graduation from the LL.M. program.

The ABI Scholarship is funded by the ABI Endowment Fund and awarded annually to a student in the LL.M. in Bankruptcy Program at St. John's University School of Law, the nation's only such LL.M. program. The scholarship recognizes the special relationship between the ABI and St. John's, the co-sponsor of both the ABI Law Review and the Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition. The scholarship award is based on the student's qualifications, experience and potential to become a leader in the bankruptcy field.