Alexandria, Va.— Howard University School of Law won the 30th Annual Conrad B. Duberstein National Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition, held Feb. 26-28 in New York City. The competition is co-sponsored by the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and St. John’s University School of Law. The University of California at Los Angeles School of Law took second place in the competition, and third-place honors were shared by teams from Baylor University School of Law and SMU Dedman School of Law. University of Illinois College of Law won for Best Brief, and Emony Robertson of Howard University School of Law won the Best Advocate award.

The competition consisted of eight rounds of oral arguments and final rounds. ABI practitioners and academics coached many of the teams, and nearly 200 lawyers and federal judges donated their time and expertise to help judge the event. The fact pattern for the competition focused on two key developments stemming from chapter 11 case law. The first issue looked at whether a seller of goods is entitled to reduce its preference exposure pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 547(c)(4) by the value of goods sold even though the debtor in possession paid for such goods in full pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 503(b)(9). The second issue focused on whether a trustee must timely perform the obligations of a debtor under 11 U.S.C. § 365(d)(3) by paying rent due prior to the rejection of an unexpired non-residential real property lease but allocable to the period after the effective date of rejection.

Final-round judges for the 2022 competition included Judge Joseph F. Bianco of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Chief Bankruptcy Judge Cecelia G. Morris (S.D.N.Y.) and Chief Bankruptcy Judge Alan S. Trust (E.D.N.Y.). Bankruptcy Judge John T. Gregg (W.D. Mich.; Grand Rapids) and Paul Hage of Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss (Southfield, Mich.) drafted this year’s fact pattern.

The Duberstein Competition, named for the late Judge Conrad B. Duberstein, a St. John’s alumnus and former ABI director, has grown into the largest appellate moot court competition in the nation. ABI’s Endowment Fund awarded $12,000 in cash prizes for the winners during a gala reception held at the New York Marriott Downtown on February 28.

For more information on the Conrad B. Duberstein National Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition, please go to https://www.stjohns.edu/law/academics/centers-and-clinics/30th-annual-duberstein-bankruptcy-moot-court-competition.

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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 nearly 10,000 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.abi.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abi.org/calendar-of-events.