NCBJ 2021: Awards Edition

 One of the celebratory aspects of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges is the recognition of judges, attorneys and others receiving awards from various groups. I went to as many programs I could. Congratulations to the following honorees!

The Bankruptcy Inn Alliance of the American Inns of Court recognized two judges, making up for the lost year of Covid. There are currently fourteen Bankruptcy Alliance Inns, including a new one in North Carolina. I am a member of the Larry E. Kelly Inn of Court in Austin-San Antonio, Texas.

Judge Judy Fitzgerald (retired) from Pittsburgh was the 2020 award recipient. She has her own Inn of Court named for her. I got to know Judge Fitzgerald from the Commercial Law League of America where she was very active.

Judge Harlan "Cooter" Hale from Dallas was the 2021 award recipient. Judge Hale will be retiring next year among what he described to me as a generational shift in the bankruptcy judiciary. Judge Hale is a member of the John C. Ford Inn of Court in Dallas. He said that when he took the bench, one of his duty stations was in Wichita Falls, Texas. When he traveled there, Judge Ford's robes were still hanging there and he wore them in honor of his predecessor.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain (S.D. N.Y.) received the Lawrence P. King Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy. Judge Swain is one of a select group of bankruptcy judges to be appointed to an Article III bench. She was appointed as a Bankruptcy Judge in the Southern District of New York in 1996 despite not having practiced bankruptcy. In 2000, President Clinton appointed her to the District Court bench. In 2017, she was appointed by Chief Justice Roberts to preside over the PROMESA debt restructuring cases in Puerto Rico. She will become chief judge of the Southern District of New York later this year. 

Judge Randolph Haines (retired) received the William Norton Judicial Excellence Award. While serving on the bankruptcy bench in Arizona, he wrote the opinion in Bliemeister v. Industrial Commission (In re Bliemeister), 251 B.R. 383 (Bankr. D. Ariz. 2000) which held that sovereign immunity did not preclude the Bankruptcy Court from determining that a debt owing to a state agency had been discharged. The Supreme Court relied upon his analysis in Tennessee Student Assistance Corp. v. Hood, 124 S.Ct. 1905 (2004).

The American Bankruptcy Institute presented its Annual Service Award to the ABI staff in recognition for their heroic service during the year of Covid.

The ABI also recognized John Penn of Perkins Coie and Bob Keach of Bernstein Shur. Both men are former Presidents of the ABI. Mr. Penn was praised for his Zelig-like presence at many important times during the life of the ABI while Mr. Keach was recognized as the co-chair of the ABI’s Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11 and his work on legislative reform.

 

Random Thoughts from the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges

I have attended and blogged about this conference for a number of years. I remember being captivated by Paul Begala talking about Barack Obama's belief in American Exceptionalism and Gene Wedoff being honored for his service as a judge. This made me realize that NCBJ is a conference where really interesting people talk about important stuff. 

NRA Decision Illustrates Vitality of Good Faith Doctrine

When the National Rifle Association filed for bankruptcy in Texas, some pundits speculated that the gun advocates might have been seeking a firearm friendly forum. However, on May 11, 2021, Judge Harlin "Cooter" Hale dismissed the case based on lack of good faith. In re National Rifle Association of America and Sea Girt, LLC, No. 21-30085 (Bankr. N.D. Tex. May 11, 2021). You can find the opinion here. The opinion demonstrates the vitality of the good faith doctrine, which requires debtors’ filings for relief to advance a proper bankruptcy purpose. In the NRA's case, the answer was no.

NCBJ Awards Edition

One of the pleasures of attending the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges is seeing good lawyers and judges being recognized for their contributions to the profession.   This year I attended three awards presentations.

The Commercial Law League of America presented the Lawrence P. King Award to Eric Brunstad, Jr.  Mr. Brunstad is a skilled advocate who has argued ten cases to the Supreme Court.  A consummate over-achiever, he has an LLM and a JSD from Yale Law School.  A JSM is the equivalent of a Ph.D. in Law.  He has taught at Yale Law School, NYU School of Law, Harvard Law School and the Georgetown University Law Center.  

In his acceptance speech, he acknowledged his debt to Lawrence King and many prior winners of the King Award, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren.   He said that he wanted to teach Secured Transactions at Yale and asked then-Prof. Warren what the best way to do that would be.   She said that the answer was to teach Secured Transactions at Harvard, which she helped him to do.   He said that it worked and that when he return to Yale, he got his own parking place and an assistant.