ABC Elects New Officers Directors

Journal Issue

Feb 2005

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The American Board of Certification (ABC) announced that new officers and directors were elected at the organization's Board of Directors Meeting on Dec. 4, 2004, in Scottsdale, Ariz. The organization is proud to have two highly regarded law professors, an assistant U.S. Trustee and five prominent certified attorneys join the ABC Board.

<h4>Elected ABC Officers</h4>

The elected chair is Rudy J. Cerone, a partner in the New Orleans office of McGlinchey Stafford PLLC. He has been certified in business bankruptcy law by the ABC for more than 10 years and by the Louisiana State Bar Association since 1997. Mr. Cerone has served in numerous ABC positions including treasurer, secretary, Standards Committee member, Executive Committee member and co-chair of the Marketing Committee.

William L. Norton III has been elected president. He is an equity member of the Litigation Team at Boult Cummings in Nashville, Tenn., and is ABC-certified in business bankruptcy law. Mr. Norton has served as chair of the ABC Standards Committee, which establishes requirements and policies related to certification and reviews all applications for certification and recertification. He also served as treasurer and secretary.

Robert S. Bernstein has been named president-elect. Mr. Bernstein is managing partner of Bernstein Law Firm P.C. in Pittsburgh and is ABC-certified in business bankruptcy and creditors' rights law. Mr. Bernstein has served in numerous capacities for ABC since joining the Board in 1997. He is active in many organizations, including the Commercial Law League of America, ABI and the Allegheny Bar Association. He was named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer for 2004, a designation awarded to the top five percent of Pennsylvania lawyers.

William I. Kohn has been elected secretary. Mr. Kohn is partner at Schiff Hardin LLP in Chicago and has been certified in business bankruptcy law since 1993. The elected treasurer is Joseph A. Peiffer, a partner at the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, firm of Day Rettig Peiffer P.C. He has been ABC-certified in business bankruptcy law since 1994.

<h4>New ABC Directors</h4>

Prof. Laura B. Bartell joined the faculty of Wayne State University Law School in Detroit in 1996 after 17 years of private practice in New York specializing in bank financing and bankruptcy work. She teaches property, secured transactions, bankruptcy and creditors' rights, as well as effective oral communication for lawyers.

Prof. Nathalie Martin joined the University of New Mexico law faculty in 1998 following 10 years of practicing as a bankruptcy attorney. She focuses her teaching and research on business law, including bankruptcy and commercial transactions, with an emphasis on professionalism and ethics.

Winn Davis Brown practices law in Southaven, Miss., at the Winn Brown Law Firm PLLC. He received certification as a creditors' rights specialist in May 1993. He is a member of the Commercial Law League of America, the National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys, LEAN, the Mississippi Bankruptcy Conference and the Mississippi State Bar.

Alexander L. Edgar was appointed by the attorney general to serve as an assistant U.S. Trustee with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the U.S. Trustee, Region 10, on June 5, 1988. The region includes the Central and Southern Districts of Illinois and all of Indiana. Mr. Edgar's official duty station is located in South Bend, Ind. He also serves as a special assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Indiana on a case-by-case basis for the investigation and prosecution of bankruptcy fraud. He is ABC-certified in business and consumer bankruptcy law.

Michael P. Horan is a shareholder at Akerman Senterfitt, practicing from the firm's Tampa, Fla., office. He practices bankruptcy and creditors' rights and has been certified in business bankruptcy law by ABC since 1993. He is a certified mediator in bankruptcy and is listed in Woodward White's Best Lawyers in America 2005-2006. He is a member of ABI and was a contributing editor of the ABI Journal from 1993-97. He was chair of the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association from 1998-99 and served on the Board from 1992-99.

Robert L. Pollak of Glassberg, Pollak & Associates in San Francisco practices bankruptcy, collections and commercial litigation. He is board-certified in creditors' rights law by ABC. He is a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco, the State Bar of California and the Commercial Law League of America.

Barbara Rom is a partner in the Detroit office of Pepper Hamilton LLP and is certified as a business bankruptcy specialist by ABC. She is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and was designated a life delegate by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, for which she serves on the Rules Advisory Committee. In 2004, Ms. Rom was selected by Michigan Gov. Granholm to a three-year term on the Michigan Gaming Control Board.

John F. Young practices at Block Markus & Williams LLC in Denver and is ABC-certified as a business bankruptcy specialist. Mr. Young is the chairman of the Bankruptcy Subsection for the Denver Bar Association and an active member of ABI, the Financial Institutions Subsection for the Colorado Bar Association, the Turnaround Management Association and the Faculty of Federal Advocates.

<h4>Twenty-three New Certifications Granted</h4>

Business Bankruptcy

H. Joseph Acosta 
Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue; Dallas

Charles Baer 
U.S. Attorney's Office 
Southern District of Alabama; Mobile, Ala.

Harry D. Boul 
Attorney at Law; Columbia, Mo.

Richard Boydston 
Greenebaum Doll & McDonald PLLC

Cincinnati, Ohio

Michael P. Brundage 
Hill, Ward & Henderson P.A.; Tampa, Fla.

John R. Burns III 
Baker & Daniels; Fort Wayne, Ind.

Buddy D. Ford 
Buddy D. Ford P.A.; Tampa, Fla.

Patrick S. Garrity 
Steffes Virgiello & McKenzie LLC; Baton Rouge, La.

David S. Jennis 
Jennis & Bowen; Tampa, Fla.

Brian Francis Kenney 
Miles & Stockbridge PC; McLean, Va.

Theodore Edward Malpass 
Malpass & Associates; Irvine, Calif.

Paul L. Orshan

Duane Morris LLP; Miami

Gregory R. Schaaf 
Greenebaum Doll & McDonald PLLC; Lexington, Ky.

<h4>Consumer Bankruptcy</h4>

Richard John Cole 
R. John Cole II PA; Sarasota, Fla.

Dana A. Ehrlich 
Law Office of Dana Ehrlich; San Angelo, Texas

Vienna S. Gerlach

Rosenbaum Law Office; San Antonio

Samuel Henry 
Sam Henry IV, Attorney at Law; West Monroe, La.

Ziona Kopelovich 
Debt Relief Legal Centers; Odessa, Fla.

Mark L. Miller 
Law Offices of Mark L. Miller; Denver

Michael T. O'Halloran 
Law Office of Michael T. O'Halloran; San Diego

Steven P. Richards 
Law Office of Steven P. Richards; Virginia Beach, Va.

Travis Sasser

Attorney at Law; Cary, N.C.

Xiaoming Wu 
Ledford & Wu; Chicago

<h4>Exam Dates</h4>
April 7, 2005 
Chicago 
(in conjunction with the CLLA Chicago Conference)

April 28, 2005 
Washington, D.C.

(in conjunction with the ABI Annual Spring Meeting)

April 29, 2005 
San Diego 
(in conjunction with the Nat'l. Assn. of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys)

June 16, 2005 
Traverse City, Mich. 
(in conjunction with the ABI Central States Bankruptcy Workshop)

July 11, 2005 
Orlando, Fla. 
(in conjunction with the Nat'l. Association of Chapter Thirteen Trustees Conference)

July 14, 2005

Brewster, Mass. 
(in conjunction with the ABI Northeast Bankruptcy Workshop)

September 8, 2005 
Las Vegas 
(in conjunction with the ABI Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop)

November 2, 2005 
San Antonio 
(in conjunction with the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges)

December 1, 2005 
Indian Wells, Calif.

(in conjunction with the ABI Winter Leadership Conference).

Journal Authors

Michelle Sparacino

Journal Date

Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - 12:00

Bankruptcy Rule

2005