From the Director Feb 2002

<h3>ABI Hosts Reception at Law Schools Association Meeting</h3>

<p>ABI, with the financial support of the McGlinchey Stafford PLLC law firm (New
Orleans), sponsored a Jan. 5 cocktail reception for the members of the American
Association of Law Schools (AALS) Section on Debtors' and Creditors' Rights. The
event, at Mulate's Cajun Restaurant, was held in connection with the AALS annual
meeting. More than 50 guests attended the festive reception. ABI honored outgoing
section president Prof. <b>Mary Jo Wiggins</b> (University of California-San Diego Law
School), while promoting the many ABI opportunities for members of the academic
community. Special thanks are due to <b>Rudy Cerone</b> (McGlinchey Stafford PLLC; New
Orleans) and ABI Directors <b>Neil Olack,</b> co-chair of the Law School Committee
(Jones Day; Atlanta), and Prof. <b>G. Ray Warner</b> (University of Missouri-Kansas
City Law School; St. Louis) for setting up a great event. We hope to make the
reception an annual affair.

</p><h3>Margaret Howard Joins ABI as Spring 2002 Robert M. Zinman Scholar in Residence</h3>

<p>Prof. <b>Margaret Howard</b> (Washington &amp; Lee School of Law; Lexington, Va.) has
started her term as the Robert M. Zinman ABI Resident Scholar for the spring
2002 semester and will be located at ABI's offices. Prof. Howard teaches
bankruptcy, secured transactions and contracts. Together with Prof. <b>Peter Alces,</b> she
is the author of <i>Bankruptcy: Cases and Materials,</i> the casebook used by many law
schools. Before joining W&amp;L, she taught for nine years at Vanderbilt University
School of Law and has been a visiting professor at schools such as Harvard, Duke,
North Carolina and Emory. Prof. Howard will be serving on the faculty for the
Rocky Mountain Bankruptcy Workshop and the Annual Spring Meeting program, among other
speaking and writing projects. ABI will be announcing the Zinman Scholar for the
fall semester soon. In December, ABI announced that Prof. <b>David Epstein</b>

(University of Alabama School of Law) will be in residence at ABI during the
spring 2003 semester. Prof. Epstein is, of course, one of the legends in the
field of bankruptcy scholarship. ABI is honored to have these prominent teachers
serving as our Resident Scholar.

</p><h3>2001 Winter Leadership Conference Committee Minutes</h3>

<p><i>See <a href="/committees/" target="window2">http://www.abiworld.org/committees/</a&gt; for the complete summaries.</i>

</p><h4>Asset Sales</h4>

<p>The committee has formed a subcommittee to examine issues unique to bankruptcy sales
and auctions of intellectual property. The subcommittee seeks the active involvement of
new members. The initial subcommittee goal is to recruit new members, decide areas
of study and prepare a panel discussion for presentation at the ABI Annual Spring
Meeting in 2002.

</p><h4>Commercial Fraud Task Force</h4>

<p>The task force addressed fraud by professionals in bankruptcy-related matters.
Examples discussed were how professionals conceal assets in their own bankruptcy cases,
engage in fraud to cover up mistakes they have made in the representation of their
clients, and act as co-conspirators with their clients or other professionals in
committing a crime, such as assisting in the concealment of assets or using the
bankruptcy system to perpetrate other frauds.

</p><h4>Consumer</h4>

<p>Judge <b>Eugene Wedoff</b> presented a report on the status of the bankruptcy reform
legislation and encouraged attendance at the Legislative Committee meeting for a detailed
treatment of the subject. <b>Dennis Dow</b> gave an overview of the impact of the
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (dealing with privacy of financial information) on consumer
bankruptcy practice. Russ Reynolds from the San Diego bankruptcy clerk's office gave
a demonstration (with live connection) of that court's electronic filing system.
Finally, <b>Tom Yerbich</b> discussed practical issues involved in the transition to electronic
filing.

</p><h4>Finance &amp; Banking</h4>

<p>The committee hosted a panel on Tranche B financing, an important and growing area
of asset-based lending, and discussed the criteria for eligibility for Tranche B
financing, various structures and the development and future of Tranche B financing,
particularly as a supplement to senior secured debtor-in-possession financing and as an
alternative to expensive mezzanine financing. In addition, the committee reported on
its continued work on the formulation of DIP Financing Guidelines by its DIP
Subcommittee.

</p><h4>Legislation</h4>

<p>The panel initially discussed the current status of the bankruptcy reform legislation.
There was discussion of a possible "mini-bill," which has been addressed by the
General Practice Section of the American Bar Association.

</p><h4>Professional Compensation</h4>

<p><b>C.R. "Chip" Bowles Jr.</b> of Greenebaum Doll &amp; McDonald PLLC in Louisville,
Ky., spoke on the topic of "Noisy Withdrawals and the <i>Res Judicata</i> Effect of Awards
of Final Fee Applications." The committee also discussed the idea of creating a
handbook that could be used by debtor and committee legal counsel when the need for
the employment of additional professionals in a bankruptcy case arises.

</p><h3>ABI's First Resident Scholar Looks Back on Term</h3>

<p><i>Prof. Jack Williams summarizes his recent months with ABI:</i>

</p><p>My tenure as scholar-in-residence ran from April 2001 to Dec. 31,
2001. My duties included preparing materials for conferences and classes, presenting
at conferences and seminars, responding to media requests, making television and radio
appearances, appearing before the Congress, preparing white papers for Congressional
staffers, responding to ABI members on legislative status and miscellaneous questions,
responding to the general public with bankruptcy issues and concerns, writing/editing
ABI publications, assisting the Endowment Committee on the review of research grant
applications, and coordinating ABI efforts with other nonprofit organizations.

</p><p>During my tenure at ABI, my tasks included:

</p><ol>
<li>Authored two articles for the <i>ABI Law Review.</i> The first article is an
empirical piece on collateral dispositions under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial
Code. The second piece is on the treatment of certain tax claims under a chapter
11 plan of reorganization.

</li><li>Authored one article on directors' and officers' duties within the zone of
insolvency for the <i>Journal of Corporate Renewal.</i>

</li><li>Authored the 2001 Cumulative Supplement to <i>Kennedy, Countryman and Williams
on Partnerships, Limited Liability Entities and S Corporations in Bankruptcy,</i>
published by Aspen Publishers (formerly Little, Brown &amp; Co.).

</li><li>Authored the 2001 Cumulative Supplement to <i>McQueen and Williams on Tax
Aspects of Bankruptcy Law and Procedure, </i>published by the West Group.

</li><li>Authored four articles for the <i>ABI Journal</i> on legislation.

</li><li>Prepared six Powerpoint presentations that cover key provisions of the proposed
bankruptcy legislation to be used on the ABI web site.

</li><li>Authored five "Cracking the Code" articles for posting on the ABI web site.

</li><li>Responded to more than 200 media requests for information and appeared on radio
and television, including NBC Nightly News, ABC Evening News, MSNBC,
Dateline, The Today Show, CNN, 60 Minutes II, FoxNews and C-Span.

</li><li>Appeared before the House and Senate committees and staff meetings on bankruptcy,
bankruptcy taxation, and terrorism and homeland defense.

</li><li>Prepared materials for talks given to the Internal Revenue Service, the Small
Business Administration, the PBGC, the EPA, HUD, and the Department of
Justice.

</li><li>Prepared materials for talks given to ABI, the TMA, State and Local Bar
Associations, State CPA Societies, the American Association of Law Schools, and
the AICPA.

</li><li>Coordinated with JumpStart Coalition to prepare bankruptcy lesson plans for use
in elementary, junior high school, and high school.

</li><li>Edited manuscript by Prof. Jack Ayer and Michael Bernstein.
</li></ol>

<p>I joined ABI as a newly minted bankruptcy practitioner more than 15 years
ago. I continued my membership when Ijoined the academic ranks some 10 years ago.
I have been involved with ABI most of my membership and have found the organization
and the people first-rate. So for me, becoming the inaugural ABI Robert M. Zinman
Scholar-in-Residence was a profound honor. Upon accepting the position, I had but
one goal—to make ABI and the position's namesake (my mentor) proud of their
selection. I hope that I have not let you down.

</p><p>When I began my tenure, my wife and I thought that the ABI Endowment Fund
served many worthwhile causes, including funding, in part, the scholar-in-residence
program. Based on our prior experience with ABI and the new position as the ABI
scholar-in-residence, we believed that we should begin giving back to the organization
that has given so much to us. With that, we donated 5 percent of my gross pay
from ABI to the Endowment Fund. It is, without doubt, one of the best
decisions we have ever made.

</p><p>Thank you for the grand opportunity to serve you as your scholar-in-residence. It
was a great honor and privilege. May the position go from strength to strength.