From the Director Feb 2000

Twenty-three law school teams from across the nation will compete in the Eighth Annual Judge Conrad B.
Duberstein National Moot Court Competition March 10-13 in New York. The final round will be held at the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The Duberstein Competition is the nation's only moot court devoted to
bankruptcy and has grown into one of the premier law school competitions in any discipline. Final round judges
this year include <b>Hon. Edith Hollan Jones</b> (5th Cir.) and<b> Hon. R. Guy Cole</b> (6th Cir.), as well as the chief
bankruptcy judges of the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. The event concludes with a gala final night
dinner at Tavern on the Green in Manhattan. The University of Florida will return to defend its title, along with the
University of Texas at Austin, last year's runner up. Advisor to the competition is Prof. <b>Robert M. Zinman</b> of St.
John's University School of Law, a past president and past chairman of ABI. The legal problem for the competition
is developed each year by members of the Editorial Board of the <i>ABI Law Review.</i> The <i>Law Review</i> is published
with St. John's twice per year.

</p><h3>Endowment Fund Grant to Focus on Tithing Law</h3>

<p>The ABI Endowment Fund has awarded a grant to Prof. <b>Kenneth N. Klee</b> of UCLA School of Law for empirical
research on caselaw under the Religious Liberty and Charitable Donation Protection Act of 1998. The research will
also trace the history of the law and the law's departure from traditional fraudulent transfer law. Prof. Klee's work is
due to be completed by August, with an article for publication by May 2001. Other recent grant awards were made
to Prof. <b>David G. Epstein</b> (University of Alabama School of Law), Prof. <b>Daniel Bussel</b> (UCLA Law) and Prof.
<b>Jean Braucher</b> (University of Arizona College of Law). The ABI Endowment Committee will next meet to
consider grant proposals in connection with the Annual Spring Meeting. Interested scholars should review our grant
guidelines published online at ABI World and submit concept papers to ABI headquarters.

</p><h3>Free Circuit Case Updates Delivered to Your Desktop</h3>

<p>The Eleventh Circuit is the most recent judicial circuit to be covered by ABI caselaw updates. Authors for the new
update are <b>James Goyer III,</b> <b>Matthew Grill</b> and <b>Jayna Partain Lamar</b> from the firm of Maynard, Cooper &amp; Gale
in Birmingham, Ala. The updates are e-mailed each month. Circuits covered to date include the First, Third, Fifth,
Seventh, Eighth and Ninth. ABI members located within the circuit automatically receive their circuit's updates, but
any member outside the region can also receive it by contacting ABI. There is no charge for this member benefit.

</p><h3>Special Bankruptcy Litigation Skills Program Coming This Fall</h3>

<p>ABI is planning a new and innovative educational program for practitioners looking to improve their litigation
skills through an intensive course of lectures, demonstrations and one-on-one videotaped exercises. The program
will be held Sept. 21-23, 2000, at the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta. Enrollment will be limited to
24 participants to ensure personalized attention from the expert faculty and a "learn-by-doing" environment. Skills
of emphasis will be direct- and cross-examination, evidentiary objections, dealing with hostile witnesses,
qualifications and examination of experts, judicial notice, use of depositions and impeachment of witnesses. The
brochure will be available this summer.

</p><p>The program chair is <b>Leonard P. Goldberger</b> (White and Williams; Philadelphia). Others on the Advisory Board
are Prof. <b>Ralph Brubaker</b> (Emory Law), Judge <b>Prudence Carter Beatty</b> (S.D.N.Y.), <b>Faye Knowles</b> (Fredrikson

&amp; Byron; Minneapolis), <b>Alan Jacobs,</b> Prof. <b>G. Ray Warner</b> (UMKC Law), <b>Thomas J. Salerno</b> (Squire, Sanders
&amp; Dempsey; Phoenix), Prof. Molly O'Brien (Director of Trial Practice Program at Emory Law), <b>Daniel J. King</b>
(King &amp; Spalding; Atlanta), <b>Dennis J. Connolly</b> (Alston &amp; Bird; Atlanta), <b>Robert M. Fishman</b> (Shaw, Gussis,
et al.; Chicago), <b>Christian Carl Onsager</b> (The Broe Companies; Denver); <b>Laurie Selber Silverstein</b> (Potter,
Anderson &amp; Corroon; Wilmington, Del.), <b>Joseph S.U. Bodoff</b> (Shectman &amp; Halperin; Boston), Judge <b>Stephen
Raslavich</b> (E.D. Pa.), Judge Barry Russell (C.D. Calif.), Judge <b>Marjorie O. Rendell</b> (3rd Cir.), <b>Dillon E.
Jackson</b> (Foster, Pepper &amp; Shefelman; Seattle), <b>R. Scott Williams</b> (Haskell, Slaughter &amp; Young; Birmingham,
Ala.), and Judge<b> Leif M. Clark</b> (W.D. Texas).

</p><h3>ABI Staff Thanks Member Warren Lindman</h3>

<p>Kudos to <b>Warren G. Lindman</b> of Wells Fargo Business Credit Inc., Minneapolis, for helping ABI staff members
stuff hundreds of bags for conference registrants at the Winter Leadership Conference! Few members have
experienced the rigors of this endeavor, and many thanks go to Warren for pitching in for several hours.

</p><h3>Endowment Fund: Correction</h3>

<p>During the Winter Leadership Conference in La Quinta, Calif., last December, ABI displayed the names of members
who made contributions to the ABI Endowment Fund. Keen Realty Consultants Inc. of Great Neck, N.Y., should
have been listed among the Century Council Members.

</p>