From the Director Dec/Jan 2005

<h3>New Staff Welcomed</h3>

Nichole Rawson joined our staff in October as CLE
coordinator and receptionist. Nichole tracks CLE requirements for ABI's
conferences and works in our front office. She is a recent graduate of
Colgate University, where she was a varsity student/athlete and member
of the women's softball team. Nichole's most recent job experience was
with a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm. Rebecca Kimmel joined the staff
in October as a staff assistant with front office and reception
responsibilities. Rebecca received a degree in illustration from the Art
College of Design in California after starting her academic career at
Washington University in St. Louis. She has experience as a graphic
designer and is currently in a part-time masters program in the digital
arts at George Mason University. Both Nicole and Rebecca report to Mary
Kleppinger, ABI director of Administration. Haymanate Legesse joined our
staff in November as a Web site developer in ABI's Online Technology
Department. She is an experienced software developer and Web designer
with several years of experience for both public companies and
consulting clients. A native of Ethiopia, she has an associate's degree
from Sheridan College in Toronto. Hayme reports to Karim Guirguis,
manager of ABI's Online Technology Department.</p><p>In addition, several
ABI staff members received promotions. Sharisa Sloan is now marketing
manager, overseeing advertising, exhibiting and sponsorships, as well as
ABI's partner packages and the Endowment Fund. Pat Noboa is focusing
more of her duties on publication fulfillment and office management.
Carolyn Kanon is now director of communications, overseeing ABI's print
production and public relations.</p><h4>ABI to Host Reception at Law Schools
Meeting</h4><p>ABI will host a cocktail reception on Friday, Jan. 6, in
Washington, D.C., during the annual meeting of the Association of
American Law Schools. The annual event brings many of the nation's
academics together for programs on current scholarship. This year's
program theme is Empirical Scholarship. The annual ABI reception follows
the meeting of Section on Creditors' and Debtors' Rights. Section
members will receive an update on ABI's many activities for academics,
such as the <i>ABI Law Review,</i> research grants from the ABI
endowment, the Duberstein National Moot Court Competition and the Robert
M. Zinman Resident Scholar program. The section is chaired by Prof.

<b>Lois R. Lupica</b> (associate dean and professor of law at the
University of Maine). Lois will be the ABI Resident Scholar during the
spring 2007 semester. The AALS was scheduled for New Orleans, but moved
to Washington after Hurricane Katrina devastated much of the Gulf
Coast.</p><h4>New Titles Published</h4><p>ABI's productive communications
department has published three new titles recently. <i>Bankruptcy Issues
for State Court Trial Judges,</i> written by Profs. <b>Marianne
Culhane</b> and <b>Michaela White</b> of Creighton University School of
Law, updates a work first published in 1991 and is used as the deskbook
for ABI's program to help educate state court judges about bankruptcy.
The newest edition covers the many changes made by the new bankruptcy
law. The state court judges' educational program remains popular with
the states and is offered at no cost through a grant from the National
Conference of Bankruptcy Judges endowment. A recent ABI program, done
for the Ohio Judicial College, featured bankruptcy judges <b>John
Hoffman</b> and <b>Jeffrey Hopkins,</b> and practitioner <b>Brenda
Bowers</b> (Vorys, Sater, Seymour &amp; Pease; Columbus, Ohio). Upcoming
programs will be held in Maryland and Hawaii. <i>Consumer Bankruptcy
Fundamentals, 2d Edition,</i> analyzes both the practical and profound
changes made by the new law. Written by <b>Thomas Yerbich</b>

(Anchorage, Alaska), co-chair of ABI's Consumer Bankruptcy Committee,
the book covers both chapter 7 and 13 practice, and includes helpful
forms and tables on the means test and other expense calculations under
the new law. Forthcoming is <i>Bankruptcy Issues for Commercial
Landlords, Tenants and Mortgagees,</i> written by <b>David R. Kuney</b>
of Sidley Austin Brown &amp; Wood (Washington, D.C.), a comprehensive
yet highly readable book on the rights and obligations of tenants,
landlords and third parties, covering lease assumption, rejection,
curing of defaults, damage calculations and pre-petition strategies,
among other matters. The book covers the important new rules in this
area created by BAPCPA. All the new titles are available in ABI's online
bookstore at <a href="/abistore">http://www.abiworld.org/abistore</a>.</p><h4>ABI
Donates to Hurricane Relief Effort</h4><p>ABI's Executive Committee
unanimously approved $40,000 in cash donations to be made to the bar
associations and foundations in Louisiana, Texas, Alabama and
Mississippi in response to the needs of those providing legal services
to communities affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The donations
were delivered during the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges
Annual Meeting this year in San Antonio. Bankruptcy judges from
Louisiana, Texas, Alabama and Mississippi accepted the checks and
forwarded them to the respective state bar foundations. Speaking for the
Texas Bar Foundation, Executive Director <b>Anne Yeakel</b> wrote: "On
behalf of the thousands of Texas lawyers who have been involved in
providing legal services to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we
thank the American Bankruptcy Institute for its very generous donation.
The needs of the evacuees have strained the legal services providers,
and your donation will be greatly appreciated. Knowing that your 11,000
members all across the country care about these overworked and dedicated
volunteer attorneys and legal aid lawyers, I think will boost their
spirits enormously." Immediately following the disasters, ABI created a
special Web site for those volunteering individual services and office
space to those in need (<a href="/katrina.html">http://www.abiworld.org/katrina.html</a&gt;).
The site also provides links to other relief efforts and offered a way
for many ABI members to reach their friends and colleagues in the Gulf
Coast region.</p><h4>Winter <i>Law Review</i> to Focus Sharper Eye on the
New Law</h4><p>The Winter 2005 issue of the <i>ABI Law Review</i>

returns to its familiar theme format and will feature more than a dozen
essays by leading scholars and practitioners on BAPCPA. But unlike other
recent efforts, this special issue will skip the merely descriptive in
favor of a close examination of the ambiguities that will confront both
practitioners and the courts—in other words, what issues will be
litigated and appealed? Included are thought-provoking pieces by Profs.
<b>Marianne Culhane</b> and <b>Michaela White</b> on the means test,
Dean <b>Nancy Rapoport</b> on the new disinterestedness standard, Prof.
<b>Jean Braucher</b> on the terms for holding onto cars, homes and other
collateral, Dean <b>Peter Alexander</b> on the law's impact on women and
children, <b>Hank Hildebrand</b> on the new notice requirements, Prof.

<b>David Epstein</b> on non-monetary obligations under new §365(b),
<b>Lawrence Ahern</b> on what's left of the homestead exemption and
asset-protection issues, Prof. <b>Jack Williams</b> on the tax
consequences for both businesses and individuals, Prof. <b>Charles
Tabb</b> on preferences, Prof. <b>Edward Morrison</b> on financial
contracts, <b>Robert Keach</b> on the constitutionality of the new
chapter 11 for individuals, and Profs. <b>Karen Gross</b> and <b>Susan
Block-Lieb</b> on credit counseling and debtor education. Prof. <b>G.
Ray Warner</b> (St. John's University School of Law) is the faculty
adviser, and he too contributes an article to this edition of the <i>Law
Review.</i> Watch for this important issue coming soon after the new year.</p>