This edition of the Ethics and Professional Compensation Committee newsletter marks the first edition from the new leadership. Richard Carmody of Adams & Reese has done an amazing job as our newsletter editor, and we would be remiss not to thank him for his work. Thanks, Richard! John Weiss with Alston & Bird's New York office has stepped in as the newsletter editor and is off to a running start with his first edition. John was previously the committee's membership relations director, which is now being filled by Charles Bullock of Stephenson & Bullock in Southfield, Mich. To round out the new leadership, Kelly Beaudin Stapleton with Alvarez & Marsal's New York office has moved up to the co-chair role from her previous post as education director. Stuart Gold of Gold, Lange & Majoros in Southfield, Mich., remains in his post as co-chair, and David W. Houston IV with Burr Forman's Nashville, Tenn., office has been named as a new co-chair for the group. Andrew R. Vara, Assistant U.S. Trustee in Cleveland, has agreed to come aboard as a new education director and will serve along with Steve Schwaber of San Marino, Calif., who remains as one of the education directors. Eve Karasik with Stutman, Trester & Glatt in Los Angeles has agreed to serve as our listserv facilitator. Theresa (“Terri”) V. Brown-Edwards of Potter, Anderson & Corroon, LLP in Wilmington, Del., has remained as Special Task Force leader for the group and contributed to this piece with a report on the current activities of the task force included below. We all look forward to serving the members of the committee and would love to hear any feedback from the membership on ways we can add value to your ABI experience.
Although it is only July, our committee is already gearing up for this year's Winter Leadership Conference, which will be held in La Quinta, Calif., Dec. 1-3. We have paired with the Business Reorganization Committee to put together a program focused on fiduciary duties. Currently titled, “DIPstick: Measuring the Fiduciary Duties of Counsel for the DIP and Other Estate Professionals, ”the program will focus on several fiduciary issues faced by estate professionals, including when the interests of the estate and the debtor diverge during plan time. The panel will also look at the role and effectiveness of conflicts counsel. The program promises to provide insight to those who practice in large cases as well as those involved in smaller chapter 11 filings of closely held businesses. Our education directors have worked with the Business Reorganization Committee to put together an outstanding panel including Debra Grassgreen of Pachulski Stang in San Francisco, Prof. Robert Rasmussen of USC School of Law, William K. Harrington, U.S. Trustee for Region 1, and Kenneth Eckstein of Kramer Levin in New York. More details will be forthcoming as we get closer to December. We hope many of you will be able to join us in La Quinta.
Special Projects and Task Force leader Theresa (“Terri”) V. Brown-Edwards reports that the ABI National Ethics Task Force, which was formed by ABI President Geoff Berman earlier this year, met in Brooklyn at the Conrad B. Duberstein U.S. Bankruptcy Courthouse on July 11, 2011. The mission of the Task Force is to consider ethics issues in bankruptcy practice and make recommendations for uniform standards where appropriate. During its meeting, the task force further narrowed the scope of topics it intends to study and address and set a schedule for future meetings. Judith Greenstone Miller has been appointed chair of the task force, and Profs. Nancy Rapoport and Lois Lupica, bankruptcy ethics specialists at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and the University of Maine, respectively, are serving as the reporters for the task force. Hon. Elizabeth Stong of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York is serving as the judicial liaison for the task force, whose members include Michael P. Richman, Richard Carmody, Richard M. Meth, Susan Freeman, Robert Charles, Edward T. Gavin, Claude R. “Chip” Bowles, Jr., Theresa V. Brown-Edwards, Steven Schwaber, James Cossitt and Andy Vara. Ex officio serving on the task force are Sam Gerdano, Amy Quackenboss, Geoff Berman, Robert Keach and James Markus. The vice chairs of the task force are Michael P. Richman, Richard Carmody and Chip Bowles, Jr. If you have any suggestions for topics or issues that the task force should address, please email Judy Miller at jmiller@jaffelaw.com.