UA Law School Hosts Bankruptcy Judges Conference

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama School of Law recently hosted the Federal Judicial Center Bankruptcy Judges Conference.

More than 40 bankruptcy judges attended, representing 20 districts nationwide, including the District of Puerto Rico. The participants convened for three days of seminars and discussions led by UA Law School faculty and others. David Epstein, the Charles E. Tweedy Jr. Chair of Law and the organizer of the event, presented, “With the Ease of a Computer: Bankruptcy Courts as Courts of Equity.”

Pamela Bucy, the Frank M. Bainbridge Professor of Law, delivered a lecture on “White Coats and White Collar: Crimes, Fraud and Bankruptcies.” Bucy, an expert in white-collar crime, recently received the University’s highest teaching honor, the UA National Alumni Association Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award.

Charles Gamble, former dean and Henry Upson Sims Professor of Law, spoke on “Current Issues in Evidence.” Gamble’s recent works include “McElroy’s Alabama Evidence and Gamble’s Alabama Rules of Evidence: A Trial Manual for Making and Responding to Objections.”

Jerome Hoffman, Elton B. Stephens Professor of Law, led a discussion called “Why I Am Weary (If Not Leary) of Erie.” Wythe Holt, University Research Professor of Law, lectured on “What 19th (and 18th) Century American Legal History Has to Do With Judicial Decision-Making in the 21st Century.” Assistant Professor of Law Jonathan S. Berck spoke on “International Contract Law ­ CISG and the UCC.”

“The six bankruptcy judges from the Northern District of Alabama appreciate the opportunity this educational program offered to bankruptcy judges from all over the country,” Tamara O. Mitchell, Chief Bankruptcy Judge, said. “The content of the program was excellent, and the caliber of the speakers was exemplary. The southern hospitality by the Law School, including President Sorensen, Dean Randall and many other staffers at the University, met every expectation.”