University of Pennsylvania Finding Aids

Henry J. Sommer is one of the leading figures in bankruptcy, consumer law, and civil rights. Born in 1949 in Rochester, New York, Sommer received his JD cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1974. After graduating from Harvard, he worked for Community Legal Services in Philadelphia as Project Head of its Consumer Law Project until 1996. In addition to his role with Community Legal Services, Sommer has lectured at University of Pennsylvania Law School and worked as editor-in-chief of Collier on Bankruptcy. The Henry J. Sommer Papers, 1975-2005, include National Bankruptcy Conference papers, materials from Continuing Legal Education seminars and other meetings at which Sommer lectured, copies of published manuscripts and articles written by Sommer, videotapes of Sommer and colleagues holding seminars that educated practitioners about the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, and related materials.