University of Pennsylvania Finding Aids

As a teacher, scholar, lawyer, and consultant, Lawrence P. King (1929-2001) played an important role in the reform of bankruptcy law from the 1960s to his death in 2001. King taught commercial and bankruptcy law at New York University Law School. He served on a number of congressional commissions formed to analyze and reform bankruptcy law, including the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules of the Judicial Conference of the United States. He gave speeches and participated in panels regarding bankruptcy legislation for a number of seminars and educational programs. He was an active member of the National Bankruptcy Conference, an organization of lawyers, judges, and professors dedicated to bankruptcy reform. He had leadership roles in National Bankruptcy Conference committees, including the Committee on Legislation, where he was Chairman. He is well known as Editor of Collier on Bankruptcy, a reference series that became the leading treatise on bankruptcy law during King's 40-year tenure. The collection,1952-2001, includes personal and professional correspondence; reports, correspondence, and memoranda relating to King's participation in the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules; congressional hearings and testimony by King and his colleagues; meeting minutes, correspondence, and committee materials from the National Bankruptcy Conference, of which King was an active member; papers relating to the New York University Advanced Workshop on Bankruptcy and Business Reorganization, which King created and taught; seminar materials from the Federal Judicial Center, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the Association of American Law Schools, and other organizations; articles written by King; teaching materials; subject files on a range of topics, including personal bankruptcy, bankruptcy reform, the Bankruptcy Code, consumer legislation, and the Marathon Pipeline bankruptcy court case; and other papers used by King in the course of his scholarship.

Harry Dixon Jr. (1944-2006), a lawyer from Nebraska, wanted to form an organization with the dual purpose of providing Congress with expert and unbiased views on legislation and creating an institution that could keep the bankruptcy community aware of legislative activities affecting them. In February 1982, Dixon incorporated under Nebraska law this new organization which was to be called the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI). The records of the American Bankruptcy Institute document two main areas of the organization: the history and operating activities of the American Bankruptcy Institute and the organization's professional activities, publications, and research on bankruptcy related issues. The materials date from 1982-2013, with the bulk from 1985-1996. Materials are largely in paper format, comprising correspondence, memos, facsimiles, resumes/c.v., financial records, by-laws, articles of incorporation, certificates, lease agreement, newsletters, marketing materials, clippings, press releases, scripts, white papers, meeting files which typically include agendas, minutes, and sign-in sheets, committee files, conference and seminar material, Library of Congress reports, information bulletins, Congressional reports, records, and bills, court records, briefs, procedures, Congressional hearing testimonies and remarks, publications, monographs, and other related printed matter. The records also include audiovisual materials such as photographs, VHS tapes, audio cassette tapes, DVDs, and CDs. The strengths of the American Bankruptcy Institute records are the documentation of the Board of Directors files; ABI conference and seminar files; ABI's effort to expand membership; Committee files; and the organization's analysis of bankruptcy legislation from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. Extensive areas of analysis by ABI include the U.S. Trustee Program which include numerous oversight hearings; Chapter 7 Substantial Abuse; Chapter 12 Family Farmer Bankruptcy; additional bankruptcy judgeships; the Bankruptcy Amendments and Federal Judgeship Act of 1984 (BAFJA) including the Bankruptcy Survey Project conducted by the ABI after the law (BAFJA) went into effect; judicial salaries; leveraged buyouts (LBO); pension plans and retirement benefits; proposed amendments to bankruptcy rules and forms; significant Supreme Court cases; S. 1985 National Bankruptcy Review Commission Act, S. 1559 Bankruptcy Technical Corrections Act, and testimonies before various Congressional committees from 1989-1996.

Norman H. Nachman (1909-2001) worked as a Chicago bankruptcy attorney for 60 years, served as President of the Chicago Bar Association, and helped to draft new bankruptcy code. His colleagues named him the “Dean of U.S. Bankruptcy Lawyers.” This collection, dated 1983-1998, consists of materials relating to Nachman’s career in bankruptcy law and includes case documents, reports on aspects of bankruptcy law, Nachman’s daily appointment calendars, business correspondence dated 1992-1998, and various publications including law journals and books authored by his colleagues.