began shortly after the March 2019 induction weekend in sunny San Diego. I am delighted to say that the process resulted in invitations being offered to 31 professionals to enter the College as our 31st Class of Fellows – the symmetry of “31” is purely coincidental. Our new Fellows will be inducted at the Annual Meeting on March 13, 2020 back in our nation’s capital.
DIVERSE CLASS: The Board of Regents, the Circuit Admissions Councils, the Judicial Nominating Committee and the International Nominating Committee again were keenly focused on adding more diversity and youth to our ranks. And, I am happy to report that our new Fellows will indeed improve the diversity of the College (an effort that I hope will be continued for many years to come). Women represent 32% of the Class (compared to 21% overall within the College), three new Fellows are African-American and a majority of the Class is under the age of 54. Unofficially, I believe that there are more consumer-focused professionals in this Class than ever before, and, recognizing that diversity comes in many flavors, we admitted perhaps the oldest Fellow ever at age 77. The Class is comprised of 24 lawyers, 3 judges, 3 law professors, 1 financial advisor and 2 are international. Our international invitees are from China and the United Kingdom. You may access the complete list of invitees by clicking here.
THE PROCESS: The nominations process is demanding and is designed to ensure that our new Fellows are of the highest caliber and more than satisfy the rigorous standards mandated by our bylaws and tradition. We require excellence in their professional service, the utmost in professionalism and integrity and a strong commitment to supporting their professional, civic, religious and/or charitable communities. This year’s invitees clearly represent the best and brightest within the bankruptcy and restructuring profession. You will learn more about them at the induction ceremony.
Every year, as you might imagine, there are candidates who are nominated but are not approved by the Board of Regents. Our day long discussion is thoughtful and thorough and there is usually a healthy exchange of views about each candidate. As I complete my two year term as Chair of the Board of Regents, I would observe that the level of diligence and care taken by the Regents and Nominating Committee chairs was exceptionally high which has led to greater diversity and an extremely well-qualified group of new Fellows.
COLLECTIVE EFFORT: I want to extend my sincere gratitude to all of the Regents and Nominating Committee Chairs (and the members of the Circuit Councils and Nominating Committees) for their tireless efforts and commitment to this process. They provided an exceptional list of candidates for consideration. The Regents are: Michael Goldberg (1st), James Bromley (2nd), David Stratton (3rd), Douglas Foley (4th), Lisa Futrell (5th), Michael Coury (6th), Jamie Sprayregen (7th), Michael Stewart (8th), Thomas Patterson (9th), Kenneth Cannon (10th) and Patricia Redmond (11th). Our Regents-at-Large are Professor Ingrid Hillinger, Judge Jeffery Hopkins and Cynthia Nelson. The Chairs of the Judicial and International Nominating Committees are Michael Baxter and Steven Kargman, respectively.
My thanks, as well, to all of the many other Fellows who participated as nominators, sponsors and supporting letter writers. Each of you can take pride in knowing that you contributed to perpetuate the highest ideals of the College by ensuring that we admit Fellows worthy of our lofty standards. It has been an honor and pleasure to help guide this process for two years and I am ready to pass the torch to our next Chair. I certainly hope you are planning to come to attend the Induction Weekend next March where you will have the opportunity to welcome our new Fellows personally.
The Board of Regents recently met during NCBJ in Washington, D.C. to consider the election of new Fellows. The meeting was the culmination of more than 7 month’s work by 100+ Fellows led by our Regents and the Chairs of our Nominating Committees. The nominating process
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31 for 31!
Stephen D. Lerner, Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP
Chair, Board of Regents