President ’ s Message : Keep Austin Weird
Charles A . Beckham , Jr ., Haynes and Boone , LLP President , American College of Bankruptcy
On October 11 , Austin , Texas , the city of my youth ( I went to first grade in Austin ), the city of my enlightenment ( I went to college at Texas ) and the city that I love , will welcome the College for its Fall meeting in conjunction with NCBJ . One of our Fellows , Judge Dan Collins ( Class XXXII ) of Arizona is the President of NCBJ . Dan and his Team are busily preparing for NCBJ ’ s first visit to Austin . Melissa Kibler , Rich Levin , Shari Bedker , Trish Redmond and I are actively planning the College ’ s Fall meetings and Luncheon . There will be a lot to see and do in Austin . And , the NCBJ headquarters Hotel , the JW Marriott ( the “ Hotel ”) is at the corner of 2nd and Congress -- a great location for exploring Austin . To help you prepare for your visit to Austin I wanted to provide you with a list of Austin superlatives and a few suggestions on what to do in Austin .
First , you need to know that Austin ain ’ t like the rest of Texas . It is where Cowboys and Hippies came together in the 70 ’ s and now are joined by Techies in the 20 ’ s . It is not a city where divergent groups merely tolerate each other , it is a town where diverse groups hug each other . So be prepared to abide by Austin ’ s motto : “ Keep Austin Weird .”
Best Bankruptcy Law Professor in Austin : Long time University of Texas Bankruptcy Law Professor , Jay Westbrook . Jay received
the College ’ s Distinguished Service Award in 2016 and was a member of Class IV of the College . Two other College Fellows are also UT Law School professors , Mechele Dickerson ( Class XXII ) and Angela Littwin ( Class XXX ), but I suspect they would point to their mentor , Jay , as the best bankruptcy law professor in Austin .
Best Bankruptcy Judge in Austin : H . Christopher Mott . Chris is a member of Class XXI of the College and has served on the bench in Austin since 2010 . Chris started his bankruptcy career in El Paso and knows the story of These Old Boots . Chris will be retiring from the bench before the Fall meeting but as of this writing , he is the only Fellow who is a sitting bankruptcy judge in the Western District of Texas . Retired Bankruptcy Judge Leif Clark ( Class V ) and deceased Bankruptcy Judge Glen Ayers ( Class V ) are also Fellows who served on the bankruptcy bench in Austin .
Best Former Chair and President of the College Living in Austin : Evelyn Biery . Evelyn , a member of Class II of the College , the first woman to serve as Chair and President of the College , and retired head of the Bankruptcy Section at Norton Rose Fulbright , resides in Austin . Hopefully we can lure Evelyn out of retirement to join us at our Fall meeting .
Best Chapter 13 Trustee in Texas . Debbie Langehennig ( Class XX ) has served as the Chapter 13 Trustee in Austin since 2002 . Debbie has also severed as the Co-Chair of the College Columns Committee for the last 2 years along with Retired Bankruptcy
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