NACBA President Emeritus
Henry J. Sommer
Recognized with
2016 Distinguished Service Award
T
he
American
College
of
Bankruptcy
(the
“College”)
announced its 2016 Distinguished
Service Award recipients: Henry J.
Sommer of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
and Prof. Jay L. Westbrook of Austin,
Texas. Sommer and Westbrook were
awarded this distinction at the Class
27 Induction Ceremony held at the
Smithsonian Donald W. Reynolds
Center for American Art and
Portraiture in Washington, D.C. on
March 18, 2016. The award was
presented by Prof. Alan N. Resnick
of the Maurice A. Deane School of
Law at Hofstra University.
Criteria
for
selection
as
a
Distinguished
Service
awardee
include: significant accomplishments
in improving the administration
of justice in the insolvency and
bankruptcy
field;
distinguished
service consistently rendered over
a considerable period of time or a
single outstanding achievement in
a particular year; accomplishments
arising from voluntary activities rather
than for services rendered to a client as
a paid professional; membership in the
American College of Bankruptcy; and
distinguished in his or her institution
in a manner and in matters that are
consistent with the goals and purposes
of the College.
After graduating from Harvard Law
School in 1974, Henry J. Sommer
devoted his legal talents to helping
the poor at Community Legal Services
in Philadelphia, where he served as
the head of its Consumer Law Project
for over 20 years. Henry is now the
Supervising Attorney at the pro bono
Consumer Bankruptcy Assistance
Project in Philadelphia.
“As this nation’s most prominent and
influential voice for consumer debtors,
and for his extraordinary dedication
to the improvement of consumer
bankruptcy law, Henry is especially
deserving of this honor,” stated Resnick
in his opening speech.
Prof. Jay L. Westbrook, a member of
the faculty of the University of Texas
Law School for more than 35 years, is
one of the nation’s most distinguished
teachers and scholars in the bankruptcy
field. Jay has received numerous
awards for excellence in teaching,
National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys
Spring 2016
including the “Excellence in Education
Award” of the National Conference of
Bankruptcy Judges, and the University
of Texas Law School’s “Outstanding
Teacher Award.”
According to Resnick, Westbrook
is “a brilliant teacher and one of the
most influential and highly-respected
bankruptcy scholars of his generation.
Jay is especially deserving of this
honor.”
The American College of Bankruptcy is
an honorary association of bankruptcy
and insolvency professionals and
plays an important role in sustaining
professional excellence in the field.
College Fellows include commercial
and consumer bankruptcy attorneys,
judges,
insolvency
accountants,
turnaround and workout specialists,
law professors, government officials
and others in the bankruptcy
and
insolvency
community.
The College offers unique and
challenging educational programs and
publications, maintains the National
Bankruptcy Archives at the University
of Pennsylvania School of Law, and, in
conjunction with the American College
of Bankruptcy Foundation, is believed to
be the single largest financial supporter
of pro bono bankruptcy services in the
United States.
CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY JOURNAL
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