NACBA REMEMBERS JEAN BRAUCHER
devoted most of her scholarship to
consumer bankruptcy.
Among her first groundbreaking
articles was Lawyers and Consumer
Bankruptcy: One Code, Many Cultures,
which documented the widely varying
practices concerning chapter 13 in
different judicial districts despite the
seeming uniform law that applied to all
of them. Some of her other scholarship
demonstrated
the
ineffectiveness
of consumer debtor education and
suggested strategies for consumer
debtors’ advocates. She was also a
contributor to the Credit Slips blog.
T
he
bankruptcy
community
suffered a great loss with the
recent death of Professor Jean
Braucher. Jean, who taught for many
years at the University of Arizona Law
School and several other places, was
one of the few law professors who
Although she was meticulous in her
scholarship, Jean was not shy about
making her pro-consumer views known
in a variety of places. She advocated
for consumers in proceedings of the
American Law Institute and attended
several Capitol Hill “lobby days”
with NACBA, joining other NACBA
members in meeting with her Arizona
Congressional
representatives.
She also facilitated representation
of consumers in significant Arizona
bankruptcy cases.
Jean was one of the first law professors
to join NACBA. She spoke at many
conventions and workshops and she
worked diligently as a member of
NACBA’s Board of Directors, serving
as a Convention Chair and heading
the committee that got NACBA’s
webinar series off the ground. She
was the founding Vice President of the
National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights
Center. Perhaps most important, Jean
was always warm, kind, good-spirited,
and a pleasure to work with. She
was awarded NACBA’s Distinguished
Service Award when she left the Board.
We will miss her greatly.
NACBA REMEMBERS JIM MCMILLEN
not have had the privilege of knowing
James (“Jim”) T. McMillen. Jim was
born in Tennessee and after law school
moved to Texas in 1975 and started his
legal career. Jim was a passionate
advocate for the consumer and was
naturally drawn to an organization
founded to help protect the rights of
consumer debtor’s. Jim was elected to
the NACBA board of directors in 1995
and served as Secretary for a number
of years. Jim’s legal career included
several landmark cases including In
re Smithwick (5th Cir. 1997) and In re
Mendoza (5th Cir. 1997).
M
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ost of our members joined
NACBA after the passage of the
2005 Bankruptcy Act and may
CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY JOURNAL
Jim was a kind person who truly cared
about people. He championed his
client’s rights in everything he did and
his outlook on life was always bright.
Summer 2015
Over the course of one’s career you
meet many types of attorneys. Jim was
the ‘real deal’. He was the Atticus Finch
of the Consumer Bar. It is no surprise
that “To Kill a Mockingbird” was one of
his favorite books. I know many of you
were Facebook friends with Jim and
I miss Jim’s post every day wishing
everyone a “Good Morning”! I know
Jim would want us all to continue the
fight because there is always a “little
guy” who needs our help. The legal
community needs many more attorneys
like Jim McMillen. Thank you Jim for
all you did for NACBA, your clients and
the community. You are missed.
National Association o