section update
Bankruptcy Section
By M. Regina Thomas
United States Bankruptcy Court
[email protected]
T
he annual David Pollard Award Luncheon and Spring
Bankruptcy CLE held on May 14, 2015 at the Capital
City Club was a tremendous success. CLE attendees
enjoyed a program featuring Dean Robert A Schapiro (Emory University School of Law), Nancy J. Whaley (Standing
Chapter 12 and 13 Trustee) and Rachel L. Lerman (Barnes
& Thornburg, LLP), who discussed the bankruptcy cases decided by and pending before the Supreme Court this term.
Following the CLE program, Karin Fagin White of Cohen
Pollack Merlin & Small, PC was honored with the prestigious
Pollard Award. Ms. Fagin, who was introduced by her longtime partner, Gus H. Small, shared this event with her husband and daughters, coworkers, and numerous colleagues
from the bankruptcy community.
Also at the Pollard Luncheon, it was announced that the
Bankruptcy Section was the recipient of an Atlanta Bar
Association Distinguished Service Award for its extensive pro
bono activities. Nancy Whaley proudly accepted the award
on behalf of the Section at the Atlanta Bar’s annual meeting
and luncheon on May 19, 2015.
The Bankruptcy Section’s goal in the coming year is to
continue and expand its five existing pro bono programs:
• Adversary Proceeding Project - a new initiative focused
primarily on representing pro se plaintiffs and defendants in
adversary proceedings;
• Credit Abuse Resistance Education (CARE) – a
nationwide program supported by the American Bankruptcy
Institute where judges and members of the Bankruptcy Section
present financial literacy programming, including responsible
use of credit;
• Georgia State University College of Law Bankruptcy
Assistance & Practice Program – an innovative program
that provides the opportunity for law students to provide pro
bono representation to low income debtors with the assistance
of volunteer mentor attorneys;
• Low Income Creditor Assistance Project - an initiative
founded in 2013 by the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation
(AVLF) and the Bankruptcy Section to provide low income
judgment creditors with free legal assistance in bankruptcy
cases; and
52 THE ATLANTA LAWYER
June/July 2015
• Reaffirmation Project - introduced in 2007, in collaboration
with the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, the United States
Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia, the
Clerk’s Office for the Bankruptcy Court, and the Office of the
United States Trustee for Region 21, this program provides
free legal counsel to unrepresented debtors seeking to enter
into reaffirmation agreements in bankruptcy cases. This
successful program has provided much needed assistance
to thousands of chapter 7 debtors in metro Atlanta.
The Bankruptcy Section is pleased to announce the Officers
and Board members for the 2015-2016 year: John W. Mills, III