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Endowment Celebrates Donors at Winter Leadership Conference
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The 26th annual Winter Leadership Conference, held December 4-6 at the La Quinta Resort & Club in Palm Springs, California, offered many opportunities to celebrate the past year’s achievements by the Anthony H.N. Schnelling Endowment Fund, as well as to honor our most generous donors.
One of the Endowment’s most visible successes was the release of the Final Report of the ABI Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11 (see story below), which promises to frame the coming debate on Capitol Hill and in the bankruptcy community on proposed changes to the Bankruptcy Code.
This three-year effort would not be possible without the generous support of ABI members, and a number of prominent donor milestones were honored during the Friday lunch at WLC. ABI honored new Sustaining Members: Derek C. Abbott (Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP), Kostopolous & Associates PLLC, and Mary D. Lane (Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP); Benefactors: Geoffrey L. Berman (Development Specialists, Inc.), Damian S. Schaible (Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP), and Stephen Wheelis (Wheelis & Rozanski, APLC); Lifetime Member: Mark G. Stingley (Bryan Cave LLP); Legacy Club Member: Richard P. Carmody (Adams and Reese LLP); and new admittees to the 30th Anniversary Circle, all from Polsinelli: James E. Bird and Daniel J. Flanigan (both from Kansas City, Mo.) and Christopher Ward (Wilmington, Del.).
Following the Friday Night Final Dinner, Endowment donors at the Sustaining Member level and above took part in a dessert reception, sponsored by Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP and Rust|Omni, which featured a meet-and-greet session with rocker Fran Cosmo, who had thoroughly entertained the crowd at the dinner with hits from his former rock group Boston (photos at right).
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Jan. 20, 2015: Penguins vs. Flyers, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA, at 7 p.m.
The Penguins/Flyers game is one of the most anticipated match-ups of the season and a hot ticket in both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
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Please join the ABI Anthony H.N. Schnelling Endowment Fund for a night of networking in a luxury suite generously donated by Gavin/Solmonese LLC, complete with food and open bar. The other sponsors are Conway MacKenzie, Epic Systems, Inc., Polsinelli and Summit Investment Management LLC. Tickets are $200 and benefit the ABI Endowment Fund. As an added bonus, Flyers greats Bernie Parent and Bob Kelly will be visiting our suite during the first period to mingle with us! This event is sure to be a sell-out!
Sponsorships are still available. Firms donating $1,000 will receive a ticket to the suite, signage at the event, and recognition in the ABI Journal and online. A portion of your sponsorship is tax-deductible!
To reserve your ticket or to sponsor this event, please email Sharisa Sloan at ssloan@abi.org.

ABI thanks these latest donors, whose names are among a special group dedicated to advancing research of interest to the bankruptcy community.
Benefactor Contributions of $5,000 – $9,999 |
Gerard DiConza DiConza Traurig Kadish LLP
Sustaining Member Contributions of $2,000 – $4,999
Monique J. Mulcare
Mayer Brown LLP
Leadership Club Contributions of $1,000 – $1,999
Daniel A. DeMarco
Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP
Jake Miller Oak Point Partners
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You can also contribute to the fund in other ways:
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Give by Year End to Benefit the Endowment (and You!)
If you have been considering making a donation to the Endowment Fund, you may benefit by making your contribution by year’s end. Checks mailed to a charity are considered delivered on the date that you mail them. In addition, you can pay by credit card online at http://endowment.abi.org/contribute or by calling us at 703-739-0800 by December 31st for your donation to be considered tax-deductible for 2014. Donors at the Sustaining Member Level ($2,000) and up will be recognized at the ABI Annual Spring Meeting in Washington on April 17, 2015.
For questions about payment options, please contact Kathy Sheehan at (703) 739-0800 or ksheehan@abiworld.org.
Thank you for considering a contribution to support the ABI Anthony H.N. Schnelling Endowment Fund.
Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11
The generous support we receive from our members and the insolvency community helps us achieve the Endowment’s goal of funding important bankruptcy research and educational activities.

Most recently, the Endowment funded the Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11, a three-year comprehensive study of how to reform and modernize the process in corporate cases. The 22-member commission of noted experts was assisted by more than 130 experienced professionals from the fields of law, turnaround management, finance, the judiciary and academia. The Final Report (more than 400 pages) and Recommendations was released on December 8 during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. ABI attendees at the Winter Leadership Conference had a preview during the final morning session (photo below). Learn about the commission’s work and public outreach at commission.abi.org. The ABI Endowment is also funding research into ways to improve the process for individual chapter 11s, and an empirical analysis of BAPCPA’s impact on both creditors and debtors.

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Endowment Fund Development Committee
Vice-President Development:
Edward T. Gavin
Gavin/Solmonese LLC
Committee Members:
Lisa Beckerman
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Scott F. Gautier
Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, LLP
Robert P. Reynolds
Reynolds, Reynolds & Little, LLC
Mitch Ryan
Donlin Recano & Company, Inc.
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Regional Endowment Chairs |
Mid-Atlantic
Chair: Christopher A. Ward – Polsinelli
Sam J. Alberts – Dentons
Neil B. Glassman – Bayard, P.A.
Thomas M. Horan – Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP
Richard M. Meth – Fox Rothschild LLP
Midwest
Co-Chair: Claire Ann Resop – Steinhilber, Swanson & Resop
Co-Chair: Mark G. Stingley – Bryan Cave
Daniel A. DeMarco – Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP
Reginald W. Jackson – Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP
Richard S. Lauter – Freeborn & Peters LLP
James A. Lodoen – Lindquist & Vennum LLP
Scott Y. Stuart – GCG
Sheryl L. Toby – Dykema Gossett PLLC
New England
Chair: Michael A. Fagone – Bernstein Shur
New York Metro
Co-Chair: Lisa G, Beckerman – Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Co-Chair: Allen D. Wilen – EisnerAmper LLP
Rocky Mountain
Co-Chair: Annette W. Jarvis – Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Lynne Long – Summit Investment Management LLC
South
Chair: Robert P. Reynolds – Reynolds, Reynolds & Duncan, LLC
Larry R. Ahern III – Brown & Ahern
Chip Bowles – Bingham Greenebaum Doll LLP
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Richard P. Carmody – Adams and Reese LLC
Rudy J. Cerone – McGlinchey Stafford, PLLC
Mac D. Finlayson – Eller & Detrich, PC
Craig M. Geno – Craig M. Geno, PLLC
Stephen P. Wheelis – Wheelis & Rozanski, APLC
R. Scott Williams – Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell, P.A.
Southeast
Chair: Jerry Markowitz – Markowitz, Ringel, Trusty & Hartog, P.A.
Terri L. Gardner – Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP
Neil C. Gordon – Arnall Golden Gregory LLP
Jennifer McLemore – Christian & Barton, LLP
Jennifer M. Meryerowitz – Epiq Systems, Inc.
Edward J. Peterson, III – Stichter, Riedel, Blain & Prosser, PA
Lynn Lewis Tavenner – Tavenner & Beran, PLC
Glenn Thompson –Hamilton Stephens Steele & Martin, PLLC
Texas & Southwest
Co-Chair: Jason S. Brookner – Gray Reed & McGraw, PC
Co-Chair: Scott Van Meter – Berkeley Research Group, LLC
Thomas H. Grace – Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP
Jordan A. Kroop – Perkins Coie LLP
John Penn – Perkins Coie LLP
Thomas J. Salerno – Gordon Silver
West
Co-Chair: Mitch Ryan – Donlin Recano & Company, Inc.
Co-Chair: Martin R. Barash – Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP
Matthew Gates – Duff & Phelps, LLC
Scott Gautier – Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, LLP
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