The annual David Pollard Award Luncheon and Spring Bankruptcy CLE held on May 12, 2016 at the Capital City Club was a tremendous success.  CLE attendees enjoyed an excellent program featuring presentations on The Changing Landscape of Garnishment Law in Georgia (Schulyer Elliot, David Kleber and David Webster), Credit Report Issues Arising after a Consumer Filed Bankruptcy ( Samantha Tzoberi, Paul Sieg, Jason Esteves and Robert Solomon) and Select Evidentiary Issues for the Bankruptcy Practitioner (Hon. Paul Baisier and Grant Stein).   

Following the CLE program, the Honorable C. Ray Mullins, Chief Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia, was honored with the prestigious Pollard Award.  Judge Mullins, who was introduced by his longtime court colleague, the Hon. Joyce Bihary (Ret.) and former Kilpatrick Townsend Stockton colleague, Todd Meyers, shared this special event with his wife, Beverly, and almost 200  colleagues from the bankruptcy community.      

The Bankruptcy Section will continue its work on these programs in the coming year: 

• Adversary Proceeding Project – providing representation for 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 
• 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 2016-2017 year:  

Officers

• Alison Elko Franklin (Chair) – Dentons US LLP
• Jeffrey Cavender (Chair Elect) – Troutman Sanders LLP
• Sage Sigler (Treasurer) – Alston & Bird LLP
• B. Summer Chandler (Secretary) – Chandler Law Firm LLC
• John W. Mills, III (Immediate Past Chair) – Barnes & Thornburg LLP

Members at Large

• Vania Allen – United States Attorney’s Office
• Ron Bingham – Baker Donelson Bearman Cladwell & Berkowitz PC
• Melissa Davey – Stites & Harbison PLLC
• Gregory Taube – Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP
• Regina Thomas – United States Bankruptcy Court
• Bruce Walker – Cohen Pollock Merlin & Small, PC
• Doroteya Wozniak – James Bates Brannan Groover, LLP

If you have ideas or suggestions for Bankruptcy Section activities or projects, please contact any of the officers or board members.  We look forward to a great year and welcome your participation.