Professor Ralph Brubaker has received the Lawrence P. King Award for Excellence in the Field of Bankruptcy by the Commercial Law League of America. Below is the text of the press release announcing the award.

Commercial Law League of America Announces 2024 Lawrence P. King Award Recipient 

Rolling Meadows, IL, February 29, 2024 – The Commercial Law League of America (CLLA) and its Bankruptcy Section are pleased to announce that they will present the Lawrence P. King Award to Ralph Brubaker at the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ) in Seattle, WA on September 19, 2024.

The King Award: Each year, the Executive Council of the Commercial Law League’s Bankruptcy Section presents the Lawrence P. King Award to recognize a lawyer, judge, teacher, or legislator who exemplifies the best in scholarship, advocacy, judicial administration, or legislative activities in the field of bankruptcy. The award is designed to recognize the lifetime achievements of Professor King, which include contributing to the practice of bankruptcy law through teaching, by working to elevate the profession and through bankruptcy-related legislative activities.

This year’s recipient — Ralph Brubaker — is the James H.M. Sprayregen Professor of Law at the University of Illinois, where he teaches courses in bankruptcy, bankruptcy procedure, corporate reorganizations, federal courts, conflict of laws (private international law), contracts, and restitution. Professor Brubaker has three degrees from the University of Illinois, including his J.D. summa cum laude and an M.B.A., and he received Bronze Tablet distinction (highest honors) and C.P.A. certification as an undergraduate. He clerked for Judge James K. Logan of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and he practiced in the bankruptcy and corporate reorganization group with the law firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey (now Squire Patton Boggs) in Cleveland, Ohio. Professor Brubaker was a member of the faculty at the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia from 1995 until 2004, when he returned to his alma mater.

Professor Brubaker is the Editor-in-Chief and a contributing author for West’s Bankruptcy Law Letter, he is co-author of a bankruptcy casebook, and he has written dozens of journal articles and essays. He is particularly expert in the complex jurisdictional and procedural facets of federal bankruptcy proceedings. Professor Brubaker has been an editorial advisor for the American Bankruptcy Law Journal, the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review, and the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal. He is a member of the American Law Institute, a Conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, and a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, for which he has been the Scholar-in-Residence.

Professor Brubaker has served on the executive committee of the board of directors of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), and he was a member of the advisory committee on business enterprise sales for the ABI’s 2014 Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11.