On December 1, 2021, the National Bankruptcy Conference (NBC) announced the election of three esteemed bankruptcy professionals to membership as Conferees, including Professor Ralph Brubaker of the University of Illinois College of Law. Brubaker joins alumnus Jamie Sprayregen '85 and fellow faculty member Bob Lawless in earning the distinction. Brubaker and Lawless are both also alumni of the College of Law, Class of 1989. The full press release from NBC follows:

"Our three new Conferees are outstanding leaders of our profession, and each promises to bring a distinctive set of skills to the ongoing challenge of improving our bankruptcy laws and their administration," said Professor Douglas Baird, NBC Chair. We are pleased to introduce the following Conferees:

Professor 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, contracts, conflict of laws (private international law), 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 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.

Colleen Laduzinksi is a tax partner at Jones Day, with a focus on solving complex tax and structuring issues in bankruptcy cases, restructurings, distressed M&A transactions, financing transactions, liability management transactions, and debt and equity issuances and exchanges in capital markets and private equity transactions. Laduzinski has acted as debtor's bankruptcy tax counsel in many chapter 11 cases, including Chrysler, Dana Corporation, Peabody Energy, and Westmoreland Resources. She has led tax representations of creditor groups – including onshore and offshore funds – in significant debt workouts and restructurings, including syncreon group’s cross-border restructuring. She has advised numerous clients on tax strategies to preserve and maximize net operating losses, minimize income from debt discharge, and tax-efficiently structure reorganized companies. Her significant publications include three Bloomberg BNA Tax Management Portfolios – Corporate Bankruptcy; Corporate Bankruptcy—Special Topics; and Tax Aspects of Restructuring Financially Troubled Businesses. With two decades of experience in New York, Laduzinski is now the Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day, Boston.

Hon. Christopher Lopez is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Texas. Before his appointment, Judge Lopez was a member of the Business, Finance & Restructuring Group of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. While in private practice, Judge Lopez focused on representations ranging from top global corporations in mega-restructurings to middle-market debtors and creditor representations. Judge Lopez lectures across the country on bankruptcy issues. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Thurgood Marshall School of Law.

The NBC is a non-profit, non-partisan, self-supporting organization of approximately sixty lawyers, law professors and bankruptcy judges whose primary purpose is to advise Congress on the operation of bankruptcy and related laws and any proposed changes to those laws. The NBC was formed in the 1930's at the request of Congress to assist in the drafting of major Depression-era bankruptcy law amendments, ultimately resulting in the Chandler Act of 1938. The NBC has been a resource to Congress on every significant piece of bankruptcy legislation since that time. Please visit http://www.nationalbankruptcyconference.org for additional information on our work.and history.