WHO WE ARE.
The National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center (NCBRC) is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to protecting the integrity of the bankruptcy system and preserving the rights of consumer bankruptcy debtors. Created in 2010, NCBRC was founded by the Board of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys to provide assistance to consumer debtors and their counsel in cases likely to impact consumer bankruptcy law.
WHAT WE DO.
Each year, millions of individuals and families across the country struggle to pay their bills. Often financial distress follows on the heels of other unanticipated events such as job loss, divorce, substantial out-of-pocket medical expenses and natural disasters. Bankruptcy may provide these debtors with the opportunity for a fresh start. The Bankruptcy Code grants financially distressed debtors certain rights that are critical to the proper functioning of the bankruptcy system as a whole. However, bankruptcy debtors, lacking both financial resources and exposure to the bankruptcy system, often do not have the ability to protect the integrity of the bankruptcy system and preserve the bankruptcy rights of consumer debtors more generally. The National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center (NCBRC) was created to fill that vacuum.
NCBRC provides assistance either by working directly with debtors’ attorneys or by filing amicus briefs in courts throughout the country. An amicus curiae is an entity or person, not party to a case, who volunteers information to assist courts in deciding matters before it. Appellate cases are normally limited to the factual record and arguments from the lower court case under appeal, and the debtors’ attorneys focus on the facts and arguments most favorable to their clients. Where resolution of a particular case may impact consumer debtors throughout the country, amicus curiae briefs are a way to introduce those broader concerns, so that the larger legal effects of courts’ decisions will not depend solely on the parties directly involved in the case.
NCBRC also strives to impact the national conversation on bankruptcy laws and debtor rights by increasing public awareness and education and by attracting media attention to the important issues involved.
Jim Haller – Executive Director
Jim is the Executive Director of the National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center.
Jim has been practicing law since 1993 primarily in the field of bankruptcy and consumer law. Jim served as President of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (2017) and was also a member of NACBA’s Board of Directors. Jim also served on the ABI Advisory Committee to the ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy. Jim also served as NACBA’s Director of Professional Development from 2018-2023.
THE NCBRC BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Henry J. Sommer – President
Henry J. Sommer is President of the National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center. He has litigated many major cases involving bankruptcy, consumer law, civil rights and other issues. Previously, he was the head of the Consumer Law Project at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, where he worked for over 21 years and Supervising Attorney at the Consumer Bankruptcy Assistance Project in Philadelphia. Mr. Sommer has also served as a Lecturer-in-Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Adjunct Professor at Temple University School of Law. He received his A.B. degree from Harvard College, magna cum laude and his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School, cum laude.
Mr. Sommer is Editor in Chief of Collier on Bankruptcy and the entire Collier line of bankruptcy publications. He is the author of Collier Consumer Bankruptcy Practice Guide (Matthew Bender); Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice, (11th Ed. 2016) published by the National Consumer Law Center, Boston, Ma., and Consumer Bankruptcy: The Complete Guide to Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Personal Bankruptcy (John Wiley & Sons 1994) as well as numerous articles on bankruptcy law. He is the co-author of Collier Family Law and the Bankruptcy Code (Matthew Bender).
Mr. Sommer is a former member of the Federal Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules (appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) and a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference. He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, a member of the American Law Institute, and a former member of the Federal Reserve Board Consumer Advisory Council. He is also a former President of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA), and a former Chair of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference.
He has been asked to testify many times before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, as well as the National Bankruptcy Review Commission, on bankruptcy and consumer law issues. He has served on the faculty of numerous continuing legal education programs including those presented by the Federal Judicial Center, NYU Law School, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute, the Executive Office of U.S. Trustees, the ABA Family Law Section, NACBA, ALI-ABA and the Pennsylvania Bar Institute. Mr. Sommer was the first recipient of the National Consumer Law Center’s Vern Countryman Consumer Law Award and a recipient of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges Excellence in Education Award and the American College of Bankruptcy’s Distinguished Service Award.
Matt Mason – Secretary
Matthew J. Mason was an Assistant Director with the UAW-GM Legal Services Plan, a position he held for over thirty years. Mr. Mason is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, cum laude, and a member of the Michigan Bar having specialized in bankruptcy and consumer law over his career. He is a Past President and Former Member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. He is currently the Secretary of the National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center which specializes in appellate advocacy on behalf of consumer debtors. Mr. Mason has testified on consumer bankruptcy issues before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and before the National Bankruptcy Review Commission.
Prof. Angie Littwin
University of Texas Law School. Professor Littwin studies bankruptcy, consumer, and commercial law from an empirical perspective. Her current research includes studying the knowledge of and attitudes towards bankruptcy among consumer being sued by debt collectors as well as the relationship between consumer credit and domestic violence (DV). She has published in journals such as the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the California Law Review, and the American Bankruptcy Law Journal. She has recently published articles about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s complaints process and supervision program as well as on how consumer bankruptcy attorneys adapted to the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. Professor Littwin has served as a speaker at numerous conferences and trainings.
James “Ike” Shulman – Treasurer
Ike Shulman received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and he received hi
s J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law. Mr. Shulman has practiced bankruptcy law
in San Jose, California, since 1986. His practice has been devoted almost entirely to small business and consumer bankruptcy debtors. He is certified as a Specialist in personal and Small Business Bankruptcy Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. Mr. Shulman is a member of the State Bar of California, and is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California; and the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Seventh and Ninth Circuits. He served as a delegate to the California State Bar Conference of Delegates from 1987 through 1989. A member of the Bankruptcy and Commercial Law Executive Committee of the Santa Clara County Bar Association, he organized and served as the first Chair of its Chapter 13 Subcommittee in 1989-90. He again served as its Chair for 2002. In 1996 and 1997, Mr. Shulman testified on consumer bankruptcy issues before the National Bankruptcy Review Commission. In March 1998, he also testified on pending bankruptcy legislation before the House Judiciary Committee.
In 1992, Mr. Shulman led the effort to organize the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys to provide consumer debtors with an effective voice in the legislative process. Mr. Shulman was elected NACBA’s first president, and served in that position through 1996. In 1997 he took over as NACBA Treasurer and also currently serves as Chair of NACBA’s Legislative Committee. He has served as a panelist at each of NACBA’s annual conventions and has appeared as a speaker at numerous other conventions and seminars.
Jill Michaux
Jill Michaux is a Kansas attorney with the Bankruptcy Law Office of Neis & Michaux, P.A., in Topeka. She represents consumer debtors and small proprietors in chapter 13 and 7 cases. She is a board certified in consumer bankruptcy law by the American Board of Certification. Michaux is a founding member and past director of the National Association Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA). She serves as a member of the federal Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules, appointed to a three-year term by Chief Justice John G. Roberts in November 2012. She is a frequent speaker at bankruptcy conferences and a blogger. She can often be found on Bankruptcy Law Network, Google+, and her own site, Kansas Bankruptcy, where she shares information about consumer bankruptcy law issues. jill.michaux@neismichaux.com
John Rao
John Rao is an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center, Inc. Mr. Rao focuses on consumer credit and bankruptcy issues and has served as a panelist and instructor at numerous bankruptcy and consumer law trainings and conferences. He has served as an expert witness in court cases and has testified in Congress on consumer matters. Mr. Rao is a contributing author and editor of NCLC’s Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice; and a co-author of NCLC’s Foreclosures and Bankruptcy Basics. He is also a contributing author to Collier on Bankruptcy and the Collier Bankruptcy Practice Guide. Mr. Rao serves as a member of the federal Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules, appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts in 2006. He is a conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, vice-president of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, member of the editorial board of Collier on Bankruptcy, and former board member for the American Bankruptcy Institute.
David Yen
Mr. Yen is the supervisory attorney of the bankruptcy project of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1975. After clerking for the County Court for Cape May County, New Jersey, he has worked for legal services programs representing low-income clients in New York, Alabama, and Illinois. He has been a Supervisory Attorney with LAF since 1987. He has written articles on bankruptcy and consumer topics for the Clearinghouse Review and Illinois Welfare News, is a contributing author for the Collier Bankruptcy Guide, and has been a lecturer or panelist in those areas for organizations ranging from the Alabama Judicial College to the National Association of Consumer Advocates. He is a member of the Illinois bar, the bankruptcy section of the Chicago Bar Association, and the American Bankruptcy Institute.
Norma Hammes
Ms. Hammes received her A.B. in Communications and Public Policy from the University of California (Berkeley) in 1972 and received a J.D. from Santa Clara University Law School in 1977. She has been certified as a Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization since 1997.
Ms. Hammes has represented consumer debtors in bankruptcy since 1978, in private practice with her husband, James Gold. She is admitted to the California State Bar, U.S. District Court – Northern District of California; U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits; and the U.S. Supreme Court. She chaired the Northern District of California Bankruptcy Court’s Bench-Bar Liaison Committee in 2010-2011, and served. She is a co-founder of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys and served as a Director from its formation in 1992 to 2009. She served as its president from January 1997 to July 2001.
Ms. Hammes has been a speaker on consumer bankruptcy topics at various seminars and conventions across the country including NACBA’s. In July 2009, she was appointed by NACBA to serve as its liaison with the Obama Administration regarding the implementation of HAMP. In late 2009, at the U.S. Treasury Department’s invitation she served on its Bankruptcy Working Group that proposed improvements to HAMP regulations regarding bankruptcy debtors and foreclosures. Ms. Hammes previously has testified on consumer bankruptcy issues before the National Bankruptcy Review Commission (1996-97) and the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative and Commercial Law (1998).
Daniel M. Press
Dan is a bankruptcy lawyer with the law firm of Chung & Press, P.C., in McLean, Virginia, and Greenbelt Maryland. A 1988 magna cum laude graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, he was an editor of the Georgetown Law Journal. He received his B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University. After graduating from law school, Mr. Press served as a judicial law clerk for Judge Jaime Pieras Jr. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. Mr. Press and his law partner Brett Weiss are the authors of Chapter 11 for Individual Debtors, published by Collier/Lexis-Nexis, and present “Bootcamp” training on Chapter 11 for individuals. Mr. Press practices in the Bankruptcy and Federal District Courts in the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia Maryland, and the District of Columbia, as well as other U.S. Appellate, District and Bankruptcy Courts around the country. He is a member of the Board of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, and was previously the NACBA State Chair for the District of Columbia. He is also a member of the Section Council of the Consumer Bankruptcy Section of the Maryland State Bar Association and is the Education Director of the Consumer Bankruptcy Committee of the American Bankruptcy Institute. He is a regular speaker on bankruptcy and related topics at Continuing Legal Education seminars and programs locally and nationwide.
Edward Boltz
Ed is the managing partner at the Law Offices of John T. Orcutt, P.C., where he has represented clients in not only Chapter 7 and 13, but also in related consumer rights litigation, including fighting abusive mortgage practices and developing solutions for student loans.
Mr. Boltz received his B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis in 1993 and his J.D. from George Washington University in 1996. He is a member of the NC State Bar, where he has been certified as a specialist in consumer bankruptcy law. He is admitted to practice before the Districts Courts in both the Eastern and Middle Districts of North Carolina.
Mr. Boltz served as the President of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) from 2013 through 2016, and remains on its Board of Directors, co-chair the Legislative Committee. Mr. Boltz was a commissioner on the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Consumer Bankruptcy Commission from 2017-2019. He also served on the Bankruptcy Council for the North Carolina Bar Association, where he co-chaired the Committee which created a Mortgage Modification Program for the North Carolina bankruptcy courts.
Mr. Boltz is a frequent speaker on bankruptcy issues at both national and local seminars, including at NACBA Conventions and Workshops, past NCLC Workshops, and the North Carolina Bankruptcy Institute.
After leading the discussion with the Department of Education that lead to the issuance of guidance making student loans substantially easier to discharge in bankruptcy, Mr. Boltz was appointed an alternate to the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee, contributing advice to revisions in the regulations regarding student loan relief programs. Earlier in 2019, Mr. Boltz testified on behalf of NACBA in Congress regarding the need for changes to the Bankruptcy Code to make student loans dischargeable and to disabled veterans from the harsh results of the Means Test. In 2008, he previously testified to Congress to similarly protect National Guard and Reservist, which was enacted as the National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Act.
For the Spring 2020 semester, Mr. Boltz served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law, assisting clients in the Consumer Financial Transactions clinic with student loans.
Mr. Boltz is also the President of the Monti, a North Carolina organization that produces live storytelling shows and recordings of his and others tales can be heard at www.themonti.org.
Victor Noskov
Victor is a partner in Quinn Emanuel’s New York office. His practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, with an emphasis on bankruptcy and restructuring. Victor advises a wide range of clients, including investment funds, bankruptcy trustees, companies, individuals, and creditor groups in state and federal courts, including key public representations related to the following chapter 11 cases: Wesco/Incora (S.D. Tex.); GWG Holdings (S.D. Tex.); Quorum Health Corporation (D. Del.); LATAM Airlines (S.D.N.Y.); Ditech Holding Corporation (S.D.N.Y.); Toys “R” Us (E.D. Va.); iHeartMedia (S.D. Tex.); GenOn (S.D. Tex.); Berry Petroleum Co. (S.D. Tex.); Petters Company (D. Minn.); and Lyondell Basell (S.D.N.Y.). Victor’s recent state court representations include key roles in the high profile lawsuits challenging up-tier recapitalization transactions by TriMark USA, Boardriders, and Wesco/Incora (pre-bankruptcy).
In August 2019, Victor was runner-up for the American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Week” for his role as lead counsel to the Official Committee of Consumer Creditors in the Ditech bankruptcy. In that case—also covered by Bloomberg News, the Wall Street Journal, and other outlets—Quinn Emanuel successfully objected to the Debtors’ proposed $1.8 billion sale of their business and ultimately negotiated a settlement ensuring significant recoveries and providing unprecedented protections for consumer borrowers in connection with the sale. Victor has also been widely recognized by a variety of industry publications, including being selected as 2021 Best Lawyers: Ones To Watch (Litigation-Bankruptcy), New York Metro Super Lawyers “Rising Stars”, 2022, and Benchmark Litigation Future Stars 2023-24.
Prior to joining Quinn Emanuel, Victor worked in the financial restructuring group at the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP and represented clients in a variety of industries, including energy, entertainment, distribution and manufacturing, healthcare, and aviation. Victor obtained his law degree from Fordham Law School, a master’s in European Union Law from Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas, and an A.B. in Politics from Princeton University.
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