Edward C. Boltz is a member of the Law Offices of John T. Orcutt, P.C., where he has managed the firm’s office in Durham, North Carolina since 1998, representing clients in not only Chapter 13 and Chapter 7 bankruptcies, but also in related consumer rights litigation, including fighting abusive mortgage practices.
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 North Carolina 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.
In addition to serving on the Board of Directors for NACBA, where he is jointly responsible for directing the State Chair program, Mr. Boltz serves on the Bankruptcy Council for the North Carolina Bar Association and previously served as the Bankruptcy Chair for the North Carolina Association of Trial Lawyers. Mr. Boltz moderated the panel, “Military Members Deep in Debt”, at the 2007 NACBA Convention. Mr. Boltz served as the Convention Chair for the 2008 NACBA Convention in Hollywood, as well as moderating a panel on Basic Bankruptcy Issues.
In April 2008, Mr. Boltz testified on behalf of NACBA in Congress regarding the need for changes to the bankruptcy code to protect National Guard and Reservists returning from Iraq and Afghanistan from the harsh results of the Means Test, which was enacted as the National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Ac
Tucson, AZ
Jean Braucher is Roger C. Henderson Professor
of Law at the
University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law, where she teaches
bankruptcy, commercial law and contracts. Her scholarship focuses
on consumer aspects of these subjects, and she is a frequent lecturer on
consumer bankruptcy topics. She was the 2008 chair of the Section on
Creditors’ and Debtors’ Rights of the Association of American Law
Schools. She has conducted two empirical studies concerning consumer
bankruptcy, one on the impact of debtor education in bankruptcy, funded
by the
American Bankruptcy Institute, and another on local legal culture in the
counseling practices of consumer debtors’ lawyers. She serves on the
NACBA amicus brief committee. She has been active in law reform work in
commercial law as a member of the American Bar Association and the
American Law
Institute. She has been a member of the Advisory Board of the American
Bankruptcy Institute Law Review and a peer reviewer for the American
Bankruptcy
Law Journal. She has been a visiting professor at Cornell Law School,
the
University of Texas School of Law, Boston College School of Law and the
Cardozo
School of Law, Yeshiva University.
William E. Brewer, Jr. graduated from the
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill with an A.B. in Economics in
1973, and with a J.D. with honors in 1976. Mr. Brewer served as law
clerk to Judge R.A. Hedrick of the North Carolina Court of Appeals
before beginning private practice in 1977. Certified as a specialist in
consumer bankruptcy law by the North Carolina State Bar, Mr. Brewer has
represented the debtors in the series of "Sears" cases in the Eastern
District of North Carolina, dealing with the effect of purchase money
security interests in bankruptcy cases.
Mr. Brewer has been a
NACBA member since 1993, a NACBA Director since 1997, and has served as a
popular panelist at NACBA's previous conventions. Mr. Brewer currently
serves as NACBA's Vice President.
San Diego, California
Mr. Colwell maintains his practice at
the Law Offices of John C. Colwell, a P.L.C. d/b/a Debt Relief Legal
Clinic of San Diego County, where he has worked exclusively in the field
of consumer bankruptcy since 1989. He manages a practice averaging 30
Ch. 7 and 10 Ch. 13 consumer bankruptcy cases per month. Under his
guidance, his firm filed the first “electronic” Ch. 7 bankruptcy case in
San Diego, and his firm is the largest filer of cases filed via the
internet in San Diego (over 6300 Ch. 7 and Ch. 13's filed electronically
as of 3/06).
Mr. Colwell received his B.A. Degree in Philosophy
from Ripon College in Ripon, WI in 1977; and his J. D. degree from
California Western School of Law in San Diego, CA in 1984. He is a
member of the State Bar of California (1985) and is admitted to practice
before the U.S. District Court (Southern District of CA), the Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Mr Colwell is a member and a Director on the Board of the National
Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, as well as a member of the
following: 9th Circuit Information Technology and Telecommunications
Committee, National Assoc. of Ch. 13 Trustees, American Bar Association,
Federal Bar Association, American Bankruptcy Institute, National Association
of Bankruptcy Trustees, San Diego County Bar Association (Bankruptcy
Section), and the California and San Diego Bankruptcy Forums.
Mr.
Colwell has participated on many panels regarding the representation of
debtors, on a variety of subjects, and venues, including NACBA, NACTT,
Visa USA, Inc., Toyota Motor Credit, Mitsubishi Motor Credit, CA Credit
Union Collectors Council, S.D. County Bar ‘Free Law Day’, U.S.
Bankruptcy Court, Southern District visiting Judges panels, and for
other MCLE providers. He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
Ms.
Ebert received her B.A. degree from H. Sophie Newcomb College of Tulane
University, cum laude in Public Policy in 1982. She received her J.D.
in 1985 from Texas Tech University. She has been a member of the firm,
Ebert Law Offices, P.C. since 1989, and is a member of the State Bar
College. Ms. Ebert is admitted to the U.S. District Court, Northern
District of Texas. She also serves as a panel trustee in the Northern
District of Texas. She is board certified in Consumer Bankruptcy by the
State Bar of Texas and the American Bankruptcy Board of Certification.
Ms.
Ebert is the President of NACBA. Ms. Ebert has also served as President
of the Northeast Tarrant County Bar Association and is a frequent
lecturer at Debtor Bar seminars and has served as a panelist at NACBA
conventions since 1998.
Belleville, Illinois
Jim is a partner with William Mueller in
The Law Offices of Mueller and
Haller, LLC, in Belleville, Illinois. His firm concentrates solely in
consumer bankruptcy law and files approximately 2-3,000 bankruptcies per
year. His firm has four offices and twelve attorneys spread throughout
southern Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri.
Jim received his B.A. from Carleton College in Northfield Minnesota
and his J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis. He is admitted
to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the 7th and 8th
Circuit Courts of Appeal, the Federal District Courts of Southern
Illinois, Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri, and in the states
of Illinois and Missouri.
Mr. Mason is a 1974 graduate of the
University of Michigan Law School
and has practiced in California and Michigan since being admitted to the
bar in that same year. As a practicing lawyer, Mr. Mason specialized in
bankruptcy and consumer litigation while working in an office of the
UAW-Chrysler Legal Services Plan. He is currently an Assistant Director
of the UAW-GM Legal Services Plan in Detroit, Michigan. He supervises
fifteen Plan offices located in Southeast Michigan; and Buffalo,
Rochester and Lockport, New York. Those offices provide pre-paid legal
services including bankruptcy and consumer matters to General Motors,
Ford and Chrysler hourly workers represented by the United Auto Workers
Union. As part of his responsibilities, Mr. Mason approves all appellate
work originating from the offices he supervises and, in particular,
maintains a keen interest in bankruptcy and consumer appellate issues
that affect working people.
Mr. Mason has testified before the U.S. Senate and House Judiciary
Committees and the National Bankruptcy Review Commission on proposed
bankruptcy legislation. Mr. Mason, a member of NACBA since 1993, became a
Director of NACBA in 1996, served as its Vice President and its
President and is currently a Director.
*Secretary*
Boston, Massachusett
John Rao is an attorney at 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. He
also participates in the Center’s litigation efforts, which has
included serving as co-counsel in the May Department Store reaffirmation
abuse class action and the Fairbanks Capital mortgage servicing abuse
class action. 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 Fellow of the AmericanCollege of Bankruptcy, secretary
for the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (and a
Director of NACBA since 1998), and former board member for the American
Bankruptcy Institute.He is an adjunct faculty
member at Boston College School of Law.He is a
graduate of BostonUniversity and received his J.D. from the University of California
(Hastings).
Mr. Rao is a contributing author and editor of NCLC's Consumer
Bankruptcy Law and Practice; co-author of NCLC’s Foreclosures; Bankruptcy Basics; Guide to
Surviving Debt; and NCLC Reports: Bankruptcy and Foreclosures
Edition, and contributing author to NCLC’s Student Loan Law.He is also a contributing author to Collier on
Bankruptcy (Matthew-Bender) and the Collier Bankruptcy Practice
Guide.
Mr. Rao has drafted numerous amicus curiae briefs on
behalf of NACBA, including those filed in Tennessee Student
Assistance Corp. v. Hood, 124 S.Ct. 1905 (2004); Geiger v.
Kawaauhau, 118 S.Ct. 974 (1998); In re Price, 370 F.3d 362 (3d Cir.
2004); In re Lopez, 345 F.3d 701, (9th Cir. 2003), In re
Paschen, 296 F.3d 1203 (11th Cir. 2002), In re Su, 290 F.3d
1140 (9th Cir. 2002), In re Weinstein, 164 F.3d 677 (1st Cir.
1999); and In re Boodrow, 126 F.3d 43 (2d. Cir. 1997).
Ike
Shulman received his undergraduate degree from the University of
Wisconsin - Madison, and he received his 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.
Houston, Texas
Ms. Stewart was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1991 and has been practicing Consumer and Bankruptcy Law, with a focus on mortgage servicing issues, in the Houston area for sixteen years. While attending the University of Houston Law Center, Ms. Stewart completed an internship with former Bankruptcy Judge William Greendyke.
Ms. Stewart has been actively involved in the governance and as a member of numerous local bar associations and national professional Bankruptcy Law organizations. She is a co-founder and former Secretary of Bankruptcy Law Network, the founder and current President of the Houston Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (formerly known as the Houston Association of Debtor Attorneys), former President and Vice-President of the Upper Kirby Optimist Club, and a former Vice-President of the Katy Bar Association. Ms. Stewart is a Fellow of the College of the State Bar of Texas and the Houston Bar Foundation. Ms. Stewart is also member of the Board of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, the Bankruptcy Section of the Houston Bar Association, the Bankruptcy Law Section of the State Bar of Texas, the National Association of Consumer Advocates, and the Moller-Foltz American Inn of Court. Ms. Stewart has served as a member of the Texas Supreme Court’s Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee.
In 2003, the Coalition for Consumer Bankruptcy Debtor Education certified Ms. Stewart as a Debtor Educator. Ms. Stewart has spoken frequently on Bankruptcy Law and related issues, among other places, at the State Bar of Texas Advanced Consumer Bankruptcy Seminar and the People’s Law School at The University of Houston Law Center, Center for Consumer Law. Ms. Stewart has been selected for inclusion in “Who’s Who in the World,” “Who’s Who in America,” “Who’s Who of American Women” and “Who’s Who in the South and Southwest.”
Ms. Stewart also has an office in Victoria, Texas.
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