Board and Officer Bios
Click on the names below to view their bios:
ED BOLTZ, ESQ, Board Member
Durham, North Carolina
Mr. 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.
WILLIAM E. BREWER, JR.,
ESQ, Board Member
Raleigh, North Carolina
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.
JOHN C. COLWELL,
ESQ, Board Member
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.
CAREY DALTON EBERT, ESQ,
Board Member, Vice President
Hurst, Texas
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 Secretary and was elected to her second term as a Director
for the National Association of Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) in 2002.
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.
NORMA HAMMES, ESQ, Board
Member
San Jose, CA
Ms.
Hammes received her A.B. 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 is certified as a
Specialist in Personal and Small Business Bankruptcy Law by the State
Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.
Ms. Hammes has represented consumer debtors in bankruptcy
since 1978. 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.
On
behalf of NACBA, Ms. Hammes filed amicus briefs in the Seventh Circuit;
the Fifth Circuit, In re Rash, 90 F.3d 1036, en banc 1996); and the
U.S. Supreme Court, Associates v. Rash, 117 S.Ct. 1879 (1997),
regarding the valuation of secured claims in Chapter 13 cases.
Ms. Hammes testified on consumer bankruptcy
issues before the National Bankruptcy Review Commission (1996-97) and
the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Economic and Commercial Law (1998).
She has been a speaker on consumer bankruptcy topics at various
seminars and conventions, including NACBA's.
She is a
co-founder of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys
and has been a Director of NACBA since its formation in 1992 and served
as its president from 1997 to 2001.
MATTHEW MASON, ESQ, Board
Member
Detroit, Michigan
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
nineteen Plan offices located in Southeast Michigan; and Buffalo 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
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 and now
serves as NACBA's President.
BARBARA MAY, ESQ, Board Member
St. Paul, Minnesota
Ms.
May is a sole practitioner in St. Paul, where she has practiced in
bankruptcy and adversary litigation for over 20 years. She received her
BA degree in paralegal studies from Winona State University and her
J.D. degree from Hamline University School of Law. Ms. May is a member
of the State Bar of Wisconsin (member, Family Law Section and
Bankruptcy Law Section), and the Minnesota State Bar Association
(member: Family Law Section and Bankruptcy Law Section). She is
certified as a Consumer Bankruptcy Law Specialist by the American
Board
of Certification. She restricts her practice to difficult or contested
Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 matters, and lectures frequently on bankruptcy
litigation matters.
She is a long-time NACBA
member, has participated in several of its Capitol Hill Meetings in
Washington DC, as a panelist at NACBA conventions, and was elected to a
seat on its Board of Directors in 2002.
JOHN RAO, ESQ, Board Member, Secretary
Boston, Massachusetts
Mr.
Rao is a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, Inc. He
focuses on consumer credit and bankruptcy issues and directs the
Center's case consulting services, providing technical assistance and
litigation support to attorneys in a wide range of consumer law cases.
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. He has served as a panelist and
instructor at numerous bankruptcy and consumer law trainings and
conferences, and has served as a trainer for housing counselors and
attorneys on predatory mortgage lending issues. Prior to coming to
NCLC, Mr. Rao served as head of the consumer law unit at Rhode Island
Legal Services. He is a graduate of Boston University and received his
J.D. from the University of California (Hastings). He became a Director
of NACBA in 1998.
Mr. Rao is editor of NCLC's Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice manual, co-author of NCLC's Repossessions and Foreclosures, and contributing author to NCLC's Student Loan Law and Stop Predatory Lending, and NCLC Reports: Bankruptcy and Foreclosures Edition. 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).
JAMES (IKE) SHULMAN, ESQ,
Treasurer.
San Jose, California
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.
HENRY J. SOMMER, ESQ, Board Member, President
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mr.
Sommer, NACBA's President, is Supervising Attorney at the pro bono
Consumer Bankruptcy Assistance Project in Philadelphia. 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. Mr. Sommer has also served as a
Lecturer-in-Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He
received his AB degree from Harvard College, magna cum laude and JD
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, (8th Ed. 2006) 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). He is also a contributing author to the Matthew Bender
treatise on Debtor-Creditor Law. 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, for which he served as Reporter for
the Bankruptcy Code Review Project's Working Group on Individual
Debtors. 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 Director and
President of NACBA, a former Chairman of the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference, and Vice President of the Coalition
for Consumer Bankruptcy Debtor Education. 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, 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.
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