Archives and Special Collections

The National Bankruptcy Conference is non-profit, non-partisan, self-supporting organization of approximately sixty lawyers, law professors and bankruptcy judges who are leading scholars and practitioners in the field of bankruptcy law. Its primary purpose is to advise Congress on the operation of bankruptcy and related laws and any proposed changes to those laws.

The National Bankruptcy Conference (NBC) was formed from a nucleus of the nation’s leading bankruptcy scholars and practitioners, who gathered informally 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 was formalized in the 1940’s and has been a resource to Congress on every significant piece of bankruptcy legislation since that time. Members of the NBC formed the core of the Commission on the Bankruptcy Laws of the United States, which in 1973 proposed the overhaul of our bankruptcy laws that led to enactment of the Bankruptcy Code in 1978, and were heavily involved in the work of the National Bankruptcy Review Commission (NBRC), whose 1997 report initiated the process that led to significant amendments to the Bankruptcy Code in 2005.

This collection is still being processed and edited by the archives, so please stay tuned for the addition of this content.

The National Bankruptcy Review Commission (NBRC) is an independent commission established pursuant to the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994, Pub. L. No. 103-394, 108 Stat. 4106, and ceased to exist on November 19, 1997. The Commission was created to investigate and study issues relating to the Bankruptcy Code; solicit divergent views of parties concerned with the operation of the bankruptcy system; evaluate the advisability of proposals with respect to such issues; and prepare a report to be submitted to the President, Congress and the Chief Justice not later than two years after the date of the first meeting.

The National Bankruptcy Archives here at Penn Carey Law hold the following Commission member and consultants records:

• Robert E. Ginsberg
• Lawrence P. King
• Jack Williams 

The papers of the following Commission members are housed in other locations as noted. To view the records, please contact the noted institution:

• Jay Alix. Questor, Birmingham, MI. 
• M. Caldwell Butler Papers. 1972-1982, 1995-1997, (MS.004). Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Archives, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA
• John Gose. American Bankruptcy Law Institute, Alexandria, VA.
• James Shepard. George Mason Law School, Alexandria, VA.

*Please note that the American University Washington College of Law and the National Archives have full sets of Commission materials.

The National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges is an association of the Bankruptcy Judges of the United States which has several purposes: to provide continuing legal education to judges, lawyers and other involved professionals, to promote cooperation among the Bankruptcy Judges, to secure a greater degree of quality and uniformity in the administration of the Bankruptcy system and to improve the practice of law in the Bankruptcy Courts of the United States. NCBJ has financially supported the National Bankruptcy Archives at Biddle Law Library since its inception. The NCBJ has also contributed it bylaws, publications and other materials to the collection. Papers of members of NCBJ have been contributed to the archive, including those of Judge Judith Fitzgerald and Judge Frank Koger.

The National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges records, 1926-2007, includes materials related to organizational activity as it relates to the field of bankruptcy law, including administrative files, committee papers, meeting materials, legislative activity, publications, and related material.

The NBA preserves and collects the papers of individuals who have influenced the field, and other collections documenting the history of bankruptcy law. This includes the papers of the following individuals: