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Murray Drabkin papers

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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library [Contact Us]3460 Chestnut Street, Biddle Law Library, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3406

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Call Number:
NBA.003
Repository:
University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library
Extent:
10 linear feet
Language:
English
Preferred Citation:
[Identification of item], in the Murray Drabkin Papers, National Bankruptcy Archives, NBA.003, Biddle Law Library, University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Date:
1957-1999 (inclusive)
Creator:
Drabkin, Murray and National Bankruptcy Archives
Abstract:
Murray Drabkin (1928-) was a commercial bankruptcy lawyer at Hopkins and Sutter in Washington, D.C. until 2001. He was a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference and co-authored the "Judges' bill," which, together with the "Commission bill," drafted by a federal commission to study bankruptcy laws, was the basis for the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978. The collection, 1932-1999, includes materials relating to bankruptcy reform and the jurisdiction of bankruptcy judges in the 1970s and 1980s; records and papers of the National Bankruptcy Conference, where Drabkin was an active member; material relating to two important legislative projects formed by the National Bankruptcy Conference, the Code Review Project and the Insurance Insolvency Project; correspondence related to the activities of bankruptcy committees in New York and Washington, D.C.; and published manuals, reports, and reference books.

Murray Drabkin (1928-) was a commercial bankruptcy lawyer at Hopkins and Sutter in Washington, D.C. from 1992 to 2001. He was a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference, an association consisting of bankruptcy scholars and practitioners that provided continuing education courses on bankruptcy law and lobbied Congress for bankruptcy reform. In 1969, Drabkin was appointed as counsel to the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ). Together with Joe Lee, a bankruptcy judge and member of the NCBJ, Drabkin co-authored the "Judges' bill," which articulated to Congress the position of the NCBJ on proposed bankruptcy reform in 1973. Together with the "Commission bill," drafted by a federal commission to study bankruptcy laws, the Judges' bill was the basis for the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978. The Judges bill became H.R. 32 and S. 236, while the Commission bill became H.R. 31 and S. 235.

The Murray Drabkin Papers cover the period of 1932-1999. The collection includes materials relating to bankruptcy reform and the jurisdiction of bankruptcy judges in the 1970s and 1980s; records and papers of the National Bankruptcy Conference, of which Drabkin was an active member; material relating to two important legislative projects formed by the National Bankruptcy Conference, the Code Review Project and the Insurance Insolvency Project; correspondence related to the activities of bankruptcy committees in New York and Washington, D.C.; and published manuals, reports, and reference books.

    Arrangement
  1. Bankruptcy Reform
  2. Bankruptcy Jurisdiction
  3. National Bankruptcy Conference
  4. Organizations
  5. Publications

Received from Murray Drabkin in 2002.

An item-level container list is available offline in spreadsheet form. Please contact the Archives for more information.

Processed by Melissa Silverman Backes.

Encoded by Jordon Steele, July 2006.

Organization
Subject

Publisher
University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library
Finding Aid Author
Jordon Steele
Finding Aid Date
2006
Access Restrictions

The archives reserves the right to restrict access to materials of sensitive nature. Please contact the department for further information.

Use Restrictions

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Collection Inventory

Bankruptcy Reform, 1971-1978.
Box 1 Folder 1-7
Scope and Contents

Section by section comparison of the "Judges'" and "Commission" bankruptcy reform bills, reports, testimony, handwritten notes, various law review articles and reports, and related materials collected by Drabkin that reflect bankruptcy reform initiatives in the late 1970s.

Bankruptcy Courts Jurisdiction, 1982-1984.
Box 2 Folder 2-3 Box 1 Folder 8
Scope and Contents

Correspondence and related materials regarding the Northern Pipeline reorganization case, which called into question the jurisdiction of the bankruptcy bench in the 1980s.

Scope and Contents

An administrative file, proceedings and other meeting materials, and files on the Code Review Project, Insurance Insolvency Project, and Larry King's revision of the Conference's Bankruptcy Binder. Drabkin is a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference.

Administration, 1981-1999.
Box 2 Folder 4
Meetings, 1969-1996.
Box 3-15
Code Review Project, 1993-1997.
Box 16 Folder 1-4
Insurance Insolvency Project, 1991-1995.
Box 17 Folder 1-4 Box 16 Folder 5-6
Bankruptcy Binder Project, 1993-1999.
Box 17 Folder 5 Box 18 Folder 1-3

Scope and Contents

Correspondence, notes, prepared remarks, and related material regarding organizational meetings where Drabkin was invited to speak.

American College of Bankruptcy, 1997.
Box 11 Folder 1
Association of the Bar of the City of New York, 1979-1989.
Box 19 Folder 1-3 Box 18 Folder 4
Bankruptcy Committee of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, 1982.
Box 19 Folder 4
National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, 1972.
Box 19 Folder 5

Bankruptcy act of 1898 Annotated, 1979.
Box 19 Folder 6
"Federal Bar Association Bankruptcy Law Developments", 1982 November 16-18.
Box 19 Folder 7
"Frazier Lemke Act (farmer-debtor relief-§75 of ch. VIII): Agriculture Department study on impact on farmers & lenders", 1957.
Box 20 Folder 1
Understanding the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994by Michelle League Johnson, David J. Light, Esq., 1994.
Box 20 Folder 2

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