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Lawrence P. King 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
As a teacher, scholar, lawyer, and consultant, Lawrence P. King (1929-2001) played a role in reforming bankruptcy law from the 1960s to his death in 2001. Larry King received his LL.B. from New York University (NYU) in 1953 and his LL.M. from University of Michigan in 1957. King joined the faculty at New York University School of Law in 1959. He became the Charles Seligson Professor of Law at NYU in 1963, where he taught commercial and bankruptcy law. He was also a visiting professor at universities throughout the world, including University of California-Berkeley, University of Houston, and Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University, both located in Israel.
King served on a number of commissions formed to analyze and reform bankruptcy law. From 1968 to 1986 he was a member of the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules of the Judicial Conference of the United States, serving as Reporter from 1979 to 1983. In 1972, he was recruited as a consultant to the Commission on Bankruptcy Laws of the United States, a committee formed by Congress to analyze existing bankruptcy laws and to provide Congress with advice for reform.
King gave speeches and participated in panels regarding bankruptcy legislation for a number of seminars and educational programs. He was an active member of the National Bankruptcy Conference, an organization of bankruptcy practitioners and scholars dedicated to bankruptcy education and reform. He played leadership roles in National Bankruptcy Conference committees, including the Committee on Legislation, where he was Chairman. King also served as Associate Reporter for the American Law Institute, an association of legal experts dedicated to the promotion of greater uniformity in law through the publication of its series of "Restatements". He is well known as Editor of
Collier on Bankruptcy, a reference series that became the leading treatise on bankruptcy law during King's 40-year tenure.King died in 2001. His career-long work as a scholar and advocate of bankruptcy reform earned him an appropriate moniker: "The King of Bankruptcy."
The Lawrence P. King Papers include materials relating to King's scholarship, teaching, writing, and professional participation from 1952 to 2001. Included are personal correspondence and professional correspondence with lawyers, judges, faculty colleagues, and fellow bankruptcy scholars; reports, correspondence, and memoranda relating to King's participation in the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy rules; reference books, articles, and other papers used by King when researching and consulting various congressional entities, including the Commission on Bankruptcy Laws of the United States; congressional hearings and testimony by King and his colleagues, including Vern Countryman, Leon Forman, and George Treister; meeting minutes, correspondence, and committee files from the National Bankruptcy Conference, of which King was an active member; programs, agenda, educational papers, workbooks, presentations, correspondence, administrative papers relating to the New York University Advanced Workshop on Bankruptcy and Business Reorganization, which King formed and taught; seminar materials from the Federal Judicial Center, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the Association of American Law Schools, and other organizations; articles written by King; materials regarding King's visiting professorships and swap lectures as faculty member at NYU; subject files on a range of topics, including personal bankruptcy, bankruptcy reform, the Bankruptcy Code, consumer legislation, and the Marathon Pipeline bankruptcy court case; and related material used by King in the course of his scholarship. Also included are a selection of research files used by King throughout his career and work on legislation, bankruptcy reform, and his involvement in the annual NYU Bankruptcy Workshop.
- Correspondence
- Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules
- Committee on Bankruptcy Rules and Procedure
- Commission on Bankruptcy Laws of the United States
- Preliminary Draft of Proposed Rules and Forms
- Congressional Hearings and Testimony
- National Bankruptcy Conference
- New York University Advanced Workshop for Bankruptcy
- Seminar and Meeting Materials
- Writings
- Teaching Materials
- Subject Files
- Personal Effects
- Bankruptcy Education Lecture Audiotapes
Received from New York University Law School in 2002.
Processed and by Jordon Steele, June 2006.
Reprocessed by Christopher Defeliciantonio, September-December 2007.
Encoded by Jordon Steele, May 2008.
People
- Treister, George M. -- Correspondence
- Forman, Leon S., 1915-2006 -- Correspondence
- Countryman, Vern -- Correspondence
Organization
- National Bankruptcy Conference (U.S.)
- National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (U.S.)
- Commission on the Bankruptcy Laws of the United States
Subject
- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library
- Finding Aid Author
- Jordon Steele
- Finding Aid Date
- 2009
- Access Restrictions
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The archives reserves the right to restrict access to materials of sensitive nature. Please contact the department for further information.
- Use Restrictions
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Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Collection Inventory
Letters written and received from King, including those from the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, Manfred Balz, Vern Countryman, Asa Herzog, and the American Bar Association.
For related papers, please see the "Committee on Bankruptcy Rules and Procedure" series.
The Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules was comprised of bankruptcy experts appointed by the Judicial Conference of the United States, formed by Congress in 1922 to create policy relating to federal courts administration. The Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules was asked to study bankruptcy law and to advise the Judicial Conference on judicial aspects of the bankruptcy code, including the appointment of judgeships. The committee's work in the 1970s contributed to the overhaul of United States bankruptcy laws and the creation of the Bankruptcy Code in 1978. King became a member in 1968, served as Reporter from 1979-1983, and continued to participate into the 1990s.
Letters, memoranda, drafts, reports, and reference material related to King's research and activity as a member of the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules.
Letters, memoranda, drafts, reports, reference material, and related material regarding the activities of the Committee on Bankruptcy Rules and Procedure, which assumed the responsibilities of the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules when that committee was disbanded from 1976 to 1979.
For related materials, please see the "Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules" series.
In 1970, Congress established the Commission on Bankruptcy Laws of the United States to conduct a sweeping study of bankruptcy law. The commission was comprised of bankruptcy practitioners and scholars known as experts on bankruptcy law. In 1973, the commission submitted to Congress a report calling for bankruptcy reform. This report, known as the "Commission Bill," was the basis for H.R. 32, an early version of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, a law that overhauled the bankruptcy system. King served as a consultant to the commission from 1972 to 1973.
Letters, memoranda, meeting minutes, reports, and other papers relating to the King's participation as Consultant to the Commission on Bankruptcy Laws of the United States.
Photocopies of preliminary drafts of bankruptcy rules and forms.
Congressional testimony by King and other people regarding bankruptcy legislation, and related papers. Witnesses include Vern Countryman, Leon Forman, H.P. Minkel, Gerald Smith, and George Treister.
Meeting minutes, committee papers, letters, reports, and other papers relating to King's activities as a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference, an association of bankruptcy scholars and practitioners devoted to education and advocacy in the field of bankruptcy law.
Letters from on Municipal Bankruptcy, general legislative matters, and other topics, 1968-1993.
Programs, agenda, educational papers, workbooks, presentations, correspondence, administrative papers, and other papers relating to the NYU Advanced Workshop for Bankruptcy Judges, an annual continuing legal education program for United States bankruptcy judges that King founded and oversaw for almost 30 years.
In addition to his service to the New York University Advanced Workshop for Bankruptcy Judges, King was invited to attend and lecture at many other programs for bankruptcy scholars, lawyers, judges, and other professionals. This series contains brochures, program papers, correspondence, reference papers, lectures, speeches, and related material regarding King's participation at seminars, workshops, conferences, Continuing Legal Education seminars (CLE), and other meetings.
Chiefly articles, book reviews, and chapter entries written by King and journal issues in which King's work appeared. This series also includes correspondence between King and publishers, and annotated drafts of King's writings.
Alphabetical.
Letters, syllabi, examinations, and other papers relating to King's visiting professorships, swap lectures, and classes.
Alphabetical.
Digital copies of materials created by King as a faculty member at New York University Law School.
Physical Description215 Item(s)
Alphabetical. King's original file titles have largely been retained.
Reference material, news clippings, letters, memoranda, and other papers that King arranged by subject matter.
Awards, honors, letters of Congratulation, photographs, and related material.
Educational lectures on bankruptcy law given by Frank Kennedy and George Treister.