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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
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 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.
- Bankruptcy Reform
- Bankruptcy Jurisdiction
- National Bankruptcy Conference
- Organizations
- Publications
Received from Murray Drabkin in 2002.
Processed by Melissa Silverman Backes.
Encoded by Jordon Steele, July 2006.
Organization
- American College of Bankruptcy
- National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (U.S.)
- National Bankruptcy Conference (U.S.)
Subject
- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library
- Finding Aid Author
- Jordon Steele
- Finding Aid Date
- 2006
- 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
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.
Correspondence and related materials regarding the Northern Pipeline reorganization case, which called into question the jurisdiction of the bankruptcy bench in the 1980s.
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.
Correspondence, notes, prepared remarks, and related material regarding organizational meetings where Drabkin was invited to speak.