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Judge Arthur N. Votolato 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
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Judge Arthur N. Votolato was the first bankruptcy judge to sit in Rhode Island, and for 44 years, he was the only U.S. bankruptcy judge to serve the state. Arthur N. Votolato was born on August 20, 1930. He earned his Bachelors degree in 1953 at the University of Rhode Island. Three years later he earned his Bachelor of Laws degree at the Boston University School of Law in 1956. From 1962 to 1968 Vololato was the Chief Special Council of the State of Rhode Island, Dept. of Public Works. He served on the First Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, Massachusetts and Maine panels. He was Chief Judge, Massachusetts' B.A.P. from 1981 to 1984. Votolato published numerous opinions and texts including A Review of Recent Equal Protection Challenges to the Dischargeability of Alimony; Provisions of Section 17A(7) of the Bankruptcy Act, Suffolk Law Review, 1979; Injunctions and Restraining orders Under the Bankruptcy Act, Rhode Island Bar Annual, 1970-71. Additionally, he served as Editor of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ) Newsletter from 1970 to 1975. Judge Votolato is the longest continuously serving active bankruptcy judge in U.S. history, a distinction he has much enjoyed. He was appointed the U.S. District Court's Bankruptcy referee in 1968 and when a separate U.S. Bankruptcy Court was created in Rhode Island in 1978, he was named its first and only judge.
The Judge Arthur N. Votolato papers is a small collection of material relating to Votolato's work in bankruptcy law. The collection contains Bankruptcy Appellate Panel materials including correspondence, notes, and outlines, as well as case files, reports, publications including The Conference Newsletter, The Silver Whistle, and other related documents. Researchers may be especially interested in Votolato's notes regarding the United States Trustees Pilot Program. An item of note that is within the collection is Votolato's judge appointment to the United States District Court in 1974.
Processed by Leslie O'Neill, 2014 March.
- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library
- Finding Aid Author
- Leslie O'Neill
- Finding Aid Date
- 2014
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