When the invitation arrived in my inbox, I was honored. It’s not every day that a Bankruptcy Trustee reaches out to you about something other than a pending case you have together. But on this particular day, as I was busy toggling between screens working on this and that, I stopped in my tracks. The invitation was for the IWIRC CT/New England Second Annual Dinner with Bankruptcy Judges (I never knew there was a first one, but I digress).
IWIRC is an acronym for International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation. It was founded in 1993 by a female attorney and a female financial advisor for the purpose of empowering and encouraging women in the insolvency field worldwide “across the boardroom, courtroom and the continent.”
I was so excited I almost jumped out of my office chair! The local bankruptcy judges are awesome, to say the least, and to have an opportunity to be in the room with them, to converse with them off the record in an informal setting about the practice of law was – for this legal nerd – quite an exciting prospect. There are, in fact, three seats of the Bankruptcy Court in Connecticut. There is a male judge in Hartford and two female judges (one in New Haven and one in Bridgeport).
I immediately checked my calendar for conflicts and made sure I had childcare so I could register to attend. Once, I confirmed everything and paid the fee, I put the date on my calendar, thanked the trustee that had invited me and started to count down the days until the event.
When the appointed evening arrived, I wore my best dress and my favorite high heels, curled my hair and did my makeup, and drove up to Hartford to enjoy “an evening of fine dining and merriment with women bankruptcy judges from our region” as it was billed on the IWIRC website. The dinner was held at Gather55 on Bartholomew Avenue in the Parkville neighborhood of Hartford, “which operates in collaboration with Hands on Hartford.” The space was open and inviting, the food was delicious and the staff was very attentive.
Upon checking in and getting my name tag, I found the perfect seat to see the podium clearly. Then I grabbed a club soda with lime and mixed and mingled with many colleagues from across the state and region. I recognized some of the judges from the other states from a bankruptcy conference I had attended a few years ago but I only saw one of the two female judges from Connecticut. I asked around and learned that the absent judge had come down with a cold and couldn’t attend. It was a huge disappointment, as she is just a terrific person and an incredible judge.
After the appetizers were passed, the attendees were asked to take their seats and the program started. There was a lovely and warm introduction from the Vice Chair, a few inspirational speeches from the various judges and a bittersweet announcement of a retirement.
But the best part of the night was the conversation with the ladies that sat at my table, including debtors’ and creditor’s attorneys, foreclosure attorneys, court clerks and the one female Bankruptcy judge from Connecticut that did attend. Her Honor actually sat directly across from me and we chatted about so many cool things like the update to local Chapter 13 Plan Form and the intricacies of the most popular bankruptcy software. I hung on her every word!
As the evening progressed and the main course was served, the conversation was waning just a bit so I turned to the woman next to me and spontaneously asked “have you read any good books lately?” Without one single hesitation, she exclaimed, “yes, I just read Unjust Debts and it was great!” Intrigued by the title, I asked a few follow-up questions and made a mental note to look up the book when I got home because it sounded right up my alley.
It was getting late and I had a long drive home from Hartford to Orange, so I took my chocolate torte dessert to go and said my goodbyes to the lovely ladies at my table.
As soon as I got home, I googled the book and discovered it was published last year. I immediately went on Case Memorial Library’s website and searched for the book. To my amazement, it was on the shelf, so I placed it on hold and picked it up the next day.
The book’s full title is Unjust Debts: How Our Bankruptcy System Makes America More Unequal. It was written by Melissa B. Jacoby who is an attorney and the Graham Kenan Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
As NPR called it, the book is a “critical analysis” of the Bankruptcy system and frankly, I was put off by the criticism. As a pro-bankruptcy practitioner, I felt that the book read more like a college thesis for a sociology class than an actual book about the Bankruptcy system. The book focuses mostly on Chapter 9’s (municipal bankruptcies) which are few and far between and Chapter 11s (bankruptcies for companies and corporations). There was very little attention paid to Chapter 7s or 13s for individuals. Although a lot of attention was paid to complaining about the system. A system that has, in fact, helped thousands and thousands of people each year for over two hundred years, get a second chance. It was clear that the author was never a practicing attorney and did not have a firm grasp on how people qualify for bankruptcy or why they choose a particular chapter. It was as if she had never had any real interaction with regular, everyday people who file for bankruptcy to seek relief from the pressures of their creditors. Regardless, it was an interesting read, however disappointing, and will be returned to the Case Memorial Library if you want to go check it out.