Students Gain an Inside View of Bankruptcy Law

Third year law students Jordan Lee and Annamarie White recently traveled to Los Angeles to participate in the West Coast Bankruptcy Roundtable, organized by Professor Samir Parikh from Lewis & Clark Law and Robert Rasmussen and Michael Simkovic from USC Gould School of Law. The two students were invited by the Center for Business Law and Innovation to attend the event, giving them the opportunity to hear from legal scholars and practitioners in the fields of corporate and bankruptcy law.

The keynote presentation featured Professor Douglas Baird (University of Chicago) and Marshall Huebner (Davis Polk), lead bankruptcy counsel to Purdue Pharma. Commenting on the keynote, White said that “it was cool to get a candid look at what it is like to represent such a major company, especially one engaged in active litigation.”

In addition to the keynote, a Caesar’s Bankruptcy Panel featured Sujeet Indap, a reporter from The Financial Times, and prominent attorneys and finance professionals from both sides of the case. White recounted that it was “really interesting to see these titans of bankruptcy have candid and casual discussions with one another.”

Six business law scholars gave paper presentations. White found it useful to watch the practitioners “explain the academics’ findings from a different angle.” Lee agreed and stated that he “really enjoyed observing the different perspectives between highly esteemed academics and practitioners that specialize in bankruptcy.” One paper on restructuring support agreements by Katherine Waldock even sparked a few ideas for Lee’s capstone paper. Lee is hoping to “use [his capstone] to further explore the intersection between lawyering and economic analysis.”

White characterized the atmosphere of the event by saying that it was “collegial and welcoming even when people disagreed with each other’s conclusions. They were working together to bounce ideas off of each other and make the scholarship richer. The experience fostered well rounded conversations due to all of the different perspectives in the room.”

Lee currently works as the Editor in Chief for Lewis & Clark’s Law Environmental Law Review. White currently works as the managing editor of Lewis & Clark’s Law Review, is the VP of Programing for the Student Bar Association, and coaches high school Mock Trial in her free time. Both White and Lee worked at Perkins Coie the summer prior to this academic year. When looking back at the roundtable, White stated that witnessing a group of people so passionate and excited about their specific area of law made her excited to begin practicing business law after graduating.