MSU College of Law Professor Anne Lawton is serving as the Robert M. Zinman Resident Scholar at the American Bankruptcy Institute for the spring 2015 semester.
The ABI is a multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on insolvency issues. In her role as Resident Scholar, Lawton writes for the ABI Bankruptcy Brief, covering Congressional hearings on bankruptcy-related issues, such as the proposed legislation to amend the Bankruptcy Code to allow Puerto Rican municipalities to file for relief under chapter 9.
Lawton also answers media inquiries on bankruptcy issues and hosts ABI podcasts featuring commentary from bankruptcy judges, leading bankruptcy practitioners, and academics about pending Supreme Court cases, proposals to amend the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and the Official Forms, and empirical research on chapter 11 cases. She also prepares educational materials on the recommendations by the ABI Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11 to amend the Bankruptcy Code’s small business provisions.
Lawton teaches bankruptcy, contracts and various commercial law courses. She has taught in both law and business schools in her academic career, and has won multiple awards for her work in the classroom. Her recently completed empirical study of individual chapter 11 cases filed before and after the passage of BAPCPA is forthcoming in the American Bankruptcy Law Journal. That study earned her an invitation to present at an academic panel entitled “BAPCPA at Ten” at the annual meeting of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges.
Her appointment as Resident Scholar reflects her ongoing work with the ABI. Last year, Lawton provided the ABI Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11 with data from her study of pre- and post-BAPCPA chapter 11 cases, and that data formed the basis for the Commission’s decision to establish a $10 million asset or liability ceiling for small or medium-sized entities. She also published a report on proposed small-business reforms for the Governance Advisory Committee of the Commission, following up on an article published in the ABI Law Review titled “An Argument for Simplifying the Code’s ‘Small Business Debtor’ Definition” (ABI Law Review Vol. 21, 55 (2013)). Lawton is a member of the Individual Chapter 11 Task Force, and also testified before the Commission on small business bankruptcy cases in 2013.
Lawton received an A.B. with honors from the University of Michigan where she also earned both her J.D. cum laude and M.B.A. She clerked for the Hon. David W. McKeague, for the Hon. James D. Gregg, and the Hon. James Brickley in Michigan. She also worked as a corporate attorney for the Boston firm of Brown, Rudnick and is admitted to practice in both Massachusetts and Michigan.
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