Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP issued the following announcement on Nov. 12.
Bradley is pleased to announce that Jay Bender, a partner in the firm’s Birmingham office, has received the inaugural Service to Veterans Award from the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) for his pivotal role in drafting and helping to turn into law the “Honoring American Veterans in Extreme Need Act of 2019” (HAVEN Act; H.R. 2938).
The award recognizes an ABI member who has contributed to the betterment of the lives of veterans during the past year. Mr. Bender was formally recognized at the ABI-co-sponsored Hon. Steven W. Rhodes Consumer Bankruptcy Conference in suburban Detroit on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.
“We are extremely proud of Jay’s years of work and commitment to making the HAVEN Act a reality and we congratulate him on this well-deserved recognition from the American Bankruptcy Institute,” said Bradley Birmingham Office Managing Partner Dawn Helms Sharff. “Thanks in part to Jay’s efforts, this landmark legislation already is helping struggling disabled veterans and their families save significant money, while having a smoother path toward a true financial fresh start.”
The bipartisan legislation, which passed Congress and was signed into law this year, changed U.S. bankruptcy laws to better protect the economic security of disabled veterans experiencing financial hardship. Mr. Bender was instrumental in the drafting of the original HAVEN Act bill in 2017, worked pro bono on the initiative along with other Bradley attorneys, and served as co-chair of the Legislative Committee of the ABI’s Task Force on Veterans and Service Members Affairs – of which Mr. Bender is a founding member – that actively promoted the HAVEN Act on Capitol Hill.
A member of Bradley’s Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights Practice Group, Mr. Bender represents debtors, banks, secured creditors, indenture trustees, and purchasers of distressed assets in complex Chapter 11 and Chapter 9 bankruptcy cases, in state and federal court receivership proceedings, and in out-of-court workouts, reorganizations, restructurings, and liquidations. A Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, Mr. Bender formerly served as chair of Bradley’s Bankruptcy, Restructuring, and Distressed Investing Practice Group.
Original source can be found here.