Henry J. Sommer is a leading authority on consumer bankruptcy law and has litigated many major cases involving bankruptcy, consumer law, civil rights and other issues. He is the President of the National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center. He has served in the past as head of the Consumer Law Project at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia and as the Supervising Attorney at the pro bono Consumer Bankruptcy Assistance Project in Philadelphia. Mr. Sommer has been a Lecturer-in-Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and an adjunct professor at Temple University School of Law. Mr. Sommer is the author of Collier Consumer Bankruptcy Practice Guide (Matthew Bender), Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice (Nat'l Consumer Law Center),and numerous articles on bankruptcy law. He is co-author of Collier Family Law and the Bankruptcy Code (Matthew Bender). Together with Richard Levin, Mr. Sommer serves as Editor-in-Chief of Collier on Bankruptcy (16th ed.). Mr. Sommer is an elected member of the American Law Institute and the National Bankruptcy Conference. In addition, he is an elected Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. He is a former president of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, former Chair of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference and a former member of the Federal Reserve Board Consumer Advisory Council. Mr. Sommer was the first recipient of the National Consumer Law Center's Vern Countryman Consumer Law Award. He received his legal education from Harvard Law School (J.D., cum laude).
Alan N. Resnick is the Benjamin Weintraub Distinguished Professor of Bankruptcy Law at Hofstra University School of Law in Hempstead, New York. Professor Resnick, who has taught for more than 25 years, is a nationally recognized authority on bankruptcy law. Professor Resnick is also Of Counsel to the firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP in New York City, where he regularly consults on bankruptcy, insolvency and restructuring matters. Professor Resnick's writings have been cited in more than 150 judicial opinions, including opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was the author of Bankruptcy Law Manual (5th ed. West) and was the co-editor of Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978: A Legislative History (Wm. Hein). He has written numerous articles on bankruptcy and commercial law. He also is a frequent speaker at professional seminars and educational programs. Professor Resnick is an elected member of the National Bankruptcy Conference and the American Law Institute, and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He is also an elected Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and has served as that organization's Scholar-in-Residence. He received his legal education at Georgetown University Law Center (J.D.) and Harvard Law School (LL.M.).