Distinguished Bankruptcy Law and Business Students

The Distinguished Bankruptcy Law and Business Student program was established by the American College of Bankruptcy to identify and promote prospective leaders in the insolvency and bankruptcy profession.

Committee members review and vet the nominations submitted by law or business school professors or deans, in consultation with their respective Circuit Regents, as appropriate, to select the Distinguished Bankruptcy Law and Business Students. Distinguished Bankruptcy Law Students are selected annually for each Circuit, while Distinguished Business Students are selected annually on a national basis.

The criteria for the selection includes academic excellence, professional accomplishments in bankruptcy or restructuring-related courses and other endeavors while enrolled in school that relate to insolvency issues (e.g., moot court, case competitions, writing competitions, publications, research, participation in relevant community service programs, etc.), participation in relevant community service programs, etc.), a passion for, or intent to practice in, the restructuring and insolvency area, and commitment to public service and pro bono efforts. Additional information.

2026 Distinguished Bankruptcy Students

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First Row:
8th Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Alan Julien, University of lowa College of Law
4th Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Casey Bouker, Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law
10th Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Grace Griggs, University of Oklahoma College of Law
7th Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Rachel Lehmann, Chicago-Kent College of Law
Distinguished Business Student: Alex Ofsie, University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce
6th Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Joshua Hiero, Vanderbilt Law School
3rd Distinguished Law Student: Ryan McCann, Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University
Second Row:
Distinguished Business Student: Emilian Pitts, University of Chicago
2nd Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Jonathan Lent, Brooklyn Law School
11th Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Jacob Needle, University of Miami School of Law
5th Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Rafael Saplala, Texas A&M School of Law
1st Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Jungin Yoon, Boston College Law School

2025 Distinguished Bankruptcy Students

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First Row:
Lisa Futrell: Chair, Distinguished Student Committee
5th Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Hannah Young, University of Texas School of Law
Distinguished Business Student: Belisa Pang, Yale School of Management
3rd Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Madelyn Demchick, Temple University Beasley School of Law
4th Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Lucas Thornton, University of North Carolina School of Law
11th Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Nader Abou Mrad, University of Florida Levin School of Law
8th Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Katelyn Heley, University of North Dakota School of Law
10th Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Madeleine Sharp, BYU J Reuben Clark Law School
Second Row:
Distinguished Business Student: Alex Voissard, Northeastern University D'Amore Kim School of Business
7th Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Joshua Livingston, University of Illinois College of Law
Distinguished Business Student: Harrison McCollum, University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce
9th Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Fletcher Warren, University of Southern California Gould School of Law
2nd Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Aaron Hemmings, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University
6th Circuit Distinguished Law Student: Nick Pavelec, Case Western Reserve University School of Law
1st Circuit Distinguished Law Student: James Kuang, Harvard Law School

2024 Distinguished Bankruptcy Students

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3rd Circuit: Jing Lu, Delaware Law School, Widener University
2nd Circuit: Katherine Waldock, Columbia Law School
4th Circuit: Olivia Maier, Washington & Lee University
11th Circuit: Molly Newcomb, Emory University School of Law
6th Circuit: Abby Swartz, University of Dayton School of Law
10th Circuit: Dillon Sullivan, University of Oklahoma College of Law
1st Circuit: Kyra Luck, Boston University School of Law
7th Circuit: Stone Hart, University of Chicago Law School
9th Circuit: Suzie Jaderholm, University of Idaho College of Law
5th Circuit: Adam Schmidt, University of Texas School of Law
8th Circuit: Johanne Brown, Creighton University School of Law

2023 Distinguished Bankruptcy Students

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Salina Salim, UVA (Business Student)
11th Circuit: Amanda Graham, University of GA Law School
1st Circuit: Shannah Colbert, Suffolk University Law School
3rd Circuit: Jasnoor Hundal, Temple University
4th Circuit: Lauren Heide, GW University
9th Circuit: Caven Hamilton, USC Gould Law School

2022 Distinguished Bankruptcy Law Students

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2nd Circuit: Benjamin Weissler, Columbia Law School, New York, NY
7th Circuit: Kelby Roth, Chicago-Kent Law School, Chicago, IL
8th Circuit: Renhua "Alex" Xuan, Washington University School of Law, St. Louis, MO
6th Circuit: Khalil A. Bryant, Vanderbilt Law School, Nashville, TN
8th Circuit: Jonathan Francisco Garcia, Brigham Young University - J. Reuben Clark School of Law, Salt Lake City, UT
5th Circuit: Abigail Emery, University of Texas School of Law, Austin, TX

2021 Distinguished Bankruptcy Law Students

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1st Circuit: Alexis Soares, Suffolk University Law School, Boston, MA
3rd Circuit: Jamie A. Baum: University of Pennylvania, Philadelphia, PA
4th Circuit: Savannah Lavender, Campbell University School of Law, Buies Creek, NC
9th Circuit: Hannah Kaye Fleming, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
11th Circuit: Kennedy Rhea Bodnarek, Emory University School of Law, Atlanta, VA

2021 Distinguished Business Students

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Richard Nicholas Jové, Boston College’s Carroll School of Management Honors Program, Boston, MA
William Lenhart, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

2020 Distinguished Bankruptcy Law Students

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2nd Circuit: Brittani Bushman, Albany Law School, Albany, NY
5th Circuit: Taylor Calvert, Texas Tech University School of Law, Lubbock, TX
8th Circuit: Taylor Dawn Ellis, University of Arkansas School of Law, Fayetteville, AR
10th Circuit: Kathleen Guilfoyle, University of Colorado Law School, Denver, CO
6th Circuit: Marina Danielle Kirtland, University of Kentucky School of Law, Lexington, KY
7th Circuit: Nathan Yeary, University of Illinios College of Law, Chicago, IL