Amy Quackenboss has spent the last nine years as deputy director of the American Bankruptcy Institute, but that didn’t make her a shoo-in for the top job when longtime Executive Director Sam Gerdano announced his retirement in June 2019.
Exuding a quiet confidence, Quackenboss says, although some in the organization were surprised by the process, she welcomed the opportunity to compete for the top job.
“I think it showed I was definitely the most qualified out there, which was a good thing for the organization and for the staff to see as well.”
After graduating from Washington and Lee law school, she joined Hunton and Williams in Atlanta. She started out in the Securities Litigation Group. The year was 1998, and after she spent nine months working in security litigation, bankruptcies started picking up. The Atlanta group had one partner who did bankruptcy work, and he was so busy, he asked her to go to a hearing in his place.
She did lose the case, but she left the courtroom impressed with the cordiality and professionalism of the bankruptcy bar.
Quackenboss is, she explains, a litigator at heart, and in bankruptcy she spent more time in court than many of the other junior associates, who become bogged down in document reviews for complex litigation cases. She spent 12 years at Hunton, and her husband still works for the firm.
The time came when Hunton wanted Quackenboss to move to Washington to help out with the labor and employment practice in the capital. But Quackenboss had just had a baby and was looking for an in-house legal position that offered more opportunity to spend time with her family. She received an email from then ABI deputy director, Felicia Turner who, ironically, wanted to return to Atlanta and was looking for a suitable position there.
“It’s been a really great transition for me,” says Quackenboss. “I still get to do very substantive bankruptcy work. I’m also very involved in our journal.”
She adds that the main goal is to position the ABI as the go-to organization for insolvency professionals. “We might have to pivot to do that,” she adds.
Like every business from supermarkets to department stores, the ABI is trying to reevaluate how its offerings are viewed by millennials and attempting to revamp the way it communicates with younger professionals.
“Artificial intelligence is one way we communicate with young professionals. It is no longer the day of typing letters and putting them in the mail, asking them to rejoin,” she adds.
Relief for Small Businesses
The bill was signed into law by President Trump in August, 2019 and amends the Bankruptcy Code and Title 28 of the U.S. Code to provide special rules and procedures for “small business debtors.” Quackenboss says that the revisions in the new law have lowered the debt limit required to file Chapter 11, which should help smaller, struggling businesses.
ABI, she points out, is preparing articles and educational programs to help members understand the revisions to the code.
“We started a new health care program last year, and we’re going to do another one in March, I think, because we’re seeing an uptick in health care filings and important issues are coming out because of that,” she says.
It’s an exciting time in the world of insolvency, and Quackenboss is eager to see ABI take a leading role.
“I would encourage everyone to reach out to me if they have ideas about anything, and I’m very open to talking to those in the insolvency industry to figure out where we’re going to go.” •
