Judge Bufford appointed delegate to UNCITRAL’s Working Group on Insolvency Law

Judge Samuel Bufford has been appointed as a delegate Working Group V (Insolvency Law) of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), an arm of the United Nations. Consisting of 60 U.N. members and having responsibility over matters related to international trade, UNCITRAL acts principally on recommendations from working groups of experts drawn from around the world.

During UNCITRAL’s annual meeting in Vienna, Austria, from October 31 to November 4, 2011, Professor Bufford will represent the International Insolvency Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing and promoting insolvency as a respected discipline in the international field.

“I am honored to have been appointed as a delegate to Working Group V, which has a very distinguished history that includes drafting a proposed model law, adopted by the U.N., for individual countries to adopt to bring order and an international regime to a free-for-all arising when a business engaged in international trade went into bankruptcy.”

Promulgated by UNCITRAL in 1997, the model law has been adopted by many major trading nations, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Japan, U.K., Australia, Spain, and New Zealand. During its annual meeting, Working Group V will consider revisions and refinements to the model law.

Judge Bufford is one of the foremost scholars of U.S. and comparative insolvency law. He joined Penn State Law following a career as one of the leading U.S. bankruptcy judges. He serves on the editorial advisory boards for the International Insolvency Review and the West Annual Review of International Bankruptcy.