New Chapter 13 Legislation (including Possible Chapter 10)

Brian R. Walding is the founder of Walding, LLC, a boutique bankruptcy law firm in Birmingham, Ala., that spans the Southeast representing distressed businesses and creditors. In his commercial practice, he represents both debtors and creditors, including banks and other financial institutions.

Mr. Walding also serves in court-appointed and fiduciary roles; he serves on the subchapter V panel of trustees in the Northern District of Alabama, and is a chapter 7 trustee in the Middle District of Alabama. He previously worked at a large Birmingham law firm.

Mr. Walding has been a member of ABI since 2003, has been rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell since 2009, and has achieved numerous other accolades and awards during his legal career. He is the Alabama editor for Thomson Reuters’ Bankruptcy Exemption Manual and also serves as adjunct professor at the University of Alabama, where he teaches an undergraduate course in negotiation.

Mr. Walding received his undergraduate degree in industrial systems and engineering from Auburn University and his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law, both with honors.

John R. Bollinger is a shareholder with the Boleman Law Firm, P.C. and partner-in-charge of its Hampton, Va., office. The firm focuses exclusively in the area of consumer bankruptcy law and is the largest consumer bankruptcy practice in Virginia. He is a frequent speaker at local, regional and national organizations and is past president of the board of the Tidewater Bankruptcy Bar Association.

Mr. Bollinger has spoken before ABI, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, T. C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond, Virginia Bar Association (VBA), Tidewater Bankruptcy Bar Association (TBBA), Virginia Governors Conference on Housing, the National Association of Chapter Thirteen Trustees and the Virginia Trial Lawyer’s Association, as well as a number of civic and business organizations. Additionally, he has served as the past president of the board for the Tidewater Bankruptcy Bar Association.

Mr. Bollinger most recently served on the 2019 ABI Strategic Planning Committee and the 2019 and 2020 ABI “40 Under 40” Steering Committees. He currently serves as the Education Director of ABI’s Consumer Bankruptcy Committee and is an editor for ABI’s VOLO project.

Mr. Bollinger has been has been recognized by Super Lawyers as a “Virginia Rising Star” in the area of Consumer Bankruptcy Law. He received his J.D. from the University of Richmond T.C. Williams School of Law.

Hon. Paul M. Black is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke, appointed in 2014. He previously practiced law in Richmond for several years, then returned to Roanoke and joined Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC, where he co-chaired its Bankruptcy and Creditor’s Rights practice group and focused his practice on commercial litigation, bankruptcy, and banking and finance law.

Judge Black was named to The Best Lawyers in America in multiple areas related to finance and insolvency, to “Virginia’s Legal Elite” by Virginia Business magazine in both Civil Litigation and Bankruptcy Law, and as a Virginia Super Lawyer in the field of Bankruptcy Law. For many years, he was an active participant in the Boyd-Graves Conference of the Virginia Bar Association, which studies and makes recommendations to the Virginia legislature on improvements to civil practice in Virginia.

Judge Black is a past chair of the Litigation Section of the Virginia State Bar, and also chaired the Bankruptcy Section of the Virginia Bar Association. In addition, he served as a member of the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board from 2007-13. Judge Black is a frequent speaker to insolvency professionals on matters pertaining to bankruptcy, litigation and ethics.

Judge Black received his undergraduate degree from Washington and Lee University in 1982, studied at Cambridge University in England, and received his J.D. from the University of Richmond in 1985, after which he clerked for Hon. Blackwell N. Shelley of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Nancy J. Whaley is an attorney and a chapter 12 and 13 trustee for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta, where she oversees 39 employees and operates a trust of over $75 million. She is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and chairs ABI’s Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop Advisory Board. Ms. Whaley is a member of the Northern District of Georgia Bankruptcy Court’s Bench and Bar Committee and is a barrister for the W. Homer Drake, Jr. Georgia Bankruptcy American Inn of Court. She is a past chair of the Atlanta Bar Association’s Bankruptcy Section and also of the State Bar of Georgia’s Bankruptcy Section. Ms. Whaley is a past president of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers and its Foundation, and she has served on the Executive Committee of the State Bar of Georgia and is a member of its Board of Governors. She currently chairs State Bar Finance Committee. Ms. Whaley is an active member in the Association of Chapter 12 Trustees and the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees and is their representative to the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules. She taught as an adjunct professor at John Marshall Law School in Atlanta from 2002- 14 and retired from the Air Force Reserve in 2009 as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Ms. Whaley received her B.A. cum laude from Eureka College, where she was a Ronald Reagan Scholar, and her J.D. from Emory Law School.