Towering Victory: UT Law Shines Bright with Third Duberstein Moot Court Championship

The University of Texas Law School won the 2024 Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition, sponsored by the American Bankruptcy Institute and St. John’s Law School. The UT Law team is coached by Deborah B. Langehennig, Chapter 13 Trustee, Austin, Texas; this is University of Texas’ third national Duberstein championship. To celebrate the victory, UT lit the campus Tower in the traditional burnt orange.

The 2024 moot court problem, Clegg v. Floyd involved a dispute between a chapter 7 trustee and the debtor over (i) whether any post-petition, pre-conversion increase in equity in a debtor’s property inures to the benefit of the debtor or to the estate upon conversion of a case from chapter 13 to chapter 7 pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 348 and 541, and (ii) whether a chapter 7 trustee may sell, as property of the estate, the ability to avoid and recover transfers pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 547 and 550. 

The 2025 Duberstein problem, just released, focuses on two timely Chapter 13 issues: (i) Whether 11 U.S.C. § 1322(b)(2) precludes a chapter 13 debtor from modifying the rights of the holder of a secured claim that is secured only by a security interest in real property consisting of both the debtor’s principal residence and income generating rental property; and (ii) whether 11 U.S.C. § 1325(b)(1) allows a chapter 13 debtor to exclude from the calculation of disposable income voluntary, post-petition contributions to his or her 401(k) retirement plan.

Congratulations Deb and team!!!!!

langehennig
Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Western District of Texas (Austin)

Debbie Langehennig served as a judicial law clerk to Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Larry E. Kelly and currently serves as Chapter 13 Trustee for the Western District of Texas. Debbie is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, Coach for the University of Texas Law School Bankruptcy Moot Court Team, President of the Hon. Larry E. Kelly Bankruptcy Inn of Court and ABI Special Projects Director for the Consumer Bankruptcy Committee. She served as Chair of the Bankruptcy Law Section of the State Bar of Texas, Contributing Editor to the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, Co-Chair of the ABA Consumer Bankruptcy Litigation Committee, on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees, and President of both the Western District of Texas and Austin Bankruptcy Bar Associations. She is the recipient of the State Bar of Texas Distinguished Service Award, the Fifth Circuit Bench Bar Serviam Award, the Outstanding Woman Attorney Award from the State Bar of Texas Bankruptcy Law Section and the Outstanding Service Award, Western District of Texas Bankruptcy Bar. She received the Pro Bono Service Award for founding the Law School Bankruptcy Pro Bono Project.

Debbie received her law degree from the University of Texas and holds a BBA in Accounting. She has written and lectured on numerous consumer and business bankruptcy topics, with articles published in the ABI Journal, the ABA Bankruptcy Litigation Journal, Norton Advisor, Norton Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice, NACTT Quarterly, and the Texas Bar Journal.

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