Introduction to INSOL Europe Academic Forum
The Academic Forum of INSOL Europe, founded in 2004, is a constituent body of INSOL Europe, a Europe-wide association of practitioners in insolvency. The Academic Forum's primary mission is to engage in the representation of members interested in insolvency law and research, to encourage and assist in the development of research initiatives in the insolvency field and to participate in the activities organised by INSOL Europe. The membership of the Academic Forum includes insolvency academics, insolvency practitioners with recognised academic credentials as well as those engaged in the research and study of insolvency. The Academic Forum meets annually in conjunction with the main conference of INSOL Europe and also arranges half-yearly conferences around suitable themes of interest to the practice and academic communities. Previous meetings have taken place in Prague (2004), Amsterdam (2005), Monaco (2007), Leiden and Barcelona (2008).
At the Monaco Conference, Professor Bob Wessels, Professor in International Insolvency Law at the University of Leiden, was elected Chair of the Management Board for a three-year term. Dr. Paul Omar, (University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom) was elected to serve as Secretary to the Board, while Florian Bruder (Max Planck Institute, Hamburg, Germany) and Professor Ulrich Haas (University of Zurich, Switzerland) are ordinary members of the Board. A Supervisory Committee has also been established as a consultative board for Academic Forum projects. Its membership includes senior insolvency academics and practitioners.
With sponsorship made available by Edwin Coe LLP over a three-year period from 2007-2010, the Academic Forum has been able to offer young scholars travel grants to attend its conferences, research grants for scholarly projects as well as prizes for outstanding legal scholarship awarded on the basis of monographs and publications. Edwin Coe LLP has also kindly sponsored an annual lecture to be given by a scholar of international repute. In Barcelona, for example, the lecture was given by Professor Jay Westbrook of the University of Texas, a distinguished researcher and author of innumerable texts and articles on topics within the field of international insolvency.
Enhancing existing links within the academic insolvency world, the Academic Forum is embarking on a new phase of co-operation with the INSOL International Academic Group, under the chairmanship of Professor Ian Fletcher (University College London), with view to expanding the membership base and attracting researchers and scholars to attend and deliver papers at the conferences of both organisations. This co- operation will also see reciprocal advertising of group conferences and events and the development of links through the websites of the respective groups.
The Academic Forum's next annual meeting is scheduled to take place in conjunction with the INSOL Europe conference in Stockholm on 30 September-1 October 2009. Details of academic conferences will be posted at the Academic
Forum website: http://www.insol-europe.org/academic/ as and when available. On-line registration for the academic conferences will also feature on the website.
Further information about the work of the Academic Forum can be obtained via the Academic Forum website or from the Secretary via e-mail at: paulo@sussex.ac.uk.
Dr Paul Omar University of Sussex Law School Brighton East Sussex UK
November 2008
