Richard Turton Award Winner 2026

The Richard Turton Award Panel is delighted to announce Jeniffer Gomes da Silva as a winner for the Richard Turton Award 2026.

Jeniffer is a Partner at Galdino Advogados, one of Brazil’s leading insolvency and restructuring law firms, where she serves as Deputy Coordinator of the firm's Advisory Team, focusing on judicial and extrajudicial reorganisations, bankruptcy, and business litigation. She is also actively involved in arbitration and previously led the firm's Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

As part of the award programme, Jeniffer will be writing a paper entitled "Beyond Investment: The Functional Role of Investment Funds in Corporate Reorganization". Her paper will explore the growing use of investment funds as restructuring tools within judicial reorganisation proceedings, examining how they are being used to facilitate corporate rescue strategies, manage creditor claims, and support innovative restructuring solutions.

Jeniffer is also invited to attend the INSOL Europe Annual Congress in Vilamoura, Portugal from 15-18 October 2026.

Please join us in congratulating Jennifer on her outstanding achievement.

The Panel adjudicating applications for the 2026 Turton Award was made up of:

• Neil Cooper, INSOL International
• Frances Coulson, INSOL Europe
• Nicky Fisher, R3
• Yin Lee, IPA.

This year's award attracted a record number of applications - 77 submissions from 16 countries, making the selection process especially competitive. The exceptional quality of submissions made it a challenging decision for the award panel.

We would like to thank everyone who applied and wish all applicants every success as they continue their professional journeys.

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• Barry Cahir, INSOL Europe
• Neil Cooper, INSOL International
• Nicky Fisher, R3
• Yin Lee, IPA

 
Full details of the Turton Award and papers of the previous winners can be found below.

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The Richard Turton Award is an annual award funded by INSOL Europe, INSOL International, the Insolvency Practitioners Association and R3, the Association of Business Recovery Professionals, jointly created in recognition of Richard Turton’s unique role in the formation of all four organisations.

The Richard Turton Award provides an educational opportunity for a qualifying participant to attend the INSOL Europe Annual Congress with all expenses paid. This award will be given to the best paper proposal and will be presented at the INSOL Europe Annual Congress in Vienna, Austria on 9-12 October 2025.

Applications are invited from any person who:

• is a national of a developing or emerging nation;
• works in or studies in the field of insolvency and restructuring law and practice*;
• is under 35 years of age.

The successful applicant will:

• be invited to attend the INSOL Europe Congress in Vienna, Austria on 9-11 October 2025, expenses paid;
• write a paper of 3,000 words on a subject of insolvency and turnaround agreed with the panel. This paper will be published in summary in one or more of the four Member Associations’ journals and in full on their websites;
• be recognised at the congress and receive a framed certificate of the Richard Turton Award.

If you fulfil the criteria and meet the requirements of the successful applicant, you are invited to apply by sending the following to Jelena Wenlock:

• your CV;
• a 200-word statement outlining why you should be chosen;
• the title and a brief synopsis of your proposed paper.

For more information and to apply contact Jelena Wenlock by 6 June 2025.

*Students satisfying the nationality requirement, but studying in another country, are also eligible to apply.

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• Barry Cahir, INSOL Europe
• Neil Cooper, INSOL International
• Nicky Fisher, R3
• Yin Lee, IPA

 
Full details of the Turton Award and papers of the previous winners can be found below.

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The Richard Turton Award Panel is pleased to announce that the 2023 winner is Marinela Majnova from North Macedonia. 

Marinela is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business. Marinela's paper on “Consumer Bankruptcy and the Western Balkan Countries: why do they need it?”, will be published in summary in Eurofenix and can be downloaded in full here.

As part of the award, Ms Majnova attended the INSOL Europe Annual Congress in Amsterdam in October.

The panel adjudicating this year’s applications was made up of:
•    Neil Cooper, INSOL International
•    Nicky Fisher, R3
•    Yin Lee, IPA
•    Robert van Galen, INSOL Europe

We would like to congratulate Marinela on her excellent application, and also thank all the candidates who applied for the award this year and wish them a successful career in their chosen field.
 
Full details of the Turton Award and papers of the previous winners can be found below.

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The Richard Turton Award Panel is pleased to announce that the 2022 winner is Kayode Olude from Nigeria. Kayode is currently studying for a Master of Laws in International Commercial Law at University of Nottingham, his thesis expounding on the prospects of ratification of UNCITRAL Model Laws on cross-border insolvency in Africa’s largest economy – Nigeria, seeking to draw lessons from the experience of other jurisdictions that have adopted the model laws.

Kayode will be writing a paper “Quest for EU harmonisation of cross-border insolvency rules between EU and Non-EU countries; challenges and prospects”, which will be published in summary in one or more of the Member Associations' journals and in full here. As part of the award, Mr Olude is invited to attend the INSOL Europe conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia in October.

The panel adjudicating this year’s applications was made up of:
•    Neil Cooper, INSOL International
•    Nicky Fisher, R3
•    Maurice Moses, IPA
•    Robert van Galen, INSOL Europe

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Abbas Abbasov

The Richard Turton Award Panel is pleased to announce that the 2021 winner is Abbas Abbasov from Azerbaijan. Abbas is currently a PhD student at the Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, in Germany, researching cross-border insolvency and restructuring law. His paper on “Protection of dissenting creditors’ interests: Direct application of the “substantive fairness’’ test while considering the recognition of foreign restructuring plans” can be downloaded here and will be published in summary in the Autumn edition of Eurofenix. As part of the award, Mr Abbasov is invited to attend the our Congress in Dublin in March 2022.

The panel adjudicating this year’s applications was made up of:
Neil Cooper, INSOL International
Nicky Fisher, R3 Association of Business Recovery Professionals
Maurice Moses, Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA) 
Robert van Galen, INSOL Europe

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Dr. Róbert Muzsalyi

The committee is delighted to announce that the 2016 winner is Dr. Róbert Muzsalyi from Hungary. Róbert works as a judicial clerk in the Supreme Court of Hungary. He is currently studying for his PhD (research topic ‘The Impact of EU Law on Hungarian Procedural Law’) at the Doctoral School of Law and Political Sciences at Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary.

This is the first time that we have had a winner from Hungary. Previous winners have come from Uganda, Belarus, India, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, PRC, Romania, Russia and Serbia.

As part of the award, Róbert is invited to attend the INSOL Europe Annual Congress (Lisbon, Portugal). He will be writing a paper on ”Directors’ liability: what should be the minimum harmonisation in the EU”, that will be published in summary in one or more of the Member Associations’ journals and in full on their website. We would like to congratulate Róbert for his excellent application and would also thank all the candidates who applied for the award this year.

Download Róbert's paper here: Directors’ liability: what should be the minimum harmonisation in the EU

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Waiswa Abudu-Salam

The Committee is delighted to announce that the 2015 winner is Waiswa Abudu Sallam from Uganda. Waiswa works for the Uganda Revenue Authority in the Debt Collection Department. He is currently studying for a Master of Laws in Corporate and Insolvency Law at Nottingham Trent University, UK (by distance learning). This is the first time we have had a winner from Uganda: Previous winners have come from Belaruse, India, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, PRC, Romania, Russia and Serbia.

As part of the award, Waiswa is invited to attend the INSOL Europe Annual Congress (Berlin, Germany). He will be writing a paper that will be published in summary in one or more of the Member Associations’ journals and in full on their websites. We would like to congratulate Waiswa for his excellent application and also thank all the candidates who applied for the award this year. There were many excellent submissions and the judges task was very difficult this year.

Download Waiswa's paper here: Insolvency Proceedings; A Double Edged Debt Collection Tool