Uniform Assignment for Benefit of Creditors Act: Key Features, Adoption Status, and Application to ABC Practice

Professor Coordes' research focuses on bankruptcy and financial distress and includes commercial law, large corporate reorganizations, international and comparative insolvency law, and local government finance and policy. She teaches Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Advanced Bankruptcy, Secured Transactions (in-person and online), and Contracts. Professor Coordes is an active member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, served on the board of the American Bankruptcy Law Journal from 2019 until 2022, and is an Honorary Master of the Arizona Bankruptcy American Inn of Court. She is currently serving as the Reporter for the Uniform Law Commission's Drafting Committee on Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors and is Co-Chair of the Insolvency Law Academy's Insolvency Scholars Forum. Professor Coordes is a co-author of The Law of Bankruptcy (6th ed., West Academic, 2024) and Municipalities in Financial Distress: An ESG Critique (Edward Elgar 2025). She is also a contributing editor for Bankruptcy Law Letter. 

Mr. Smith concentrates his practice in commercial law, debt financings, structured financings, workouts, bankruptcies, and international transactions. He is particularly knowledgeable on commercial law and insolvency matters, both domestic and cross-border. His representations have included those in major bankruptcies including Refco, Lehman, the City of Detroit, and PG&E. He often advises financial institutions on documentation and risk management issues. Mr. Smith advises creditors and counter-parties on commercial and insolvency risks in sales, leasing, financing, investment securities, and derivatives and repo-style transactions and has represented parties in major insolvencies. Having actively participated as a Uniform Law Commissioner in the drafting of a number of the recent revisions to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), Chambers USA noted he “probably knows as much about UCC as anybody in the country.” Mr. Smith is a frequent guest speaker for numerous bar and trade organizations.