St. John's University School of Law Announces G. Ray Warner to Head LL.M. in Bankruptcy Program

By: Jody Fisher
February 03, 2003

Jamaica, NY - G. Ray Warner, the William P. Boreland Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, has been appointed Professor of Law and Director of the LL.M. in Bankruptcy program at St. John's University School of Law, the only such graduate law program in the nation, it was announced by School of Law Dean Joseph Bellacosa today. The appointment is effective July 1, 2003. Mr. Warner succeeds Professor Robert M. Zinman, the founder and director of the LL.M. in Bankruptcy program since its inception. Professor Zinman plans to continue to teach in the LL.M. and J.D. programs at St. John's and to remain actively involved in the development of important initiatives for the insolvency community.

The Faculty and I enthusiastically welcome and look forward to the leadership, teaching and scholarship of Professor Warner that will add an excellent dimension to our superb Bankruptcy LL.M. program and to the St. John's Law School, said Dean Bellacosa.

The addition of Ray to the faculty represents a remarkable accomplishment for, and a sign of the coming of age of our great LL.M. in Bankruptcy program, said Prof. Zinman, who is also Past President and Chairman of the American Bankruptcy Institute. Ray is a superb teacher, practitioner and author, a leader of the bankruptcy bar, and a warm, sensitive human being who has what it takes to lead this program to new heights. I am looking forward to working closely with Ray as we move forward.

Professor Warner holds a LL.M. in Corporation Law from New York University, School of Law, a J.D. degree, cum laude, from Northwestern University School of Law and a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Emory University, where he was Phi Beta Kappa. He has served as the Robert M. Zinman Resident Scholar at the American Bankruptcy Institute, the leading multi-disciplinary, non-partisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency.

Professor Warner will bring to the position a unique mix of practical and scholarly experience. He is the recipient of numerous teaching and scholarship awards including the University of Missouri's Pierson Award for Outstanding Teaching in Law. He served as a Visiting Professor of Law in the LL.M. in Bankruptcy program at St. John's in the 2000-2001 academic year where he originated and taught the Uniform Commercial Code and Bankruptcy course. He has authored numerous scholarly articles in law journals, and has spoken extensively on commercial and insolvency issues. As counsel to the trustee in bankruptcy, Warner has to his credit a 9-0 victory in the 1998 Supreme Court bankruptcy preference case of Fidelity Financial Services, Inc. v. Fink.

Founded in 1870 by the Vincentian community, St. John's University has six schools and colleges. It offers associate, baccalaureate, master's, doctoral and professional degrees. The University enjoys an enrollment of more than 19,000 students and operates five campuses: in Queens, Staten Island, Manhattan and Oakdale in New York and in Rome, Italy.

For more information, please contact Jody Fisher, Director of Media Relations, at (718) 990-6185 or at fisherjo@stjohns.edu.