Jonathan Lent ’26 Named Distinguished Bankruptcy Law Student by American College of Bankruptcy

02/12/2026

Man with light skin and brown hair in a suit in the Moot Court Room

Jonathan Lent ’26 at a Moot Court Honor Society competition pitting students from Brooklyn Law School against a team from Fordham Law School, with students arguing before sitting judges as they addressed a cross-border insolvency legal problem under the Cape Town Convention and its Aircraft Protocol. Photo by Todd France

Brooklyn Law School student Jonathan Lent ’26 has been selected as the American College of Bankruptcy’s Distinguished Bankruptcy Law Student for the Second Circuit. The award seeks to identify and honor future leaders of the bankruptcy and insolvency profession. Criteria include academic excellence, professional accomplishments, commitment to public service, extraordinary law school experience, and familiarity with insolvency law. Lent will receive the award at the College’s annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas, on March 19, 2026.

Lent had not decided on a practice area when he first entered Brooklyn Law School. Instead, he learned about bankruptcy through a lunch event hosted by Brooklyn Law School’s Business Law Association that unexpectedly got him hooked in the subject area. In his personal statement, he wrote, “The panelists described a practice anchored around the Bankruptcy Code, but that could, in the blink of an eye, take you deep into the business of a failed retailer, an airline, or the personal affairs of an entrepreneur. They also described a practice that linked business transactions, litigation and problem solving in a way I found fascinating.”

Lent said that receiving the award is a great honor: “When I entered law school, my primary goal was simply to do my best, keep an open mind, and see where the journey would take me. Being recognized by the American College of Bankruptcy for my achievements in law school is deeply humbling.”

‘A Great Addition to the Profession’

In addition to recognizing Lent, the award shines a light on the excellence of Brooklyn Law School’s business law program and his teachers and mentors, including Professor Michael Gerber, the Michael Simmons and Michael Gerber Professor of Law, who was inducted as a Fellow in the 36th Class of the American College of Bankruptcy last year and co-authored Business Reorganizations, a Chapter 11 law school textbook used nationwide; and Edward Janger, the David M. Barse Professor of Law, co-director of the Center for the Study of Business Law & Regulation, and a prolific scholar on bankruptcy law and a member of the College’s 23rd Class.

“We who have watched Jonathan develop know that he is going to be a great addition to the profession,” Gerber said.

Mixing Practical Experience & Academic Prowess

Lent’s keen interest in bankruptcy law developed first inside and then outside the classroom. In the summer after his first year, as a research assistant for Gerber, he helped revise the professor’s chapters in the Collier on Bankruptcy treatise and secured a summer judicial internship with Bankruptcy Judge Kyu Y. (Mike) Paek in the Southern District of New York (SDNY). As an intern he had a front-row seat that enabled him to observe how bankruptcy can provide a second chance for consumer debtors. The next spring, he interned for Chief Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn. Lent served as a summer associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher and will be joining the firm as a first-year associate in fall. During his 3L year, he has been at Morgan Stanley, working as a legal and documentation intern in the financial services firm’s institutional equity division.

While interning for Judge Paek, Lent assisted him in developing proposed guidelines for the use of generative AI in preparing court filings. Their report was circulated among SDNY judges and led to a joint byline piece that was published in the ABA Business Law Section’s Business Law Today and featured in a CLE panel that the duo presented last year. The principles that Lent helped formulate are now embodied in the Southern District’s Local Rule 9011-1, Gerber noted.

Lent served as one of the two advocates on the Brooklyn Law School Duberstein Moot Court Competition team in 2025 and is coaching this year’s team. He also represented Brooklyn Law School in the Cape Town Convention Moot Court Competition. Lent and his moot court partner, Hadi Akbik ’26, quickly volunteered to participate in what turned out to be a thrilling competition with Fordham Law students last spring. “Our teams’ advocacy was nothing short of astonishing. The judges were wowed, as were those of us in the audience,” Janger said.

This year, Lent is a Zaretsky Bankruptcy and Commercial Law Fellow, and will assist with the Zaretsky Roundtable, an annual forum bringing together bankruptcy judges and leading practitioners to discuss and debate cutting-edge bankruptcy law issues. His journal note, on the requirements that a foreign debtor must satisfy to commence an ancillary case under Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial, and Commercial Law. Lent is an executive notes and comments editor of the Journal.

As a Distinguished Law Student honoree, Lent will participate in educational sessions and attend the College’s annual induction ceremony for new Fellows.

“I’ve often heard that the bankruptcy bar is a close-knit community, and the chance to network with some of the most distinguished and knowledgeable bankruptcy professionals in the country so early in my career will be an invaluable benefit,” Lent said.