Bankruptcy in Texas: From the Alamo to the Texas Two-Step and Beyond

Deborah Williamson to present “Bankruptcy in Texas: From the Alamo to the Texas Two-Step and Beyond” at the American College of Bankruptcy Class 37 Induction Ceremony and Conference, Friday, March 20, 2026. Texans have always been fiercely independent risk takers. As a result, they have been national leaders in entrepreneurship and in ways of addressing the fallout of taking financial risks—namely, bankruptcy. This panel will offer a brief history of bankruptcy in Texas from the pre-statehood Republic of Texas to the oil barons, from the silver crisis to the financial crisis, and from the LBO to the LME. The panel will offer the unique Texas perspective on the “fresh start,” and explain why Texas has been at the forefront of bankruptcy innovations, from adoption of the first homestead exemption to the invention of the Texas Two Step.