The 2024 edition of the annual Richard Turton Award is currently open, and we strongly invite qualifying persons to submit their applications by the deadline for entry submission on 14 June 2024. We chatted with Kayode Olude, a Nigerian lawyer and insolvency scholar, who was the 2022 winner of the highly prestigious award.
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. It was jointly created in recognition of Richard Turton’s unique role in the formation of all four organisations. This Award is given to the best paper proposal and is usually presented at the INSOL Europe Annual Congress and provides an educational opportunity for a qualifying participant to attend the INSOL Europe Annual Congress with all expenses paid.
Qualified eligible applicants must be persons who are nationals of a developing or emerging nation, work in or study in the field of insolvency and restructuring law and practice, and under 35 years of age. The successful applicant will be invited to attend the INSOL Europe Congress in Sorrento, Italy on 3-6 October 2024, all expenses paid, write a paper of 3,000 words on a topic on insolvency law agreed with the panel, which will be published and recognised at the congress, and receive a framed certificate of the Richard Turton Award. Those who fulfill the criteria are invited to apply by submitting their CV, a 200-word statement outlining why they should be chosen, together with the title and a brief synopsis of their proposed paper.
For additional application and submission details, please click this link.
Our Chat with Kayode Olude – 2022 Richard Turton Award Winner
Please tell us how you discovered about the Richard Turton Award and the application process?
In October 2022, I attended the INSOL Academic Conference that held in London. The academic conference was the first time I heard about the Richard Turton Award and all the encouragement to apply was ignited at that conference. I remember being uncertain of the chosen area for my abstract as many subject areas seemed attractive to me. I later decided to write on harmonisation initiatives between EU and non-EU countries of cross-border insolvency law. I was motivated to write on this because I felt it was an area little spotlight was given to and the subject area intersected with issues around cross-border insolvency law which I had been heavily involved with before my entry submission.
The application process was straightforward as eligible applicants were simply required to provide an abstract and their motivation for applying. While I just managed to beat the deadline, I enjoyed the abstract writing process as it helped me clarify my thoughts. I was very excited and remain grateful to have been chosen by the Selection Panel.
What were your key takeaways/highlights as the 2022 Richard Turton Award Winner and how do you feel it benefited you?
It was coincidental and remarkable that the Richard Turton Award was presented to me during my internship with the World Bank Insolvency and Debt Resolution Team. My research on European Union (EU) cross-border insolvency law, which culminated in my entry submission for the Turton award, helped shape my knowledge and experience in handling various EU harmonisation initiatives tasks I worked on at the World Bank. Some of these included analysing cross-class cram down provisions and MSME insolvency procedures existent among European countries.
While the Turton Award served as preparatory ground for me and offered me technical knowledge on various issues, I was also privileged to have networked and interacted with various early career researchers and established professionals, which was an immense knowledge-sharing experience for me. Also, the keynote speeches and panel conversations were very insightful as I was informed of hot issues happening across insolvency in Europe and the world at large.
Lastly, I also enjoyed visiting and touring the beautiful city of Dubrovnik, which I later discovered was a huge tourist destination!
Do you have any advice for persons interested in applying for the Award?
I would encourage applicants to brainstorm possible research areas they are passionate about alongside the potential impact. While I understand this might be a difficult exercise, I believe this will help give the applicant an edge and help them stand above the competition. Another piece of advice would be for applicants to keep themselves updated with research publications of INSOL International and INSOL Europe, as that gives perspectives on the latest issues being discussed across various jurisdictions and can help inform possible ideas on what to write on.
Kayode Olude is the Research and Coordinating Associate at CLRNN. He can be contacted for further information on the application process at oludekayode22@gmail.com. Interested applicants can also mail their questions to info@clrnn.net. Inquiries on eligibility, application and submission can also be sent to Jelena Wenlock.