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Venue Choice And Forum Shopping In The Bankruptcy Reorganization Of Large, Publicly Held Companies, Lynn M. Lopucki, William C. Whitford

UF Law Faculty Publications

An empirical study of the bankruptcy reorganization of the forty-three largest, publicly held companies to file and complete bankruptcy proceedings from 1979 to 1988 revealed extensive forum shopping. In virtually all cases examined by the authors, the law afforded a choice of venue. In a substantial number, the petitioning company engaged in "forum shopping" by choosing a venue where the company had little or no physical presence. Most often the venue was New York City. In iheir venue choices, petitioners usually sought to avoid venues that appeared hostile to extensions of exclusivity or that aggressively regulated attorneys' fees. The authors …