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Bankruptcy Fiduciary Duties In The World Of Claims Trading, John A.E. Pottow

Articles

In earlier work, I explored the role of fiduciary duties in the bankruptcy trustee's administration of a debtor's estate, noting the absence of any explicit demarcation of those duties in the Bankruptcy Code. In this piece, I report the highlights of that analysis and see to what extent (if any) fiduciary duties can inform policy prescriptions for the issue of bankruptcy claims trading, colorfully referred to by some as the world of "bankruptcy M&A." My initial take is pessimistic. Fiduciary duties, at least as traditionally conceived in bankruptcy, are unlikely to provide much help. But there is still a source …

Milking The Estate, David R. Hague

Faculty Articles

Recent Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases are exposing a widespread problem. Chapter 7 trustees are retaining their own law firms to represent them and then in clear breach of their fiduciary duties to creditors-requesting illegitimate legal fees to be paid by the estate. This practice is immoral and particularly harmful to creditors. Indeed, every dollar paid to the trustee and his firm is a dollar that will not be distributed to creditors. The Bankruptcy Code, remarkably, allows a trustee to retain his own law firm to represent him in his capacity as a trustee. But this inherently conflicted arrangement is not …

Under What Circumstances Can A Bankruptcy Court Grant Innocent Spouse Relief To A Debtor?, Noreen Gilroy

Bankruptcy Research Library

(Excerpt)

The United States tax system allows married couples to file joint tax returns. For those married couples that jointly file, there is joint and severable liability for the taxes due on those returns. Because spouses who file joint tax returns are held both jointly and severally liable for those joint returns, the drafters of the Tax Code created an exemption from liability for innocent spouses in Section 6015 of the Tax Code. Section 6015(e) of the Tax Code expressly grants subject matter jurisdiction to the Tax Courts to review determinations of innocent spouse relief. However, the language of Section …

Fraudulent Transfer Provision Of The Bankruptcy Code Defined More Narrowly Than Similar Provisions In Other Statutes, Yaakov Seff

Bankruptcy Research Library

(Excerpt)

The fraudulent conveyance provision of the Bankruptcy Code, (“the Code”), Section 548, is an “elemental and ancient provision of debtor-creditor relations.” It provides that “[t]he trustee may avoid any transfer ... of an interest of the debtor in property ... that was made ... within two years before the date of the filing of the petition . . .” where the transfer involved actual or constructive fraud.

But the ability to avoid fraudulent transfers is not limited to the bankruptcy context; parallel provisions are found in several areas of the federal legislation. For instance, there is a fraudulent transfer …

Sare Manipulation: The Hurdles In Single-Asset Real Estate Cases, David R. Hague

Faculty Articles

Under § 1129(a)(10) of the Bankruptcy Code, a debtor's plan of reorganization cannot be confirmed unless at least one "impaired class" accepts the plan, excluding acceptance of any insider of the debtor. A class of claims accepts the plan if more than one-half in number and at least two-thirds in amount of claims voting in a class favor the plan. Thus, a debtor's composition of its classes clearly has a substantial impact upon its chances of successfully confirming its plan of reorganization over dissenting creditors. Obviously, the debtor would like to have unfettered power and full discretion to group creditors …