Bankruptcy Law Commons^™

Overcoming The Presumption Of The Deceitful Debtor, Rebecca Rhym

Georgia State University Law Review

Congress codified presumed consumer debtor abuse into the Bankruptcy Code with the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. Since then, distrust of low- and middle-class debtors has permeated the legal system, evidenced most visibly by how easily legislators are swayed by creditor lobbyists’ rhetoric. This distrust has also reached our courts, where judges invoke the doctrine of judicial estoppel to bar debtor-plaintiffs from pursuing tort claims undisclosed in bankruptcy petitions. Instead of addressing societal problems underlying the high number of bankruptcy filings, like financial literacy and predatory lending, this Note argues that lawmakers and courts are perpetuating …

Cryptocurrency Meets Bankruptcy Law: A Call For Creditor Status For Investors In Initial Coin Offerings, Miriam Albert, J. Scott Colesanti

Georgia State University Law Review

In 1973, experts Homer Kripke and John J. Slain published a

seminal study titled The Interface Between Securities Regulation and

Bankruptcy—Allocating the Risk of Illegal Securities Issuance

between Securityholders and the Issuer’s Creditors. That lengthy

analysis, contributed by, respectively, a former Securities and

Exchange Commission official and a professor of law, examined the

status quo and concluded that investors were receiving unfair priority

vis-à-vis creditors in bankruptcy proceedings administered under the

federal Bankruptcy Code. Focusing on the traditional “absolute

priority rule,” the study pointed out that the Securities and Exchange

Commission support for the investor priority was unfounded and

urged …

Predicting Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Case Outcomes Using The Federal Judicial Center Idb And Ensemble Artificial Intelligence, Warren E. Agin, Gill Eapen

Georgia State University Law Review

In this project, the authors obtained public data on over 100,000 Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases and used machine and deep-learning methodologies to explore whether models could be designed to predict Chapter 11 case outcomes. The data used was obtained from the Federal Judicial Center’s bankruptcy Integrated Database and included information about case filing dates, the court where the case was filed, the type of business entity, and basic information about assets and liabilities. Using this information, the authors initially sought to predict whether a particular case was dismissed, converted to another Chapter under the Bankruptcy Code, or closed with a …

Midnight In The Garden Of Good Faith: Using Clawback Actions To Harvest The Equitable Roots Of Bankrupt Ponzi Schemes, Jessica D. Gabel

Faculty Publications By Year

This paper addresses an increasingly relevant issue in bankruptcy – does it make sense to protect “good faith” investors who have invested (some quite profitably) in a Ponzi scheme from clawback actions by the trustee? This article presents issues of economic equity (equitable payouts to individual creditors vs. equitable distribution among all creditors); bankruptcy policy (retaining antiquated notions of good faith in an ever-evolving financial playground); and judicial inconsistency (disparities in the treatment on Ponzi investors). * In the aftermath of the financial crisis, investors have attempted to pull their money back from the markets, collapsing hundreds of Ponzi schemes …

The Terrible TousaS: Opinions Test The Patience Of Corporate Lending Practices, Jessica D. Gabel

Faculty Publications By Year

Two diametrically opposed decisions pit creditors against debtors. The case of troubled homebuilder TOUSA has generated shockwaves through the lending industry. Set against the backdrop of the housing collapse and risky lending, the bankruptcy court’s decision left secured creditors with a mixture of shock, anger, and worry over the repercussions. In that opinion, the bankruptcy court unwound a nearly $1 billion transaction of liens and loan proceeds, on grounds that the transactions drove the debtor company into the ground. In other words, the court found that a fraudulent transfer had occurred. Not surprisingly, the lenders appealed and the next decision …

National Bankruptcy Review Commission Tax Recommendations: Notice, Jurisdiction, And Corporate Debtors, Jack F. Williams

Faculty Publications By Year

Pursuant to congressional mandate, the National Bankruptcy Review Commission (NBRC) reported its recommendations for modification of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, as amended (the Bankruptcy Code), to the President, Congress, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on October 20, 1997. This Article, the second and final installment analyzing the tax recommendations of the NBRC, focuses on the proposed revisions relating to, among other things, taxation of corporate and partnership debtor estates. In particular, this Article discusses the requirement of reasonable notice to the government, bankruptcy court jurisdiction over tax controversies, bankruptcy administration affecting tax matters, chapter 11 plan …

National Bankruptcy Review Commission Tax Recommendations: Individual Debtors, Discharge, And Priority Of Claims, Jack F. Williams

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.

The Tax Consequences Of Abandonment Under The Bankruptcy Code, Jack F. Williams

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.

Application Of The Cash Collateral Paradigm To The Preservation Of The Right To Setoff In Bankruptcy, Jack F. Williams

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.

The Bankruptcy Reform Process: Maximizing Judicial Control In Wage Earners' Plans, Marjorie L. Girth

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.

Prospects For Structural Reform Of The Bankruptcy System, Marjorie L. Girth

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.