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Bankruptcy Law Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Bankruptcy Law

Rethinking Preemption And Constitutional Parameters In Bankruptcy, Michelle M. Harner Oct 2017

Rethinking Preemption And Constitutional Parameters In Bankruptcy, Michelle M. Harner

William & Mary Law Review

Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code allows financially distressed businesses to reorganize and emerge from bankruptcy free of their pre-bankruptcy debts and obligations. In general, a business can achieve this kind of “fresh start” by confirming a plan of reorganization or pursuing a going-concern sale that typically facilitates a change in ownership, a reduction in leverage, and the elimination of most claims against the company’s assets. Through these kinds of transactions, a business can emerge from bankruptcy with a stronger balance sheet and often a new ownership structure. It also can streamline operations by, for example, assuming valuable contracts …


Does Ideology Matter In Bankruptcy? Voting Behavior On The Courts Of Appeals, Jonathan Remy Nash, Rafael I. Pardo Jan 2012

Does Ideology Matter In Bankruptcy? Voting Behavior On The Courts Of Appeals, Jonathan Remy Nash, Rafael I. Pardo

William & Mary Law Review

This Article empirically examines whether courts of appeals judges cast ideological votes in the bankruptcy context. The empirical study is unique insofar as it is the first to examine the voting behavior of circuit court judges in bankruptcy cases. More importantly, it focuses on a particular type of dispute that arises in bankruptcy: debt-dischargeability determinations. The study implements this focused approach in order to reduce heterogeneity in result. We find, contrary to our hypotheses, no evidence that circuit court judges engage in ideological voting in bankruptcy cases. We also find, however, non-ideological factors—including the race of the judge and the …


Credit Markets, Exemptions, And Households With Nothing To Exempt, Richard M. Hynes Jan 2006

Credit Markets, Exemptions, And Households With Nothing To Exempt, Richard M. Hynes

Faculty Publications

American bankruptcy law has offered a "fresh start" in every state for over one hundred years. As a result, econometric studies of consumer bankruptcy often focus on one of the few aspects of the law that has varied significantly across time and across states: exemptions. Professors Gropp, Scholz and White published the first article to test the effect of exemptions on credit markets. Consistent with theory, they found that residents of states with larger exemptions pay higher interest rates than those in states with lower exemptions andface an increased probability that they will be denied credit. These effects were most …


An Appeal To Equity: Why Bankruptcy Courts Should Resort To Equitable Powers For Latitude In Their Interpretation Of "Interests" Under Section 363(F) Of The Bankruptcy Code, Matthew T. Gunlock Oct 2005

An Appeal To Equity: Why Bankruptcy Courts Should Resort To Equitable Powers For Latitude In Their Interpretation Of "Interests" Under Section 363(F) Of The Bankruptcy Code, Matthew T. Gunlock

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


Why (Consumer) Bankruptcy?, Richard M. Hynes Oct 2004

Why (Consumer) Bankruptcy?, Richard M. Hynes

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


The Many Faces Of Chapter 11: A Reply To Professor Baird, A. Mechele Dickerson Apr 2004

The Many Faces Of Chapter 11: A Reply To Professor Baird, A. Mechele Dickerson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


The Political Economy Of Property Exemption Laws, Richard M. Hynes, Anup Malani, Eric A. Posner Jan 2004

The Political Economy Of Property Exemption Laws, Richard M. Hynes, Anup Malani, Eric A. Posner

Faculty Publications

Exemption laws enable people who default on loans to protect certain assets from liquidation. Every state has its own set of exemption laws, and they vary widely. The 1978 federal bankruptcy law contains a set of national exemptions, which debtors in bankruptcy are permitted to use instead of their state's exemptions unless the state has formally "opted out" of the federal system. We contend that states' decisions to opt out shed light on their exemption levels. We find that states are more likely to opt out if their state exemption is lower than the federal exemption and that states are …


Overoptimism And Overborrowing, Richard M. Hynes Jan 2004

Overoptimism And Overborrowing, Richard M. Hynes

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Approving Employee Retention And Severance Programs Judicial Discretion Run Amuck, A. Mechele Dickerson Apr 2003

Approving Employee Retention And Severance Programs Judicial Discretion Run Amuck, A. Mechele Dickerson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Behavioral Approach To Analyzing Corporate Failures, A. Mechele Dickerson Apr 2003

Behavioral Approach To Analyzing Corporate Failures, A. Mechele Dickerson

Faculty Publications

Recent corporate failures indicate that existing laws fail to give boards of directors adequate incentives to acknowledge that some financially troubled firms simply cannot be salvaged. Relying primarily on insights from law and behavioral science literature, this Article notes that directors have a natural tendency to underestimate risks and overestimate their ability to save an insolvent or near insolvent firm. This Article urges the imposition of a duty to file a timely bankruptcy petition because such a duty will encourage directors to consider the interests of all the firms' constituents, including workers, creditors, and the local community, when making decisions …


Muddy Property: Generating And Protecting Information Privacy Norms In Bankruptcy, Edward J. Janger Mar 2003

Muddy Property: Generating And Protecting Information Privacy Norms In Bankruptcy, Edward J. Janger

William & Mary Law Review

Bankruptcy law does not deal well with website promises to protect personal information. The legal treatment of privacy policies in bankruptcy currently turns on whether such policies are viewed as creating contract rights or property rights. Neither characterization fits well, and any attempt to shoehorn information privacy into either category has significant costs. Contract obligations are subject to discharge in bankruptcy, and any consumer expectations of privacy (contractual or otherwise) are likely to be defeated. By contrast, if personal information is deemed property of the website customer, information transfers that might benefit consumers will be stifled. This Article develops an …


Confusion And Solution: Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Trustee's Standard Of Care For Personal Liability, David P. Primack Feb 2002

Confusion And Solution: Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Trustee's Standard Of Care For Personal Liability, David P. Primack

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


Optimal Bankruptcy In A Non-Optimal World, Richard M. Hynes Jan 2002

Optimal Bankruptcy In A Non-Optimal World, Richard M. Hynes

Faculty Publications

Consumer bankruptcy insures individuals against misfortune. Like other forms of insurance, bankruptcy reduces an individual's incentive to guard against misfortune and provides her with an incentive to overstate her need for relief. The "first-best," or optimal, bankruptcy system, like the first-best tax or public assistance system, solves these moral hazards without any loss of efficiency. In bankruptcy, this first-best approach would deny relief to debtors responsible for their own distress and reduce the deserving debtors' obligations to an amount commensurate with their ability to pay. While the Bankruptcy Code tries (in part) to follow this first-best approach, such a utopian …


Bankruptcy Reform: Does The End Justify The Means?, A. Mechele Dickerson Apr 2001

Bankruptcy Reform: Does The End Justify The Means?, A. Mechele Dickerson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


America's Uneasy Relationship With The Working Poor, A. Mechele Dickerson Nov 1999

America's Uneasy Relationship With The Working Poor, A. Mechele Dickerson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


The Rotten Foundations Of Securitization, David Gray Carlson Apr 1998

The Rotten Foundations Of Securitization, David Gray Carlson

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


To Love, Honor, And (Oh) Pay: Should Spouses Be Forced To Pay Each Other's Debts?, A. Mechele Dickerson Jan 1998

To Love, Honor, And (Oh) Pay: Should Spouses Be Forced To Pay Each Other's Debts?, A. Mechele Dickerson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Family Values And The Bankruptcy Code: A Proposal To Eliminate Bankruptcy Benefits Awarded On The Basis Of Marital Status, A. Mechele Dickerson Jan 1998

Family Values And The Bankruptcy Code: A Proposal To Eliminate Bankruptcy Benefits Awarded On The Basis Of Marital Status, A. Mechele Dickerson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


The Direct Action Against Insurers In Cercla Insolvency Cases: An Ideal Whose Time Has Come?, Peter R. Mounsey Oct 1993

The Direct Action Against Insurers In Cercla Insolvency Cases: An Ideal Whose Time Has Come?, Peter R. Mounsey

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.


No Fault Equitable Subordination: Reassuring Investors That Only Government Penalty Claims Are At Risk, Scott M. Browning Feb 1993

No Fault Equitable Subordination: Reassuring Investors That Only Government Penalty Claims Are At Risk, Scott M. Browning

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


Rethinking Professor Westbrook's Two Thoughts About Insider Preferences, Peter A. Alces Jan 1993

Rethinking Professor Westbrook's Two Thoughts About Insider Preferences, Peter A. Alces

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Value And Rationality In Bankruptcy Decisionmaking, Donald R. Korobkin Feb 1992

Value And Rationality In Bankruptcy Decisionmaking, Donald R. Korobkin

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


The 1978 Bankruptcy Reform Act's Police Or Regulatory Power Exemption To The Automatic Stay: Unnecessary, Unfounded, And Unrestrained, Robert E. Korroch May 1988

The 1978 Bankruptcy Reform Act's Police Or Regulatory Power Exemption To The Automatic Stay: Unnecessary, Unfounded, And Unrestrained, Robert E. Korroch

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


Does Section 524 (A)(2) Of The Bankruptcy Code Bar Criminal Prosecution Concerning Discharged Debts?, Kent A. Bieberich Apr 1988

Does Section 524 (A)(2) Of The Bankruptcy Code Bar Criminal Prosecution Concerning Discharged Debts?, Kent A. Bieberich

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


The Bankruptcy Code And Hazardous Waste Cleanup: An Examination Of The Policy Conflict, Douglas P. Demoss Oct 1985

The Bankruptcy Code And Hazardous Waste Cleanup: An Examination Of The Policy Conflict, Douglas P. Demoss

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


Substantive Consumer Bankruptcy Reform In The Bankruptcy Amendments Act Of 1984, Jeffrey W. Morris Oct 1985

Substantive Consumer Bankruptcy Reform In The Bankruptcy Amendments Act Of 1984, Jeffrey W. Morris

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


Workers' Rights Against A Bankrupt Employer, Nancy L. Lowndes Apr 1985

Workers' Rights Against A Bankrupt Employer, Nancy L. Lowndes

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


Possession Of A Bankrupt Taxpayer's Intangible Property Dec 1974

Possession Of A Bankrupt Taxpayer's Intangible Property

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.