Bankruptcy Law Commons^™

Baseline Problems In Assessing Chapter 11, Theodore Eisenberg

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Dealing with failing businesses is like dealing with failing marriages. It is messy. The bigger the business the messier the process is likely to be. Many big business failures in the United States go through their death throes or cure their ills in reorganizations under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Act. As the vehicle in which big business messes travel, Chapter 11 is viewed as unnecessarily complex, time-consuming, and costly. The justification for Chapter 11's very existence has been challenged.

This article suggests that we are blaming the vehicle for the mess that it carries. Much of what is problematic …

Bankruptcy Law In Perspective: A Rejoinder, Theodore Eisenberg

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Professor Harris challenges my argument that bankruptcy reform takes place in an environment too isolated from the rest of the legal world. He also challenges each of the three illustrations I offered to support my thesis. Discussion of his views on the environment in which reform occurs is best deferred until after discussion of his analysis of my three illustrations.

Bankruptcy Law In Perspective, Theodore Eisenberg

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The new bankruptcy act is a failure. Its shortcomings show that we need to change the way we think about bankruptcy law. The problem is not so much with the new bankruptcy act's treatment of any specific issue, though larger problems manifest themselves through questionable specific provisions. Rather, the problem is the way in which bankruptcy law is perceived as an area separate from the rest of the legal world. In many respects the new bankruptcy act inadequately reflects bankruptcy law's existence as part of a legal structure that includes many other federal laws, a Constitution, and detailed treatment of …