Law Commons^™

Small Business And Bankruptcy: Recent Changes In Kosovo And The United States Compared, Bruce A. Markell

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

United States, small businesses account for 99.7% of all employers, and about 47.3% of private sector employment.1 In the European Union (EU) non-financial business sector, SMEs accounted for 99.8% of all enterprises.2 These enterprises employed almost ninety-eight million people—66.6% of total employment—in the EU.

SMEs are variously defined. In the United States, until recently the definition of an SME was an enterprise that employed less than 500 individuals.4 In the EU, SMEs are defined as businesses which employ less than 250 staff and have an annual turnover of less than €50 million, or whose balance sheet total is less than …

In Whose Interests Should A Company Be Run? Fiduciary Duties Of Directors During Corporate Failure In India: Looking To The West For Answers, Gautam Sundaresh

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

This Comment looks at the debate as it has played out in the legal jurisprudence of the U.S. and the U.K. The analysis of each considers the three financial stages of a corporation’s existence that are specifically addressed in the debate today, i.e.: (i) solvency; (ii) insolvency; and (iii) the zone of insolvency. After setting out the current position, this Comment specifically addresses the various shortcomings and criticisms of the models adopted by each jurisdiction and offers observations on the status quo and the implementation of these models. On this basis, this Comment goes on to propose a model to …

Venezuela Undermines Gold Miner Crystallex's Attempts To Recover On Its Icsid Award, Sam Wesson

Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Market Organisations And Institutions In America And England: Valuation In Corporate Bankruptcy, Sarah Paterson

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Courts in England and the United States have traditionally adopted different approaches to the question of valuation in debt restructuring cases. In England, courts have tended to determine whether to approve the allocation of equity in a debt restructuring by reference to the amounts creditors would have received if no debt restructuring had been agreed. The company has typically argued that if no debt restructuring had been agreed either the business or the assets would have been sold. Typically, some evidence of exposure of the business and assets to the market will be submitted to identify the value which would …

Fiduciary Duties Of Directors Of Insolvent Corporations: A Comparative Perspective, Alessandra Zanardo

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Over the last two decades, in many jurisdictions great emphasis has been placed on directors’ fiduciary duties when a corporation is insolvent or in the amorphous “zone of insolvency”; notably, to investigate whether the directors should continue to promote the best interests of the corporation for the benefits of its shareholders, or whether their duties shift to creditors.

The resolution of this ubiquitous issue will help to answer the following questions: Do creditors have standing to pursue claims for breach of fiduciary duties in the insolvency scenario? And, if they do, is it direct or derivative standing?

This Article will …

Mediating Disputes Arising Out Of Troubled Companies - Do It Sooner Rather Than Later, The Hon. Randall J. Newsome

Golden Gate University Law Review

Over the last several years, there has been much academic debate on the subject of “vanishing trials”—whether the settlement rate in bankruptcy and other courts is accelerating, and whether that is a healthy trend for our justice system. A more interesting question is why disputes in chapter 11 cases are not resolved sooner. Why does it take so much time and so much money for parties to settle their differences and arrive at a consensual chapter 11 plan?

Cite as 42 Golden Gate U. L. Rev. 661 (2012).

Obtaining The Release Of Grand Jury Evidence In Ponzi Cases, The Hon. Steven Rhodes

Golden Gate University Law Review

Evidence that law enforcement authorities obtain through the grand jury process is generally secret. Nevertheless, case law can provide a powerful basis for a trustee, a receiver or any party in a Ponzi case to obtain evidence that the government has in its possession as a result of its investigation of a Ponzi scheme. This Article considers the extent to which parties in a Ponzi scheme insolvency proceeding might be able to obtain evidence presented in a criminal grand jury proceeding relating to the Ponzi scheme.

Cite as 42 Golden Gate U. L. Rev.657 (2012).

Overcoming Administrative, Procedural And Evidentiary Hurdles In Ponzi Scheme Litigation, Sharon Z. Weiss, Natalie B. Daghbandan

Golden Gate University Law Review

The unfortunate reality that comes with a Ponzi scheme case in bankruptcy is a mass of deceived unsecured creditors clamoring for their money back, and few, if any, present assets within the bankruptcy estate with which to pay them. The sheer size of most Ponzi schemes cases necessarily presents unique evidentiary, procedural and administrative challenges to professionals seeking to sort out the failed Ponzi enterprise. Ponzi scheme cases are riddled with litigation, which generally falls into four categories: (1) litigation against the Ponzi scheme operator(s), (2) litigation against parties who enabled the scheme to continue (such as professionals), (3) litigation …

Black Swans, Ostriches, And Ponzi Schemes, Nancy B. Rapoport

Golden Gate University Law Review

Cite as 42 Golden Gate U. L. Rev. 627 (2012).

The Collapse Of Financial Fraud: Measuring Bankruptcy Avoidance Action, Jessica D. Gabel, Isaac Asher, Mary Beth Byington

Golden Gate University Law Review

Ponzi schemes lay their foundation on fraud. Once the con is exposed, the culprits are usually stripped of their pilfered millions and sent off to jail. Unfortunately for the victims, the process of recovering any portion of the money they lost in the scam is, to put it mildly, complicated. The challenge rests, in part, in differences between federal forfeiture statutes and Bankruptcy Code principles in determining what assets can be recovered and who is entitled to a portion of the Ponzi pie. What is a Ponzi scheme (as defined by the courts rather than the media)? The Second Circuit …

Handling Claims In Ponzi Scheme Bankruptcy And Receivership Cases, Kathy Bazoian Phelps

Golden Gate University Law Review

The end game for defrauded investors and other creditors in a Ponzi scheme case is the recovery of the maximum amount on their claims. Depending on whether the Ponzi perpetrator has landed in a bankruptcy case or a receivership proceeding, the rules governing the allowance and distribution priorities for claims filed in Ponzi scheme cases may vary. This Article discusses the treatment of the defrauded investor’s claim in both bankruptcy and receivership cases. This Article also contrasts relatively rigid provisions in the Bankruptcy Code for the allowance, priority and distribution of claims in Ponzi scheme cases with the more flexible …

Friction In Reconciling Criminal Forfeiture And Bankruptcy: The Criminal Forfeiture Part, Sarah N. Welling, Jane Lyle Hord

Golden Gate University Law Review

The federal government uses two general types of asset forfeiture, criminal and civil. This Article addresses criminal forfeiture, which allows the government to take property from defendants when they are convicted of crimes. It is “an aspect of punishment imposed following conviction of a substantive criminal offense.” The goal of this Article is to give an overview of the forfeiture process, specifically in relation to claims victims and creditors might assert as third-party claimants.

Cite as 42 Golden Gate U. L. Rev. 551 (2012).

Keynote Address: Stories In The Development Of Bankruptcy Law, Gerald F. Munitz

Golden Gate University Law Review

Cite as: 42 Golden Gate U. L. Rev. 539 (2012).

Financial Collapse And Class Status: Who Goes Bankrupt?, Elizabeth Warren

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Every policy prescription, economic analysis, or news report about consumer bankruptcy rests on one or another unspoken image of the estimated 1.5 million families that will file in a single year. Data from the 2001 Consumer Bankruptcy Project permit a systematic analysis of the composition of those who file for personal bankruptcy, focusing on their education, occupation, and home ownership status. These attributes serve as a proxy for class identification. Based on these indicia, more than 90 per cent of the families in bankruptcy qualify as middle class. These data are a powerful reminder that whatever else might be said …

Grenztiberschreitendes (Internationales) Insolvenzrecht Dervereinigten Staaten Von Amerika Und Der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Cross-Border Bankruptcy Law Of The United States And Germany), By Edgar J. Habscheid, Hannah Buxbaum

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

No abstract provided.

The Overseas Dimension: What Can Canada And The United States Learn From The United Kingdom, Michael Adler

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The United States and, to a slightly lesser extent, Canada have come to regard personal bankruptcy as a routine method of discharging debts, enabling the debtor to make a fresh start. By contrast, in the United Kingdom, bankruptcy is still seen as a remedy of last resort, and creditors may retain the right to enforce debts. The difference in approach is due to the fact that the United States and Canada have traditionally given priority to risk taking over security, while the United Kingdom has continued to give priority to security over risk taking. However, the British government's enthusiasm for …

Secured Creditors And Consumer Bankruptcy In The United States, William C. Whitford

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article first summarizes the many restrictions that the American consumer bankruptcy system imposes on the enforcement of the contractual rights of secured creditors. The restrictions include the ability, in Chapter 13 proceedings particularly, of the debtor to "strip the lien" of the undersecured creditor, releasing the collateral from the lien upon payment, over time, of only the value of the collateral when it is less than the full amount owing. The article then summarizes many changes in the rights of secured creditors currently being proposed and debated in Congress. The author concludes with his own proposals that would enhance …

The Philosophy And Design Of Contemporary Consumer Bankruptcy Systems: A Canada-United States Comparison, Jacob S. Ziegel

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The rapid increase in the number of consumer bankruptcies in Canada and the United States over the past fifteen years has again focused attention on the philosophy and design of modern insolvency systems, and on the similarities and differences in the approaches adopted in Canada and the United States. In this article, the author points out that the single most important difference is that the United States has historically subscribed to the debtor's right to a "fresh start" after surrendering the debtor's non-exempt property, whereas Canadian law never has, and does not now, confer an absolute right of discharge. Although …

Options In Consumer Bankruptcy: An American Perspective, Jean Braucher

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

In both the United States and Canada, a rapid increase in personal bankruptcies has led to demands for stricter laws to force more repayment by consumer debtors. Canada has already taken this step, while the United States may soon do so in response to the counterfactual claim that the problem is debtors with means using bankruptcy as "a method of financial planning." The author suggests that the real problem in both countries, however, is an increase in the ranks of the over-indebted. Bankruptcy is a symptom, signalling to creditors the need to reform themselves. The author concludes that if creditors …

The Changing Politics Of American Bankruptcy Reform, Elizabeth Warren

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The political atmosphere in which changes to the American bankruptcy laws occur has shifted since the adoption of the 1978 amendments to the United States Bankruptcy Code. Bankruptcy professionals, who once effectively controlled much of the legislative debate, have lost ground to creditors, who have become much more powerful in influencing bankruptcy legislation. The result has been the politicization of the debate and the setting of the stage for a series of amendments that have rhetorical appeal, but that do not reflect the underlying factual reality of the bankruptcy system.

Caught Between Rocks And Hard Places: The Plight Of Reinsurance Intermediaries Under U.S. And English Law, Stephen W. Schwab, Peter G. Gallanis, David E. Mendelsohn, Bradley V. Ritter

Michigan Journal of International Law

Accordingly, Part I of this article provides a review of the role intermediaries have played in the recent spate of insurance company insolvencies and an overview of intermediary rights and duties. Part II then progresses to a discussion of English intermediary law, analyzing how the general English rules apply to intermediaries when a cedent or reinsurer becomes insolvent. Part III addresses the same issues under U.S. law, tracing the most recent statutory developments from their cause and considering their effect on reinsurance transactions. This article concludes with a discussion of how English and U.S. law interact in reinsurance transactions, pointing …

Comparison Of Japanese And American Bankruptcy Law, Brooke Schumm Iii

Michigan Journal of International Law

The outline and direction of this article are arranged approximately in the order of provisions under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The article focuses on Japanese reorganization proceedings, but necessarily discusses Japanese bankruptcy provisions at length. First, eligibility and types of proceedings are discussed. Second, commencement details and administrative provisions, including the "automatic stay" and assumption and rejection of leases and contracts are presented. Third, the debtor's duties and the handling of claims are reviewed. Fourth, liquidations are compared. Fifth, confirmation and reorganization are explored in detail. Last, a comparison of bankruptcy provisions for individuals concludes the article.

Recent Decisions, Various Editors

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Insolvent Decedents' Estates, Kurt H. Nadelmann

Michigan Law Review

The problems of insolvent decedents' estates have created special difficulties in all legal systems. Two unrelated fields of the law are involved: decedents' estates and insolvency. Treatment of the topic in works on one or the other field is often scanty and few studies exist which deal exclusively with insolvent decedents' estates law. Research in the conflicts problems of the field has led the writer to investigate the differences in the treatment of insolvent decedents' estates in this country, other common law countries, and countries of the civil law. Results of this study are used to discuss problems of the …