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Full-Text Articles in Law

Shooing The Vultures Away From The Consumer Bankruptcy Carcass: Attorney Fees Owed By Debtors For Marital Dissolution Are Not Domestic Support Obligations, Christopher V. Davis Dec 2014

Shooing The Vultures Away From The Consumer Bankruptcy Carcass: Attorney Fees Owed By Debtors For Marital Dissolution Are Not Domestic Support Obligations, Christopher V. Davis

University of Massachusetts Law Review

This Note will focus on consumer bankruptcy related to chapter 7 and chapter 13 filings. Section I provides an introduction to DSOs and the goals of enforcing them through bankruptcy. Section I also discusses the impact of DSO status on the automatic stay, discharge, priority status for property distribution of the bankruptcy estate, capability to reach exempt property, and application to attorney fees. Section II argues that, where attorney fees are not owed to a spouse, former spouse, or child, and do not fit within an impact exception, the fees are not DSOs, but instead are merely general non-secured claims. …


Alternative Dispute Resolution In U.S. Bankruptcy Practice, Jacob A. Esher Dec 2014

Alternative Dispute Resolution In U.S. Bankruptcy Practice, Jacob A. Esher

University of Massachusetts Law Review

The use of ADR in bankruptcy cases, while firmly established in concept across the nation, has been realized in a minority of jurisdictions. Mediation training of judges, lawyers and professionals of other disciplines, together with the continued development of ADR programs, is necessary to achieve the vision of a judicial system in which both adjudicative and non-adjudicative, or negotiative, dispute resolution services are available to all parties in all cases.


The Changing Practice Of Bankruptcy Law: An Analysis Of How Bankruptcy Practice Has Changed In The Last Decade, Michael Goldstein, Samantha Einhorn, Jill L. Phillips Dec 2014

The Changing Practice Of Bankruptcy Law: An Analysis Of How Bankruptcy Practice Has Changed In The Last Decade, Michael Goldstein, Samantha Einhorn, Jill L. Phillips

University of Massachusetts Law Review

The practice of bankruptcy law has changed drastically over the last decade. An attorney starting out in the field in 2009 faces different issue than one who began in 1999. However, it’s not just the issues that come up with clients that make the practice so different, but the law of bankruptcy itself has changed. The economic downturn of the last eighteen months has changed the way the public views bankruptcy. The Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005 and In re Bateman, a case decided in 2008, altered the landscape of bankruptcy practice forever. This article will walk through a …


Time For Change: Bringing Massachusetts Homestead And Personal Property Exemptions Into The Twenty-First Century, Lee Harrington Dec 2014

Time For Change: Bringing Massachusetts Homestead And Personal Property Exemptions Into The Twenty-First Century, Lee Harrington

University of Massachusetts Law Review

There are presently two pieces of legislation pending on Beacon Hill that are intended to offer amendments to the Homestead Statute and Exemption Statute that would offer meaningful changes and real relief for the citizens of the Commonwealth. This article provides a brief history of the two statutory schemes, provides some comparisons to the schemes in other states, and highlights the changes sought by the proposed amendments.


Securitization Of Student Loans: A Proposal To Reform Federal Accounting, Reduce Government Risk, And Introduce Market Mechanisms As Indicators Of Quality Education, Robert Proudfoot Apr 2014

Securitization Of Student Loans: A Proposal To Reform Federal Accounting, Reduce Government Risk, And Introduce Market Mechanisms As Indicators Of Quality Education, Robert Proudfoot

University of Massachusetts Law Review

This Article outlines looming budgetary and accounting issues with federal student loans and proposes securitization as an innovative mechanism to reform federal accounting, reduce federal balance sheet risk, and provide a new education quality indicator. The current federal loan program is unsustainable because it overestimates the repayment rates and underestimates the cost of certain loan programs. Securitization will reduce that federal risk. Additionally, by forcing academic institutions to bear some of the risk, securitization will create a neutral pricing mechanism outside the direct control of federal regulators to show whether academic institutions provide a quality education. While complicated, this proposal …