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Selected Works

Bankruptcy

Hon. Samuel L. Bufford

Articles 1 - 7 of 7

Full-Text Articles in Law

International Insolvency Case Venue In The European Union: The Parmalat And Daisytek Controversies, Samuel Bufford Jul 2015

International Insolvency Case Venue In The European Union: The Parmalat And Daisytek Controversies, Samuel Bufford

Hon. Samuel L. Bufford

The European Union Insolvency Regulation (the EU Regulation) is a giant step forward in promoting international cooperation among EU countries for cross-border insolvency proceedings. It adopts a modified universalist solution to cross-border proceedings insofar as they are located within the EU. However, experience has shown that it needs improvement to work effectively. A venue battle now rages between courts of several European countries over which country's courts will administer particular cross-border proceedings and how the center of main interest is to be determined for this purpose. This Article begins with a detailed examination of the two principal cases where conflicts …


Chapter 11 Case Management And Delay Reduction: An Empirical Study, Samuel Bufford Jul 2015

Chapter 11 Case Management And Delay Reduction: An Empirical Study, Samuel Bufford

Hon. Samuel L. Bufford

Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases will drag on interminably if judges let them. The recent nine-month O.J. Simpson trial was short compared to the careers of some chapter 11 bankruptcy cases. The typical duration of chapter 11 cases can be reduced remarkably, however, through moderate judicial case management. The data in this study show that relatively modest judicial case management can squeeze a substantial amount of delay out of chapter 11 cases within the context of the present bankruptcy law. The case management program in this study, applied to 81.2% of the chapter 11 case load, shortened by 24.1% the time …


The Chapter 13 Alternative: A Legislative Solution To Undersecured Home Mortgages, Samuel Bufford Jul 2015

The Chapter 13 Alternative: A Legislative Solution To Undersecured Home Mortgages, Samuel Bufford

Hon. Samuel L. Bufford

This article discusses minor changes to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code that would make avoiding foreclosure possible for a homeowner who (a) is presently not able to make the mortgage service payments but (b) could make payments for a mortgage that is reduced to the market value of the property and to a fixed market mortgage rate. This article does not address the political issue of what protections Congress might decide to provide mortgage owners and servicers as a part of such legislation.


Introduction To The Articles Presented By Three Rising Stars In Bankruptcy Scholarship, Samuel Bufford Jul 2015

Introduction To The Articles Presented By Three Rising Stars In Bankruptcy Scholarship, Samuel Bufford

Hon. Samuel L. Bufford

Bankruptcy law is one of the fundamental legal structures necessary to the functioning of a market economy. In the common law tradition of the United States and England, bankruptcy law dates back to 1542. Bankruptcy law's origins are even more ancient, with roots extending back to at least the Hammaurabi Code and the Law of Moses. In the transition to market economies and Western-style legal systems in Central and Eastern Europe, the development of a viable bankruptcy law is one of the first priorities. This, the United States bankruptcy law that forms the background for this symposium is central to …


Global Venue Controls Are Coming: A Reply To Professor Lopucki, Samuel Bufford Jul 2015

Global Venue Controls Are Coming: A Reply To Professor Lopucki, Samuel Bufford

Hon. Samuel L. Bufford

This Article details my disagreements with Professor Lynn LoPucki's article "Global and out of Control" (79 Am. Bankr. L.J. 79). Part I discusses universalism and territorialism, especially the modified version of universalism that I support. Part II examines the international venue provisions of the Model Law and the EU Regulation. Part III introduces the relevant venue shopping cases. Only two groups of cases are relevant for the purpose of this paper: the French and German subsidiaries of Daisytek and Eurofood (a subsidiary of Parmalat SpA, the Italian conglomerate). None of the other cases that Professor LoPucki discusses was subject to …


What Is Right About Bankruptcy Law And Wrong About Its Critics, Samuel Bufford Jul 2015

What Is Right About Bankruptcy Law And Wrong About Its Critics, Samuel Bufford

Hon. Samuel L. Bufford

My comments in this paper focus on the papers in thus Symposium by Professors Barry Adler, James Bowers, and Philippe Aghion, Oliver Hart, and John Moore. I argue that the central points of these papers are gravely mistaken because they completely misunderstand the character of the bankruptcy caseload and procedures, they ignore some important purposes of bankruptcy reorganization, and they misstate the success rate for reorganizations. I have chosen these papers for comment for two reasons: they recommend radical changes in bankruptcy law, and they are based on the thinnest knowledge of bankruptcy practice. Incidentally, they also all take an …


Romanian Bankruptcy Law: A Central European Example, Samuel Bufford Jul 2015

Romanian Bankruptcy Law: A Central European Example, Samuel Bufford

Hon. Samuel L. Bufford

Romania now has one of the best-drafted bankruptcy laws in Central and Eastern Europe. The new Romanian bankruptcy law went into effect on August 26, 1995 and replaced the previous bankruptcy provisions in §695-987 of the Romanian Commercial Code, which was translated from the Italian Commercial Code of 1884 and enacted in 1887. While the commercial code fell into disuse during the Communist era, it was never repealed. After the Romanian revolution and the demise of Nicolae Ceauşescu at the end of 1989, the commercial code as well as the civil code remained good law and needed only to be …