Law Commons^™

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

Journal Articles

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.

The Case For The Tax Collector, Marie T. Reilly

Journal Articles

This article considers the question: Is a transfer of property via a noncollusive, properly conducted property tax foreclosure process entitled to respect in bankruptcy against the trustee's fraudulent transfer avoiding power? It answers this question in the affirmative. Part II examines the Court's opinion in BFP v. Resolution Trust Corp. and how courts have applied it in fraudulent transfer challenges to tax foreclosure transfers. Most courts have read BFP as requiring a comparison between the conditions under which the tax foreclosure at issue occurs and mortgage foreclosure. If the tax foreclosure process does not require public sale with competitive bidding, …

Center Of Main Interests, International Insolvency Case Venue, And Equality Of Arms: The Eurofood Decision Of The European Court Of Justice, Samuel Bufford

Journal Articles

This Article examines the Eurofood-E.C.J. decision and evaluates its impact on the decisions of the Irish and the Italian courts to open main insolvency cases for Eurofood. This Article also addresses the broader international insolvency law issues that the E.C.J. decision left open. Part II of this Article provides background information on the format and binding effect of a decision of the E.C.J. Part III explores the background of Parmalat and Eurofood and describes the Eurofood cases in the Irish and Italian courts prior to the E.C.J. decision. Part IV examines the E.C.J. decision, its rationale, and its application to …

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

Journal Articles

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 …

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

Journal Articles

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 …

Making Sense Of Successor Liability, Marie T. Reilly

Journal Articles

A firm that buys assets from another firm ordinarily does not acquire liability to the seller's creditors simply by buying its assets. This ordinary rule is subject to important exceptions. The buyer's consent triggers an exception. If a buyer agrees to assume the seller's liability to third parties, it is for that reason liable. This article considers a more controversial exception - successor liability. When a court decides that an asset acquirer should be treated as a "successor" to the transferor, it is liable for the transferor's debts as though it were the transferor.

The Wasted Sacrifice Of Lessors' Lost Profit Claims In Bankruptcy, Marie T. Reilly

Journal Articles

Bankruptcy Code section 502(b)(6) sets the maximum allowable amount of a real property lessor's claim for damages arising for breach of lease in a tenant's bankruptcy case. To the extent a lessor's damages claim under nonbankruptcy law exceeds the maximum amount, it is disallowed. The implicit premise for such disallowance is that real property lessors' damages claims are less worthy of respect in bankruptcy than other claims for damages against the debtor. Real property leases are legally distinct from leases of personal property or other contractual relationships that allocate property rights. But, it does not obviously follow from the distinction …

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

Journal Articles

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 …

The Latent Efficiency Of Fraudulent Transfer Law, Marie T. Reilly

Journal Articles

A creditor holding a claim against a debtor typically holds the right, subject to the debtor's default, to obtain a judgment against the debtor, liquidate the debtor's assets, and apply the proceeds against his claim. If the debtor's assets are insufficient to satisfy the creditor's claim, the creditor is usually, but not always, out of luck. Under limited circumstances, a creditor can reach property the debtor transferred to a third party and apply the value of such property to satisfy his claim. The creditor can undo the transfer and obtain the property or its value from the transferee as though …

Romanian Bankruptcy Law: A Central European Example, Samuel Bufford

Journal Articles

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 …

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

Journal Articles

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 …

Bankruptcy Law In European Countries Emerging From Communism: The Special Legal And Economic Challenges, Samuel Bufford

Journal Articles

Bankruptcy law is developing rapidly in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) that have recently escaped the domination of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The communist governments fell in those countries that were separate from the USSR in 1989, and those countries that were a part of the USSR gained their independence and acquired new non-communist governments in 1989 (the Baltic states) and 1991 (Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and Russia). While many other areas of law that are basic to the development of a market economy need substantial development or revision, bankruptcy law is leading the way, …

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

Journal Articles

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 …