Law Commons^™

Conflicts In Cross-Border Enforcement Of Tax Claims, Andrew Grossman

Andrew Grossman

Some recent academic studies have argued, with few provisos, for abandonment of the rule traditional in both common- and civil-law jurisdictions barring the enforcement of foreign tax claims and judgments in the absence of a specific treaty engagement to the contrary. To equate public-law debts with private debts, and to make judgments for such debts enforceable across borders in the manner of the Uniform Foreign Money-Judgments Recognition Act, without addressing the special nature of tax claims and the way in which they may arise in bankruptcy, involuntary liquidation of assets, and arise in tandem and across borders, is bound to …

Usury Law, Payday Loans, And Statutory Sleight Of Hand: An Empirical Analysis Of American Credit Pricing Limits, Christopher L. Peterson

Christopher L Peterson

In the Western intellectual tradition usury law has historically been the foremost bulwark shielding consumers from harsh credit practices. In the past, the United States commitment to usury law has been deep and consistent. However, the recent rapid growth of the “payday” loan industry belies this longstanding American tradition. In order to understand the evolution of American usury law, this paper presents a systemic empirical analysis of all fifty state usury laws in two time periods: 1965 and the present. The highest permissible price of a typical payday loan authorized under each state’s usury law was calculated. These prices were …

Collective Bargaining Agreements And Chapter 9 Bankruptcy, Ryan Preston Dahl

Ryan P Dahl

The recent cycle of automotive and aviation bankruptcies is ending. The next major restructuring cycle may come from a very different quarter. Municipalities throughout the United States will face the very real prospect of insolvency. The treatment of collective bargaining agreements will play a significant role in this process. Unaffordable collective bargaining obligations may be the efficient cause of such filings. Alternatively, rejecting such agreements may be the most effective means of restoring a municipal debtor’s financial health.

Statutory gaps, the absence of significant caselaw, and limited scholarly commentary raise serious questions as to how courts should treat collective bargaining …

The Supreme Court, The Solicitor General, And Bankruptcy: Bfp V. Resolution Trust Corporation, Ronald Mann

Ronald Mann

Using information from Justice Blackmun's files and the case, and a dataset matching Supreme Court bankruptcy decisions with information about participation by the Solicitor General, the paper argues that the SG's participation in secured creditor disputes in the mid-1990's is a big part of the explanation of this counter-textual case. The paper introduces a broader theory of bankruptcy interpretation that I call "bankruptcy skepticism," rejecting claims that bankruptcy interpretation by the Supreme Court has been literalist.