Law Commons^™

Improving Bankruptcy Sales By Raising The Bar: Imposing A Preliminary Injunction Standard On Objections To Section 363 Sales, Matthew Adam Bruckner

Matthew Adam Bruckner

In response to objections causing wasteful, unnecessary, and inappropriate delay in the bankruptcy sale context, this article concludes that bankruptcy courts should employ a preliminary injunction standard for evaluating objections to bankruptcy sales. Employing a strict, clear and uniform standard would decrease the likelihood that strategic objectors will succeed in delaying bankruptcy sales, but should not bias creditors with “legitimate” objections. By preventing inappropriate delay, courts will ensure that creditors receive an appropriate amount of procedural protection for their legitimate claims, while at the same time preventing parties-in-interest from engaging in rent-seeking behavior by making strategic objections to bankruptcy sales.

Epic Fail: An Institutional Analysis Of Financial Distress, Jonathan C. Lipson

Jonathan C. Lipson

This paper presents an institutional analysis of financial distress. “Institutional analysis” compares the effectiveness of large-scale processes, such as markets, courts, and governments, at solving social problems. Although financial distress is one of our most acute problems, there has been virtually no effort to analyze it from an institutional perspective. This paper begins to fill that gap.

Institutional analysis shows that, contrary to conventional wisdom, financial distress is not a problem that courts, such as bankruptcy courts, usually solve by themselves. Instead, it is increasingly a problem that political organs (whether elected or regulatory) both create and purport to resolve. …

Revisiting Clear Channel – Acquiring Real Property In A Section 363 Bankruptcy Sale “Free And Clear” Of Liens, Joseph Bolnick

joseph bolnick

This article addresses the impact that the Clear Channel decision has had on 363 sales. In 2008, the bankruptcy bar anticipated that Clear Channel was likely to inhibit buyers from participating in 363 sales, potentially crippling the usefulness of this important preconfirmation procedure. Now, four years later, it is timely to assess the case's impact on 363 sales.

Indiana State Police Pension Trust V. Chrysler: A Missed Opportunity To Improve Collateral Valuation Doctrine, Jason A. Pan

Jason A Pan

Section 506(a)(1) of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy code addresses how to value collateral. This issue arose in Indiana State Police Pension Trust v. Chrysler, but unfortunately the Supreme Court declined to hear the case. As a result the current doctrine on whether to value collateral according to a liquidation versus a going concern standard is Assocs. Commercial Corp. v. Rash, which held that collateral should be valued according to its proposed use. The Rash doctrine, that collateral is to be valued using a going concern standard when proposed to be used in a going concern context, creates opportunity for economic …

Debtor’S Prison In The Neoliberal State: “Debtfare” And The Cultural Logics Of The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention And Consumer Protection Act Of 2005, Linda E. Coco

Linda E. Coco

The enactment of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (“BAPCPA”) of 2005, amending the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, marks a transformation in bankruptcy law and policy that is representative of larger shifts in dominant economic and political models from “embedded liberalism” to free market “neoliberalism.” BAPCPA’s provisions are part of the new practices of the emergent neoliberal state as they relate to the American middle class segment of the population. In disciplining the middle class, BAPCPA shifts the risk and the responsibility of the lending relationship onto consumer debtors. BAPCPA does this by keeping financially distressed individuals …

Debtor’S Prison In The Neoliberal State: “Debtfare” And The Cultural Logics Of The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention And Consumer Protection Act Of 2005, Linda E. Coco

Linda E. Coco

The enactment of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (“BAPCPA”) of 2005, amending the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, marks a transformation in bankruptcy law and policy that is representative of larger shifts in dominant economic and political models from “embedded liberalism” to free market “neoliberalism.” BAPCPA’s provisions are part of the new practices of the emergent neoliberal state as they relate to the American middle class segment of the population. In disciplining the middle class, BAPCPA shifts the risk and the responsibility of the lending relationship onto consumer debtors. BAPCPA does this by keeping financially distressed individuals …

The Fiduciary Duties Of Directors And Officers In Insolvent Corporations: A Uniform International Standard?, William H. Hudson

William H Hudson

This Article explores the complicated field of fiduciary duties governing corporate directors and officers in companies facing or dealing with insolvency. It provides both a macro and micro level investigation into the vast differences in corporate fiduciary duties across jurisdictions. This Article provides the results of a broad and unique survey conducted across the globe to gain an accurate perspective regarding the inconsistencies facing corporate directors and officers dealing with new or emerging fiduciary duties. The findings of this survey will be presented to the International Insolvency Institute at its annual meeting in Paris, France on June 21, 2012. This …

Incorporating Social Justice Concerns Into The New Law And Development Movement: The Importance Of Insolvency Law, Julia M. Davis Ms.

Julia M Davis Ms.

This paper focuses on insolvency law as an underutilized area for incorporating social justice concerns into legal reform projects in developing countries. Insolvency is an area of law that already plays a large role in legal development projects and is especially suited for incorporating social justice concerns because of its ability to redistribute wealth and safeguard vulnerable interests. In arguing that insolvency law should be better exploited by social justice advocates this paper briefly reviews the history and literature surrounding the “Legal Development Movement” (LDM) and discusses the responsibilities of development agencies to incorporate social justice concerns into economically-focused legal …

Chapter 11 Triage: Diagnosing A Debtor's Prospects For Success, Anne Lawton

Anne Lawton

Chapter 11 Triage: Diagnosing A Debtor's Prospects for Success by Anne Lawton In 2005, Congress enacted a number of provisions aimed at improving success rates for Chapter 11 small business debtors. The available empirical data, albeit limited in scope, showed startlingly low rates of plan confirmation. Conventional wisdom attributed the plan confirmation problem to the high failure rate of the Chapter 11 small business debtor. This Article presents the results of a large empirical study of Chapter 11 cases filed in 2004, the year before the small business amendments. The study examines the following questions. First, are confirmation rates in …

Non-Recourse Mortages – A Fresh Start, Ron Harris, Asher Meir

Ron Harris

In about a quarter of US states, all residential mortgages are essentially non-recourse, meaning that in case of default, the lender can only repossess the house but cannot collect on the private assets and future income of the borrower. This American innovation is now beginning to attract extensive interest abroad, but ironically in the US itself is getting a bad name. The law has been blamed for exacerbating the financial crisis, while stricken homeowners who take advantage of it have been scolded by lenders and even by the Secretary of the Treasury. We propose a fresh and more balanced look …

11 U.S.C. § 1222(A)(2)(A): Do You Think The Rain Will Ruin The Rhubarb?: Solutions To The Issues Raining Down On Farmers Attempting To Discharge Post-Petition Taxes Resulting From Bankrupcty, Merrill A. Hanson

Merrill A. Hanson

The Supreme Court should interpret section 1222 of the bankruptcy code broadly enough to discharge farmers’ post-petition income tax debts by considering the effects of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (“BAPCPA”) as a statement of Congress’s intent with chapter 12. Congress has shown leniency towards farmers’ bankruptcy reorganizations which is inferred by the structure of the code. The utility of reorganization will be undermined if Congress’s intent is ignored because farmers will be forced to convert their chapter 12 reorganizations to chapter 13 reorganizations or chapter 7 liquidations. In other words, farmers’ chapter 12 options will be …

All In One Basket: The Bankruptcy Risk Of A National Agent-Based Mortgage Recording System, John P. Hunt

John P Hunt

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS, Inc.”) owns legal title to some 30 million mortgages in the United States. The company, which was a key part of the mortgage securitization apparatus in the late 1990s and 2000s, is now under intense pressure from public and private lawsuits and investigations and faces a very real threat of insolvency. Policymakers are looking ahead to potential replacements for MERS, Inc., as a recent Fed staff proposal for a substitute system indicates. This Article examines what might happen to the mortgages that MERS, Inc. at least nominally owns in the event that the company …

The Uncertainty Of “True Sale” Analysis In Originator Bankruptcy, Stephen P. Hoffman

Stephen P. Hoffman

While much of law is complex or unclear, it is unusual for a judge to comment that a legal doctrine is so unsettled that courts “could flip a coin” to decide an issue. Unfortunately for practitioners, determining what constitutes a “true sale” for bankruptcy purposes is such an issue. Add to this the recent novel and innovative processes of structured finance and asset-backed securitization, and you have the stuff of law students’—and corporate counsels’—nightmares. As a result, courts and legislatures need to provide clarity in this area so that originators can safely structure investments and transactions, not only for the …

Should Ad Hoc Committees Have Fiduciary Duties?: Judicial Regulation Of The Bankruptcy Market, David L. Perechocky

David L Perechocky

This article is the first to substantively and directly address the question of whether informal creditor groups in bankruptcy cases could and should have fiduciary duties to other creditors. The rise of activist investors and claims traders in bankruptcy proceedings has significantly changed the bankruptcy process, to much controversy. One particularly contentious topic is the growing presence of informal, or “ad hoc,” creditor groups. Proponents argue that these groups are beneficial by enabling creditors to work together efficiently and effectively, but critics view their actions as disruptive and often unfair to other creditors. A recent decision in the Washington Mutual …