Law Commons^™

Lending A Hand Instead Of Breaking The Bank: The Imperative Need To Resolve The Circuit Split For Determining Undue Hardship For Section 523(A)(8) Student Loan Discharges, Rucha Pandit

William & Mary Business Law Review

The Bankruptcy Code permits petitioners to discharge their student debts if they are able to demonstrate that their loans impose an undue hardship. Somewhat frustratingly, the Code does not define what exactly constitutes undue hardship in the context of student loan discharges. Moreover, neither Congress nor the Supreme Court has broken its silence to offer guidance on the issue. As a result, the rest of the federal judiciary has been once again, left to its own devices.

Over the past few decades, the Brunner and totality-of-the-circumstances tests have emerged as the standards that federal circuits choose between to assess whether …

The Survival Of Animal Care Organizations Impacted By The Covid-19 Pandemic In 2020, Juan Fernando Torrico

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

This note assessed how animal care organizations and the animals in their care were impacted, negatively and positively, by the coronavirus pandemic. Several animal care organizations in the United States–including animal shelters, rescues, sanctuaries, and zoos–were contacted directly, and invited to share their experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. They provided valuable in-depth insight into how government shutdowns and social distancing impacted their facility; if any of the animals in their care tested positive for COVID-19; how the animals in their care were affected indirectly by COVID-19; if they sought and received any government assistance to keep them operational; …

Bankruptcy, Taxes, And The Primacy Of Irs Refund Offsets: Copley V. United States, Michelle Lyon Drumbl

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Roles Of The Creditor And Debtor In The Settlement Process Of The Debtor's Financial Obligations Under The Debtor's Insolvency Law No. 19 Of 2019, Pierre Mallet

UAEU Law Journal

The UAE Cabinet approved a federal law to regulate cases of insolvency of natural persons or individuals. In 2016, the UAE government had adopted a similar insolvency law for companies which was widely welcomed by businesses and financial institutions. The legal framework for insolvency for both companies and individuals are expected to improve the competitiveness and the ease of doing business of the UAE. Debt restructuring for individuals under legal protection is widely seen as a great step forward in helping those who are unable to pay their debts from going bankrupt. “The approval of a new federal law to …

The Crypto Quandary: Is Bankruptcy Ready?, Megan Mcdermott

Northwestern University Law Review

As the United States grapples with how best to manage a global pandemic, bankruptcy courts are bracing for the inevitable fallout from COVID-19. As we saw in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, hard- hit businesses will need to reorganize to adjust to new conditions, while out- of-work consumers will need debt relief options. But there will be a new twist for this impending wave of bankruptcies: how should bankruptcy courts deal with crypto assets like Bitcoin? This Essay argues that the rise of cryptocurrency investments over the last decade poses serious complications for the next round of consumer …

A Certainty Of Hopelessness: Adjustments To Student Exceptionalism In Bankruptcy Law, Jordan Higham, Jenica Bunderson

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

For over forty years, student exceptionalism has been a crucial doctrine of U.S. bankruptcy law, stating that student debt can only be discharged in bankruptcy under extraordinary circumstances of undue hardship. This practice has been essential for the survival of the federal student loan program, however, the high and unclear standards for what constitutes undue hardship makes it almost impossible for even the most deserving debtors to discharge student debt. This paper explores the history of student exceptionalism and makes proposals for how to balance fairness between debtor and creditor.

It’S Worth Whatever Someone Paid For It: How Courts Have Misinterpreted Bfp’S Reasoning, Jacob Ryder

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Historically, bankruptcy courts have used the Bankruptcy Code’s avoidance powers—fraudulent conveyances in § 548 and preferential transfers in § 547—to avoid pre-bankruptcy-petition transfers. These avoidance powers were used even when the transfer in question was a mortgage or tax foreclosure sale. This has changed in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in BFP v. Resolution Trust Corp. The BFP Court concluded that § 548 could not be used to avoid a mortgage foreclosure sale that complied with state foreclosure law. To do so, the Court had to interpret the operative language in § 548: “reasonably equivalent value.” The Court …

Creditors, Keepers: Passive Retention Of Estate Property And The Automatic Stay, Caitlin M. Mcauliffe

Vanderbilt Law Review

The automatic stay provision is one of the most important provisions in the Bankruptcy Code. Until recently, however, it has remained unclear if passive retention of property of the bankruptcy estate must be immediately turned over to the debtor under the automatic stay provision. The Supreme Court decided in City of Chicago v. Fulton that passive retention does not violate the automatic stay, saving creditors from the consequences of retaining estate property. The debate about the stay, however, is far from over. Many circuit courts were already concerned about the policy issues deriving from the City of Chicago maintaining possession …

The Conflict Between Territorial And Universal Of Bankruptcy Orders, Abed Al-Monim Shawkat Zamzam

UAEU Law Journal

The financial crisis has affected investment projects all over the world. One of its repercussions was the bankruptcy of many multi-national companies. Law jurisprudence has split over the scope of recognition of bankruptcy orders issued in a foreign country. Some jurisprudence embraced the territoriality theory with regards to bankruptcy orders, so that such order does not have any legal effect in the territories other than the one in which it was issued. Others opine for the universality of the bankruptcy orders since the debtor has one patrimony, which should include all his rights and obligations. This article intends to study …

Corporate Bankruptcy Requirements & Impacts “Under The Egyptian Law, Belal A. Badawy

UAEU Law Journal

The term “Merchant” does not only make reference to a natural person, but can also mean a moral person and, more precisely, corporations. As firms acquire commercial capacity, they become subject to the same legal regulations governing individual merchants. They can then be declared bankrupt just at the moment that they stop paying their commercial debts.

While much emphasis has been placed on the provisions of bankruptcy generally in jurisprudence and legislation, the bankruptcy provisions of corporations are somehow overlooked, although such provisions are those which should have been given due attention, for two reasons:

First, the role of a …

Loopholes For The Affluent Bankrupt, David R. Hague

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Recent bankruptcy cases are exposing a problem. Affluent individuals filing for bankruptcy are treated more favorably under the Bankruptcy Code than those debtors with little to no means of financial sustenance or income. Did Congress intend this result? The legislative history is unclear. But one thing seems certain: The United States Bankruptcy Code contains a set of loopholes that appear to be designed for the well-to-do segment of society. Courts throughout the United States are either overlooking these provisions or simply condoning their utilization under the defensible conviction that the Bankruptcy Code permits it.

In this Article, I argue …

Maximizing Intellectual Property: Optimality, Synchronicity, And Distributive Justice, David Blankfein-Tabachnick

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article addresses the distributive structure of intellectual property and innovation policy and the foundational role it plays in distributive justice. Distributive accounts of law are undergoing a renaissance; an unprecedented paradigm shift away from the wealth-maximizing approach to law and legal theory and toward a distributive view. In line with this shift, this Article breaks new ground in providing a needed framework for a distributive theory of intellectual property law and innovation policy and articulates an appealing, egalitarian alternative to wealth- or welfare-maximizing accounts of intellectual property and innovation policy. In doing so, this Article diagnoses and serves …

Protection Of The Rights Of The Creditors And The Debtor In The Process Of Financial Reorganization And Structuring Of Troubled Companies: A Comparative Study On The 2016 Uae Bankruptcy Law, French And American Legislations, Alaa Khasawneh

UAEU Law Journal

This study deals with the protection of creditors and the debtor in accordance with the methods of saving and assisting troubled companies approved by the UAE Act of bankruptcy of 2016, as the legislator of the UAE in this law aimed to solve the difficulties faced by troubled companies and to protect them from bankruptcy and its negative consequences, This means raises problems about the extent of the protection afforded to the creditors compared to that afforded to the interests of the debtor, where legislator treated it with special care and subjected to special procedures differ from bankruptcy proceedings, and …

“Listserv Lawyering”: Definition And Exploration Of Its Utility In Representation Of Consumer Debtors In Bankruptcy And In Law Practice Generally, Josiah M. Daniel Iii

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

The author examines the communications and activities of bankruptcy lawyers participating in the listserv of the Bankruptcy Law Section of the State Bar of Texas and finds that those activities constitute a previously unrecognized form of “lawyering,” which he has defined as the work of lawyers in and through the legal system to accomplish the objectives of their clients. Review of specific postings about legal issues and practical problems by Texas bankruptcy lawyers, whose practices are primarily on behalf of individual debtors in cases under Chapters 7 and 13 of the Bankruptcy Code, and observations about the voluntary, collaborative, and …

Adverse Domination, Statutes Of Limitations And The In Pari Delicto Defense - Application In Cases Involving Claims Of Accounting Malpractice And Corporate Fraud, Laurence A. Steckman Esq., Adam J. Rader Esq.

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Towards A Principled Approach For Bailouts Of Covid-Distressed Critical/Systemic Firms, Horst Eidenmuller, Javier Paz Valbuena

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.