Bankruptcy Law Commons^™

Abstention Doctrine And The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Michael J. Wood

Chicago-Kent Law Review

A survey of cases where federal courts abstain from hearing cases related to existing state court cases under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) reveals varying approaches and theories underlying those courts’ abstentions. This article attempts to distinguish FDCPA claims related to the validity of the underlying debt from claims arising out of debt collectors’ conduct in collecting a debt, and recommends that federal courts avoid abstaining from the latter. When Congress passed the FDCPA, it intended to provide access to a forum of the consumer’s choice to enforce their rights under the Act by serving as “private attorneys …

The Undue Hardship Thicket: On Access To Justice, Procedural Noncompliance, And Pollutive Litigation In Bankruptcy, Rafael I. Pardo

Scholarship@WashULaw

This Article offers new insights into understanding the complexities and costs of the litigation burden that Congress has imposed on debtors who seek a fresh start in bankruptcy. In order to explore the problems inherent in a system that necessitates litigation as the path for obtaining certain types of bankruptcy relief, this Article focuses on the particular example of debtors who seek to discharge their student loans in bankruptcy. Such debt may be discharged only if the debtor can establish through a full-blown lawsuit that repaying the loans would impose an undue hardship. The procedure and burdens of proof governing …

The Manville Corporation Bankruptcy: An Abuse Of The Judicial Process?, Mark Kunkler

Pepperdine Law Review

Federal bankruptcy law offers a refuge to the honest debtor who is unable to pay his creditor's when his debts are due. Here, the twin aims of bankruptcy law, to give the debtor a fresh start and to provide roughly equal treatment for his! Creditors, are laudably accomplished. But what policies support the use of federal bankruptcy law when the "debtor" is in fact solvent and apparently seeks refuge only to escape liability for the products it manufactures? This comment examines the recent filing of the Manville Corporation for Chapter 11 protection under bankruptcy law with this question in mind.

Standing To Sue A Carrier's Killers , Davis J. Howard

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mandatory Class Action Lawsuits As A Restructuring Technique, Bryant B. Edwards, Jeffrey A. Herbst, Selina K. Hewitt

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Asbestos Litigation And Bankruptcy: A Case Study For Ad Hoc Public Policy Limitations On Joint And Several Liability, Richard L. Cupp Jr

Pepperdine Law Review

Over a decade ago, the Federal Judicial Conference warned of an asbestos litigation “disaster of major proportions.” The Supreme Court of the United States has described the litigation as a “crisis.” According the RAND Institute for Civil Justice, by the end of 2000, more than 600,000 asbestos claims were filed. RAND estimates that as many as three million more plaintiffs may eventually file claims. Most new claimants are not sick. The flood of claims has forced almost sixty companies into bankruptcy; many of these bankruptcies are very recent. As a result, defendants with only remote connections to asbestos – known …

Constitutional Gaps In Bankruptcy, S. Todd Brown

Journal Articles

Federal bankruptcy law incorporates a broad range of commercial and related matters that are otherwise left to the States under the Constitution, follows an efficiency-centered process model that may implicate due process, and relies upon a judicial structure that appears to be inconsistent with Article III. In spite of the crushing volume of bankruptcy cases and proceedings each year in which the resolution of one or more of these questions may be relevant, the Supreme Court has had few opportunities to tackle them directly. Indeed, after more than two centuries, the Court has provided precious few insights into the limits …

Serving A Summons By First Class Mail: Why Bankruptcy Rule 7004(B)(1) Violates Due Process, Jonathon S. Byington

Faculty Law Review Articles

This article argues that even though it has been accepted and widely used throughout the nation for thirty-five years by courts, practitioners, and commentators, the service method of delivering a summons and complaint solely by first class mail under Bankruptcy Rule 70004(b)(1) violates due process. Part I shows that the establishment of first class mail as an alternate service method occurred before the vast expansion of bankruptcy court jurisdiction. Part II evaluates the various reasons why Rule 7004(b)(1) violates due process. The article concludes in Part III by recommending a two-part solution to revise the rule.

The Bankruptcy Hegemon: Section 524(A) And Its Effect On State And Federal Comity, Benjamin Margulis

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

In Re Davis, Adam Schlusselberg

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Non-Pecuniary Interests And The Injudicious Limits Of Appellate Standing In Bankruptcy, S. Todd Brown

Journal Articles

Standing to appeal bankruptcy court orders today is limited to those with a pecuniary interest. This prudential limitation is based on the person aggrieved requirement of Section 39(c) of the Bankruptcy Act of 1898 - a requirement that was not included in the Bankruptcy Code. This article examines the extensive differences between the Act and the Code, the potential justifications for extending the pecuniary interest test in spite of the omission of the person aggrieved requirement, and the potential ramifications for parties and the integrity of the bankruptcy process. This analysis suggests that standing to appeal bankruptcy orders should be …

Debtors' Good Faith In Us Bankruptcy Proceedings, Chen Yang

LLM Theses and Essays

Bankruptcy is a judicial process purporting to regulate and adjust the financial relationships between debtors and creditors which come into a deadlock. In the modern United States, bankruptcy has become a concept pervading each corner of the social and economic lives. It touches mass tort victims, large corporations, small family business, government institutions, and even normal individuals. The appearance of the modern bankruptcy law of the United States is signaled by the enactment of the Bankruptcy Reform Act in 1978 which, together with later amendments, constitute the current Bankruptcy Code of the United States; but also help them strategically restructure …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Forms, Charles M. Yablon

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Corporations - Under Delaware Law, Majority Shareholders Have No Duty To Ensure That Minority Shareholders Benefit From A Contractual Corporate Dividend Distribution Policy Where The Latter's Changed Circumstances Preclude Enjoyment Of The Benefit, Gregory F. Lepore

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

The Constitutionality Of The Federal Magistrate System After The Northern Pipeline Decision, Kenneth J. Phelan

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Northern Pipeline Construction Co. V. Marathon Pipe Line Co., Lewis F. Powell Jr.

Supreme Court Case Files

No abstract provided.

United States V. Kras, Lewis F. Powell Jr.

Supreme Court Case Files

No abstract provided.

Proceedings Of The Second Annual Law Institute - Vol Ii, University Of Michigan Law School

Event Materials

Proceedings of the Second Annual Law Institute Vol II

Held at the University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday June 20-22, 1940

Bankruptcy - Reorganization Under Section 77 B - Determination Of Amount Of Claims For Purpose Of Voting On Approval Of Reorganization Plan

Michigan Law Review

In proceedings under Section 77 B of the Bankruptcy Act for the reorganization of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, a special master was appointed by the court, to ascertain and classify the creditors. Interested parties petitioned the court to instruct the master to require the "underliers," the class of creditors composed of the former owners of the various car lines taken over by the debtor Transit Company, to produce their books and papers to establish the fair amount of their claims, asserting that their properties were acquired by the debtor at grossly inflated prices; that their real value did not …

Note And Comment, James H. Brewster, John R. Rood, Arthur F. H. Wright

Michigan Law Review

James Barr Ames; Necessity and Effect of a Theory; Subrogation to a Lien for Assessments or Taxes--Construction of the Negotiable Instruments Law; We are the Rights of the Vender of Good Will?; Attachments on Unliquidated Demands; Will a Marriage, Bigamous in Inception, Become Valid After the Death of the Undivorced Spouse?

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Bankruptcy--Assignment--Validity--Possession of Res.; Carriers--Assaults by Employees on Passengers; Constitutional Law--Judicial Powers--Legislative Action of City Council Not Enjoined; Constitutional Law--Privileges and Immunities; Constitutional Law--Taxation of Imports; Contracts--Accord and Satisfaction--Consideration; Corporations--Liability of Bondholders on "Bonus Stock"; Covenants--Creation by Acceptance of Deed Poll; Criminal Law--Habeas Corpus--Want of Jurisdiction; Damages--For Wrongful Cutting of Timber--Value of the Manufactured Lumber; Evidence--Admissions of a Tenant in Common; Evidence--Effect of Plaintiff's Refusal to Submit to Physical Examination; Equity--Laches; foreign Corporations--What Constitutes "doing Business" in the State--Restrictions on State in Case of Interstate Commerce; Injunction--Suspension of Operative Force Pending Appeal; Judgment--conclusiveness--Matters Concluded; Judgment--foreign Judgment--Enforcement; Landlord and Tenant--Trade Fixtures--Right of …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Attachment--Property Subject to--Goods Conditionally Sold; Bankruptcy--Receiver and Manager--Insufficient Estate--Priorities; Bankruptcy--Solicitor and Client--Account Stated Bankruptcy of Client--Trustee's Right to Go Behind Stated Account, and Require Details; Banks and Banking--Receivers in Proceedings for Dissolution--Sufficiency of Bill; Bills and Notes--Foreign Bill of Exchange--Failure to Protest; Constitutional law--Equal Protection of the Law--Regulation of Common Carrier; Contracts--Mutuality of Obligation; Corporations--Agreement to Take Shares of Stock; Damages--Mental Suffering--Wanton Wrong; Deeds--Date--Presumption as to Time of Delivery; Deeds--Description--Statement of Quantity Controlling; Elections--Certificates of Nomination--Time of Filing--Accident and Mistake Causing Delay; Evidence--Admissibility of Conversation by Telephone; Evidence--Proof of Value--An Exception to the Hearsay Rule; Husband and Wife--Estate by Entirety--application …