Bankruptcy Law Commons^™

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 …

Protecting The Right To Marital Property: Ensuring A Full Equitable Distribution Award With Fraudulent Conveyance Law, Benjamin M. Ellis

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Federalism And Bankruptcy: Deciphering Katz, G. Ray Warner

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

A symposium on bankruptcy and state sovereign immunity was held on February 9, 2007 at St. John's University School of Law. Scholarly symposium papers included in this issue of the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review were prepared by five participants who are experts on issues arising from the intersection of constitutional and bankruptcy law with state sovereign immunity from suits in federal courts. Three of the participating authors, who explore in their articles the theory and history of the jurisprudence of sovereign immunity and the Eleventh Amendment, are outstanding academics who have previously written extensively on this subject—Professor Ralph …

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 …

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

Bond Repudiation, Tax Codes, The Appropriations Process And Restitution Post-Eminent Domain Reform, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

This brief comment suggests where the anti-eminent domain movement might be heading next.

Corporate Form And Substantive Consolidation, William H. Widen

ExpressO

This Article reformulates substantive consolidation doctrine in light of modern financing techniques. Building upon the author's research showing the prevalence of substantive consolidation in large public bankruptcies, it offers an economic account (based on Coase's theory of firm size) to explain why we should expect that the circumstances giving rise to substantive consolidation should be common (rather than rare as suggested by the rhetoric of case law). Extending the asset partitioning theory developed by Professors Hannsmann and Kraakman, it offers a model for looking at the corporate form within corporate groups, particularly in the insolvency context. The recent Third Circuit …

Toward A Federal Common Law Of Bankruptcy: Judicial Lawmaking In A Statutory Regime, Adam J. Levitin

ExpressO

Bankruptcy is a statutory system, yet it is replete with practices for which there is no direct authorization in the Bankruptcy Code. This article argues that the authorization for judicial creation of bankruptcy law beyond the provisions of the Code has been misidentified as the equity powers of bankruptcy courts. This misidentification has led courts to place inappropriate statutory and historical limitations on non-Code practices because of discomfort with unguided equitable discretion.

Both the statutory and historic limitations are problematic. The statutory authorization for the bankruptcy courts’ equitable powers appears to have been repealed by what one judge has called …

The "Priority Statute" - The United States' "Ace-In-The-Hole", 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1205 (2006), Richard H.W. Maloy

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Uniform Laws Or State Immunity? The Constitutionality Of Section 106(A) After Seminole, 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 969 (2006), John F. Hiltz

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Breaking The Bank: Revisiting Central Bank Of Denver After Enron And Sarbanes-Oxley, Celia Taylor

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Valuation Averaging: A New Procedure For Resolving Valuation Disputes, Keith Sharfman

Rutgers Law School (Newark) Faculty Papers

In this Article, Professor Sharfman addresses the problem of "discretionary valuation": that courts resolve valuation disputes arbitrarily and unpredictably, thus harming litigants and society. As a solution, he proposes the enactment of "valuation averaging," a new procedure for resolving valuation disputes modeled on the algorithmic valuation processes often agreed to by sophisticated private firms in advance of any dispute. He argues that by replacing the discretion of judges and juries with a mechanical valuation process, valuation averaging would cause litigants to introduce more plausible and conciliatory valuations into evidence and thereby reduce the cost of valuation litigation and increase the …

Children As Chattel: Invoking The Thirteenth Amendment To Reform Child Welfare, Kurt Mundorff

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The note argues that the child welfare system perpetuates systemic oppression and commodification of children, particularly targeting African American and poor families, mirroring the exploitation of slavery. The author contends that the Thirteenth Amendment, which prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude, should be invoked to reform this system. The current system prioritizes intervention and removal over support, leading to harm and perpetuating racial and economic disparities. The author advocates for a balanced approach that protects children while addressing the systemic exploitation and racial control embedded in the foster care system.

The Res Judicata Effect Of Bankruptcy Court Judgments: The Procedural And Constitutional Concerns, George A. Martinez

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This article seeks to resolve the conflict in the circuits and argues that bankruptcy court judgments should not bar the assertion of non-core claims because to do so violates the basic principles of res judicata and threatens to undermine fundamental Article III values or create judicial inefficiencies in an effort to preserve such values.

Part II of the article provides the relevant Article III background, and identifies the key Article III cases: Northern Pipeline Construction Company v. Marathon Pipe Line Company and Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Schor. This section explores the impact of Northern Pipeline which held that the …

Hail Britannia?: Institutional Investor Behavior Under Limited Regulation, John C. Coffee Jr., Bernard S. Black

Faculty Scholarship

A central puzzle in understanding the governance of large American public firms is why most institutional shareholders are passive. Why would they rather sell than fight? Until recently, the Berle-Means paradigm – the belief that separation of ownership and control naturally characterizes the modern corporation – reigned supreme. Shareholder passivity was seen as an inevitable result of the scale of modern industrial enterprise and of the collective action problems that face shareholders, each of whom owns only a small fraction of a large firm's shares.

A paradigm shift may be in the making, however. Rival hypotheses have recently been offered …

Granfinanciera, Northern Pipeline, And "Public Rights": May A Bankruptcy Judge Preside Over A Jury Trial?, Mitchell Hall

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law—Due Process—Garnishment Procedures Must Provide For Notice To Postjudgment Debtor, Kathleen A. Hillegas

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Bankruptcy Dynamics Of Collective Bargaining Agreements, 19 J. Marshall L. Rev. 301 (1986), Richard L. Merrick

UIC Law Review

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.

The Bankruptcy Appellate Panels: An Unfinished Experiement , Lloyd D. George

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Property, E. F. Roberts

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

In the past, property exemplified law as an ordered set of rules, each axiom fitting nicely into an almost immovable intellectual mosaic of immense size. This obsolete rule grid still serves a purpose. It has been pressed into service as a vehicle to test aspirants for admission to the bar, now that even the bar examiners in this Republic have succumbed to using multiple choice questions susceptible to machine scoring. The irony is that this bar examination law does not mirror the real law, the common-law model having been destroyed by the entropy that typifies this fragile society. Order has …

Homestead And The Process Of History: The Proposed Changes In Article X, Section 4, Dennis J. Wall

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law--Due Process Of Law--Creditors' Rights And Prejudgment Remedies, Thomas V. Flaherty

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutionality Of Cost And Fee Barriers For Indigent Litigants: Searching For The Remains Of Boddie After A Kras-Landing, Steve Barber

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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

Supreme Court Case Files

No abstract provided.

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Antitrust--Robinson-Patman-Adoption of Physical Comparison Test To Determine "Like Grade or Quality"

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Antitrust--Tying Arrangement Held Unfair Method of Competition Under Section 5 of Federal Trade Commission Act Atlantic Refining Company agreed to promote

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Bankruptcy--Tax-Rights of a Trustee in Bankruptcy Against an Unrecorded Tax Lien

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Constitutional Law--Applicability of the Fourteenth Amendment to a Charitable Trust in Which a State Agency Was the Original Trustee

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Constitutional Law--Clandestine Surveillance of Public Toilet--Not an Unreasonable Search

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Criminal Law--Joint Trials--Admission of Confession Implicating Both Defendants Held Erroneous

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Evidence--No Cross-Examination of Defendant's Character Witnesses as to His Prior Arrests and Conviction …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Antitrust Act--Discriminatory Practices--Defenses Available to Charge of Discrimination in Furnishing Services and Facilities

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Bankruptcy--Priority of Wages--Employer's Contributions to Welfare Funds Are Not Entitled to Priority as Wages Due to Work

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Constitutional Law--Social Security Benefits--Automatic Suspension of Deported Person's Social Security Benefits a Denial of Due Process

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Constitutional Law--Union Shop Agreement Under Railway Labor Act Violates Constitutional Rights of Employees

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Corporations--Securities and Exchange Act of 1934--Liability of Director for Profits on Stock Acquired Prior to Election as Corporate Official

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Damages--Quasi Contract--Exemplary Damages in Quasi Contract When Defendant is Guilty of Fraud

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Evidence--Other Crimes--Admissibility of Evidence …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Automobiles--Owner's Liability Statutes--Application to the Master-Servant Relationship

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Bankruptcy--Discharge--Failure of Creditor to Inform Bankruptcy Court of Bankrupt's Fraud in Procuring Loan

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Bills and Notes--Demand Instruments--Time When Statute of Limitations Begins to Run

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Bills and Notes--Holder in Due Course--Giving a Check in Exchange for Another Negotiable Instrument is not the Giving of Value When the Check Turns Out to be Worthless

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Constitutional Law--Due Process of Law--Use of Perjured Testimony and Suppression of Material Evidence Favorable to Accused in State Criminal Proceedings

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Constitutional Law--Equal Protection of the Laws--Executory Interest Conditioned upon Racial Restriction on Use of Land

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Cases Noted, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

bankruptcy--unclaimed dividends--distribution to creditors who have not been paid in full

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constitutional law--prohibition of practice of naturopathy as a separate branch of the healing arts

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constitutional law--unAmerican activities committee held valid exercise of congressional power

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criminal law--evidence--admission of confession

Garnishment - Full Faith And Credit - Nature Of Principal Judgment, John N. Seaman

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, appellee, sued an Illinois insurance company for legal services, and on the same day sued out a writ of garnishment against a Michigan debtor of the insurance company. Two days later the insurance company was dissolved in Illinois under the provisions of the Illinois Insurance Code, and an Illinois liquidator was vested with title to all of the insurance company's property, wherever located. The liquidator intervened in this case, claiming prior title to the garnishment debt, by virtue of the Illinois statute and judicial proceedings. Held, the commencement of the garnishment suit gave plaintiff a lien on the …