Bankruptcy Law Commons^™

A Chapter 11 Debtor's Life After Oct. 17: Not So Bad If You Effectively Plan, Michelle M. Harner, Carl E. Black

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Bankruptcy Law, Richard C. Maxwell, B. Webb King

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Extinguishing Security Interests: Secured Claims In Japanese Reorganization Law And Some Policy Implications To The U.S. Law, Wataru Tanaka

ExpressO

This Article examines how secured claims are treated in Japanese business reorganization law, especially in the Civil Rehabilitation Act (Minji saisei ho), which was enacted in 1999 as the new general reorganization regime in Japan. Unlike the U.S. Bankruptcy Act, the Civil Rehabilitation Act does not have automatic stay on secured claims, nor does it allow any modification of secured claims by the rehabilitation plans. However, the Civil Rehabilitation Act has a unique procedure to restrict the rights of secured creditors, which is called “the procedure of extinguishing security interests (tanpo-ken shometsu seikyu tetsuzuki).” This procedure permits a debtor to …

An Appeal To Equity: Why Bankruptcy Courts Should Resort To Equitable Powers For Latitude In Their Interpretation Of "Interests" Under Section 363(F) Of The Bankruptcy Code, Matthew T. Gunlock

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Income Tax Claims In The Year Of Bankruptcy: A Congressionally Created Quagmire, Gregory L. Germain

ExpressO

How is the government's claim for income taxes incurred by a debtor in the year of bankruptcy treated? Is the government's tax claim entitled to priority as a first priority expense of administration, even though part of the year's taxes was incurred prepetition? If not, is the claim entitled to eighth priority under its special rule for tax claims? The courts did not reach consistent results on these questions prior to the 2005 Act. The courts agreed that the government's claim for pre-petition taxes should not be entitled to administrative expense priority, but differed on whether the claim was entitled …

The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention And Consumer Protection Act Of 2005: The Solution To Inherent Inequalities Exists Outside The Box Of Congress' "Sense" Of Personal Finance Education, Lisa M. Wiltshire

ExpressO

This Note analzyes the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 in relation to discrepancies between minority and white bankruptcy petition filers.

Bankruptcy Abuse: An Empirical Study Of Consumer Exemptions Cases, Bernard Trujillo

ExpressO

On April 20, 2005, the President of the United States signed a sweeping legislative overhaul of the consumer bankruptcy system. The bankruptcy reform legislation is based on an empirical assertion: that sophisticated debtors with the means to re-pay their debts were instead filing for bankruptcy and acquiring a discharge, thereby abusing the bankruptcy system.

This Article presents the results of an empirical study of bankruptcy court doctrine in consumer exemptions proceedings over a twenty-year period. The findings suggest a serious empirical flaw in the premise of the bankruptcy reform legislation. The study shows that the bankruptcy system minimizes abuse by …

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

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Practicing Under The New Bankruptcy Code: A Nuts & Bolts Workshop, Office Of Continuing Legal Education At The University Of Kentucky College Of Law

Continuing Legal Education Materials

Materials from Practicing Under the New Bankruptcy Code: A Nuts & Bolts Workshop (The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005) held by UK/CLE in September 2005.

Bankruptcy Filing Rates After A Major Hurricane, Robert M. Lawless

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Brazil Enacts New Federal Bankruptcy Law, Gilberto Deon Correa, Ricardo C. Veirano

Brigham Young University International Law & Management Review

No abstract provided.

Is Forum-Shopping Corrupting America's Bankruptcy Courts? Review Of Lynn M. Lopucki, "Courting Failure: How Competition For Big Cases Is Corrupting The Bankruptcy Courts", Todd J. Zywicki

George Mason University School of Law Working Papers Series

In his new book, Courting Failure: How Competition for Big Cases is Corrupting the Bankruptcy Courts, Professor Lynn LoPucki’s book argues that that current bankruptcy venue rules have spawned an improper “competition for big cases” that has “corrupted” America’s bankruptcy courts. LoPucki argues that this competition has harmed the bankruptcy system and the economy, transferring wealth from creditors and employees to incumbent management and bankruptcy professionals. He also argues that the competition that has corrupted the American bankruptcy system is being replicated internationally, resulting in a similar competition and similar harm on the global stage.

This essay reviews LoPucki’s book …

Judicial Estoppel And The Eleventh Circuit Consumer Bankruptcy Debtor, James D. Walker Jr., Amber Nickell

Mercer Law Review

Judicial estoppel is an equitable doctrine intended to prevent a litigant from making a mockery of the judicial system by asserting inconsistent positions in different legal proceedings. The peculiarities of bankruptcy, however, are not always conducive to the easy application of judicial estoppel, particularly when it harms the debtor's creditors. Since the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided its first bankruptcy-related judicial estoppel case in 2002, the court has not fully addressed some important complexities raised by bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy, James D. Walker Jr., Amber Nickell

Mercer Law Review

No one topic dominated bankruptcy cases arising in the Eleventh Circuit in 2004, but several developments took center stage. First, judicial estoppel re-emerged as a tool used to prevent a windfall to the debtor when the trustee is the real party in interest. Second, any benefit accruing to debtors after last year's Supreme Court decision on state sovereign immunity may have been effectively eliminated by a recent circuit court decision. Third, student loan creditors endeavored to eviscerate the last remnants of the undue hardship discharge by invoking the availability of the income contingent repayment plan. This Article addresses these and …

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy And Section 707(B): Should The Subjective "Substantial Abuse" Standard Be Replaced By An Objective "Means-Testing" Formula?, J. Kaz Espy

Mercer Law Review

Because our society has become more and more reliant on the concept of "credit," the level of individual indebtedness has risen and, as a direct corollary, individual filings for bankruptcy relief have also increased. Credit can be beneficial to John D. Consumer ("Consumer") by allowing him to take possession of goods and pay for them at a later date. This in turn stimulates the economy by giving consumers more buying power. However, when Consumer fails to use discretion in his use of credit, he quickly finds out how the seemingly wonderful concept of credit can become a nightmare. If Consumer …

The Gendered Dimensions Of Social Insurance For The "Non-Poor" In Canada, Stephanie Ben-Ishai

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article emerges from an exploration of the meanings of consumer bankruptcy in the current context of Canadian society, as well as the role consumer bankruptcy plays in shaping this context. Examining consumer bankruptcy through the lens of gender relations, the claim is made that Canadian consumer bankruptcy legislation, policies, practices, and accompanying discourses are implicated in the causation and perpetuation of the conditions of marginalization and subordination endured by women who experience long-term poverty. These women are affected not only in terms of access to the bankruptcy system, but also by the broader implications of the delivery of consumer …

Preference Determinations Concerning Bankruptcy Reform Act Of 1978 And Securities Act Of 1933, Securities And Exchange Act Of 1934, And Commodity Exchange Act, J. B. Grossman

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

General Intangible Or Commercial Tort: Moral Rights And State Based Intellectual Property As Collateral Under Ucc Revised Article 9, Lars Smith

ExpressO

The article focuses on whether this change to Article 9 requires a reevaluation of whether certain intellectual property rights are better characterized as commercial torts rather than general intangibles. If so, this will place severe restrictions on the ability of debtors to use those forms of intellectual property as collateral. I propose a two part test to determine the proper characterization: First, is the intellectual property right one that exists primarily to vindicate interests of the owner? Second, is the intellectual property right alienable? Using this test, for example, it is my conclusion that moral rights can never be general …

Institutions, Incentives, And Consumer Bankruptcy Reform, Todd J. Zywicki

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Makes Asset Securitization "Inefficient"?, Kenji Yamazaki

ExpressO

Despite the damage caused by the recent Enron scandal , the asset securitization market has been vibrant and has become a popular financing alternative . A number of academics emphasize its merits and suggest that it is a more favorable way of financing, and Congress’s proposal to make sales of asset in securitization immune from characterization as secured transactions under the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2001 (the “Reform Act”) almost materialized when the Enron scandal hit the scene. Conversely, there have been accusations that securitization is not a legitimate way of financing because, for example, it fosters fraudulent transactions.

Why …

12th Biennial Judge Joe Lee Bankruptcy Institute, Office Of Continuing Legal Education At The University Of Kentucky College Of Law

Continuing Legal Education Materials

Materials from the 12th Biennial Judge Joe Lee Bankruptcy Institute held May 2005.

Caught In The Trap: Pricing Racial Housing Preferences, A. Mechele Dickerson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Fao Schwartz In Chapter 22: Too Big For Its Britches, Andrea Kuban, Chris Reiley, Mary Walker

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Case Studies

No abstract provided.

Ethical Issues In Asbestos Litigation, Lester Brickman

Articles

Asbestos litigation has given rise to over 50,000,000 claims against 8400 former producers, distributors, installers and sellers of asbestos-containing products. To date, 850,000 claimants have sought compensation, costing businesses and insurance companies over $70 billion and resulting in more than 70 bankruptcies. Over 100,000 deaths are attributable to asbestos exposure with an additional 40,000 deaths anticipated over the next 30 years. Despite the significance of the ethical issues generated by the processes of acquiring, pressing and settling the most massive litigation in history, the legal literature is substantially devoid of any such discussion. One possible reason for this paucity of …

A Technological Theory Of The Arms Race, Lee B. Kovarsky

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

When Bankruptcy Meets Antitrust: The Case For Non-Cash Auctions In Concentrated Banking Markets, David Hahn

ExpressO

One of the most heated debates in bankruptcy law scholarship has been the optimal design of corporate bankruptcy law. While traditionalist scholars defended the actual practice of Chapter 11 of the Bakruptcy Code, the law-and-economics movement has by and large heavily crticized Chapter 11 and called for its replacement. Several models of corporate bankruptcy have been offered in the literature as imporved alternatives thereto. In this article, I examine the various models offered in the literature, as well as the basic model of Chapter 11, against a certain realistic background: that of an economy characterized by the concentrated dominance of …

Price, Path & Pride: Third-Party Closing Opinion Practice Among U.S. Lawyers (A Preliminary Investigation), Jonathan C. Lipson

ExpressO

This article presents the first in-depth exploration of third-party closing opinions, a common but curious – and potentially troubling -- feature of U.S. business law practice. Third-party closing opinions are letters delivered at the closing of most large transactions by the attorney for one party (e.g., the borrower) to the other party (e.g., the lender) offering limited assurance that the transaction will have legal force and effect.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of legal opinions are delivered every week. Yet, lawyers often complain that they create needless risk and cost, and produce little benefit. Closing opinions thus pose a basic question: …

Patterns In A Complex System: An Empirical Study Of Valuation In Business Bankruptcy Cases, Bernard Trujillo

ExpressO

This Article applies complex systems research methods to explore the characteristics of the bankruptcy legal system, presenting the results of an empirical study of twenty years of bankruptcy court valuation doctrine in business cramdown cases. These data provide solid descriptions of how courts exercise their discretion in valuing firms and assets.

This Article accomplishes two objectives: First, using scientific methodology, this Article explains the content of bankruptcy valuation doctrine. Second, this Article uses doctrine as a variable to explore system dynamics that govern the processes of change over time.

Significant findings include (i) courts tend to “split the difference” in …

Deciding On An Efficient Involuntary Bankruptcy Filing Petition Rule, Sergio A. Muro

Cornell Law School J.D. Student Research Papers

Bankruptcy law deals with last recourse solutions to extreme financial and balance-sheet problems. Both debtor and his creditors will have incentives to begin an insolvency case balanced with other reasons that will encourage them not to begin it. Consequently legal systems usually tend to concentrate on rules that will spur either group to bring the bankruptcy proceeding when it is adequate. As a result some countries have creditors bringing most of the proceedings (as is the case of the United Kingdom) and others have debtors as the prime figures.

This paper focuses on the creditor side of the equation and …

Institutions, Incentives, And Consumer Bankruptcy Reform, Todd Zywicki

George Mason University School of Law Working Papers Series

Consumer bankruptcy filing rates have soared during the past 25 years. From 225,000 filings in 1979, consumer bankruptcies topped 1.5 million during 2004. This relentless upward trend is striking in light of the generally high prosperity, low interest rates, and low unemployment during that period. This anomaly of ever-upward bankruptcy filing rates during a period of economic prosperity had spurred calls to reform the Bankruptcy Code to place new conditions on bankruptcy relief. Although bankruptcy reform has drawn broad bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, these proposals have proven controversial within the academy. Critics have argued that these reforms are unnecessary …