Bankruptcy Law Commons^™

Global Credit Card Use And Debt: Policy Issues And Regulatory Responses, Ronald J. Mann

ExpressO

The rise of card-based payments has transformed the landscape of payments in the last half century, from one dominated by government-supported paper-based payments to one dominated by wholly private systems. The rise of those payments presents a number of policy problems, the most serious of which is the empirically demonstrable likelihood that use of the cards contributes to an undue level of consumer credit and that borrowing on the cards contributes to a rise in the level of consumer bankruptcy. Although the existing pattern shows great variation from country to country, regulators should take no solace in those variations. Building …

The Charity In Bankruptcy And Ghosts Of Donors Past, Present, And Future (Symposium), Evelyn Brody

All Faculty Scholarship

The bankruptcy of a charity represents the clash of two policy regimes: charity law's willingness to preserve assets for the public purpose determined by the donor as against bankruptcy law's desire to maximize assets for distribution to creditors. As a general rule, assets will be distributed to creditors; as the courts say, 'a man must be just before he is generous.' However, when a charitable donee goes out of existence or otherwise becomes unable to perform a charitable trust or restricted gift, the courts will try to identify those charitable assets that are restricted in such a manner that they …

Foxes Guarding The Henhouse: The Modern Best Interests Of Creditors Test In Chapter 11 Reorganizations, Jonathan Hicks

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Bankruptcy Reform: Hearing Before The S. Comm. On The Judiciary, 109th Cong., Feb. 10, 2005 (Statement Todd Zywicki, Visiting Prof. Of Law, Geo. U. L. Center), Todd J. Zywicki

Testimony Before Congress

No abstract provided.

Procedural Incrementalism: A Model For International Bankruptcy, John A. E. Pottow

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

From Parmalat to Yukos, the pace of cross-border bankruptcy filings has been accelerating. Scholarly attention and policy reform have increasingly focused on the financial distress of enterprises with assets and creditors dispersed throughout multiple jurisdictions. Yet despite ongoing globalization and economic integration, insolvency law has remained stubbornly resistant to treaties and other international efforts to design some form of unified, global regime for resolving private financial defaults. Part of the reason progress remains so elusive is that two competing paradigms of international bankruptcy – universalism and territorialism – continue to divide academics and policymakers alike. Proposed treaties premised on one …

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

Law Faculty Publications

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

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

Significant findings include: (1) Courts tend to split the difference …

Bankruptcy Reform And The Financial Well-Being Of Women: How Intersectionality Matters In Money Matters, Kristin (Brandser) Kalsem

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

After eight years of heated controversy, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 was signed into law by president Bush on April 20, 2005. Proponents of the Act claimed that it would cure the bankruptcy crisis and that the wealthy would no longer be allowed to abuse the system at the expense of hard-working American families. Opponents cast the legislation as a dream come true for the credit card companies, claiming that it would serve only to enrich the rich at the expense of the poorest of the poor. One of the key issues that emerged from …

Tyson, Neal Cope, Doug Elkins

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Case Studies

No abstract provided.

Debtors Beware: The Expanding Universe Of Non-Assumable/Non-Assignable Contracts In Bankruptcy, Michelle M. Harner, Carl E. Black, Eric R. Goodman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Must We Bankrupt The Spirit Also: The Benefits Of Incorporating Therapeutic Jurisprudence Into Law School Bankruptcy Assistance Programs, Michael L. Stines

St. Thomas Law Review

This paper will examine the psychological effects associated with filing for consumer bankruptcy and techniques that can be learned by law students and young lawyers to help soften the blow for those who will inevitably experience those effects. First, the progression of bankruptcy will be discussed, tracking changes from its origins to modem times and the effect those changes may have had on those attempting to take advantage of the system's benefits. Second, the actual process of filing for bankruptcy will be examined, pointing out the aspects that cause damage to an individual's mental health. Third, this paper will analyze …

La Responsabilisation De L'Economie: What The United States Can Learn From The New French Law On Consumer Overindebtedness, Jason J. Kilborn

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article on the French law continues a study of European consumer debt-relief systems, which the author began previously in an article on the German system. With rapid legal and practical developments in consumer debt-relief law, Europe provides an excellent comparative legal laboratory for observing the potential benefits and pitfalls of consumer bankruptcy reforms. In particular, French and German experiences with long-term payment plans shed useful light on the great debate raging in the United States over similar plans.

Why Annie Gets To Keep Her Gun: An Analysis Of Firearm Exemptions In Bankruptcy Proceedings, Marcia A. Yablon-Zug

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Can The Sauvegarde Reform Save French Bankruptcy Law?: A Comparative Look At Chapter 11 And French Bankruptcy Law From An Agency Cost Perspective, Robert Weber

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note will attempt to explain the intersection of agency costs and bankruptcy law, looking first to general agency problems involved when firms are insolvent and moving next to discussions of how U.S. Chapter 11 and French bankruptcy laws attempt to address these problems. First, I will attempt to articulate the relationship between agency costs and (1) debtor control over the firm during Chapter 11 reorganizations and (2) deviations from the absolute priority rule in Chapter 11. Specifically, I will argue that creditors voluntarily accede to plans proposed by management that impair the same creditors' legal entitlements, and that this …

The Impact Of Revised Article 9, Lois R. Lupica

Faculty Publications

Under Revised Article 9, secured creditors are granted greater rights than they had under former Article 9. We now have a secured credit system whereby secured creditors can more easily encumber a greater number of types of assets and can securitize more types of assets with greater certainty. These revisions were justified on the grounds of efficiency, although the impact of these revisions was not empirically proven. This article sets forth a research protocol for the study of Revised Article 9's impact on the credit markets.

Lost In Translation: From U.S. Corporate Charter Competition To Issuer Choice In International Securities Regulation, Frederick Tung

Faculty Scholarship

Corporate charter competition among U.S. states has been held out as a model of welfare-enhancing regulatory competition. Proponents of this story also rely on it as a basis for promoting regulatory competition in international securities regulation. Issuer choice proponents argue that an issuer of securities should be permitted to choose the securities regulation of any nation to govern its securities offerings and trading worldwide. This Article challenges the notion that the claimed success of corporate charter competition among U.S. states argues in favor of issuer choice for international securities regulation.

Even granting the assumptions of race-to-the-top advocates and accepting the …

The Confused U.S. Framework For Foreign-Bank Insolvency: An Open Research Agenda, Steven L. Schwarcz

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

La Responsabilisation De L'Economie: What The United States Can Learn From The New French Law On Consumer Overindebtedness, 26 Mich. J. Int'l L. 619 (2005), Jason Kilborn

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Behavioral Economics, Overindebtedness & Comparative Consumer Bankruptcy: Searching For Causes And Evaluating Solutions, 22 Emory Bankr. Dev. J. 13 (2005), Jason Kilborn

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Shifting The Focus From The Myth Of "The Vanishing Trial" To Complex Conflict Management Systems, Or I Learned Almost Everything I Need To Know About Conflict Resolution From Marc Galanter, John Lande

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

To say that "The Vanishing Trial" is a myth is not to suggest that the facts or analysis in Professor Galanter's report are fictional or inaccurate. Indeed, he marshals a massive amount of data to show that the number of trials and the trial rates have been declining for the past four decades, particularly in the federal courts. The report documents an apparent paradox: the proportion of cases going to trial has dropped sharply during the past forty years despite substantial increases in many other legal indicators including the number of lawyers, the number of cases filed, and the amount …

H.W. Johns - Manville, Steven P. Ingram, James K. Lam

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Case Studies

No abstract provided.

Mississippi Chemical, Stacie Odencal, Jeremy Deese

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Case Studies

No abstract provided.

Not-So-Critical Vendors: Redefining Critical Vendor Orders, Christopher D. Hunt

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Lessons From The Nextwave Saga: The Federal Communications Commission, The Courts, And The Use Of Market Forms To Perform Public Functions, Rodger D. Citron, John A. Rogovin

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Ending The Nonsense: The In Pari Delicto Doctrine Has Nothing To Do With What Is § 541 Property Of The Bankruptcy Estate, Jeffrey Davis

UF Law Faculty Publications

The recent wave of disregard for corporate fiduciary responsibilities has provided numerous opportunities for courts to consider whether the corporations bankrupted by the unlawful acts of their principals should be prohibited by the in pari delicto doctrine from pursuing liability claims against third parties who contributed to the harm. In an array of recent cases, courts have reluctantly and apologetically, yet uniformly, permitted third parties who contributed to the demise of these corporations to escape liability because they felt § 541 of the Bankruptcy Code (the "Code") left them no other choice.

Section 541 provides that the filing of a …

Publicity Rights As Moral Rights, David Landau, David Westfall

Scholarly Publications

Recent legal history has witnessed the creation of a large number of new forms of property. Consequently, judges and legislators have generally been willing to imbue these new forms of property with all or most of the attributes of traditional property. In this article we try to explain this trend by examining one important new kind of property, the publicity right. Publicity rights initially emerged in response to functionalist considerations: transferable rights were needed to keep pace with commercial custom. As time went on, courts began to expand the attributes of the right to new frontiers, such as inheritability. In …

Redesigning The International Lender Of Last Resort, Patrick Bolton, David A. Skeel Jr.

Center for Contract and Economic Organization

This paper is concerned with the issue of how to balance bailouts (or "lending into arrears") with debt reductions (or "private sector involvement") in the resolution of sovereign debt crises. It provides a review of recent proposals for improving the sovereign debt restructuring process. In addition to defending a sovereign bankruptcy proposal we have put forward in recent work, this article proposes a major reorientation of the IMF's role in sovereign debt crises.

The "New And Improved" Chapter 11, Stephen J. Lubben

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Mayday, Mayday!: How The Current Bankruptcy Code Fails To Protect The Pensions Of Employees, Amy Lassiter

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

‘Don’T File!’: Rehabilitating Unauthorized Practice Of Law-Based Policies In The Credit Counseling Industry, Lea Krivinskas Shepard

Faculty Publications & Other Works

No abstract provided.

Enron And The New Disinterestedness - The Foxes Are Guarding The Henhouse, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

Discussion of the 2005 amendments to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code as those changes relate to conflicts of interest of investment bankers.