Bankruptcy Law Commons^™

The Complications Of Fla. Stat. Section 222.25(4). Does Florida's Wildcard Exemption Allow Married Debtors To Double Dip, Rubina K. Shaldjian

St. Thomas Law Review

Bankruptcy courts in every Florida district have addressed how the new wildcard exemption fits into the Florida exemption scheme. Part II of this paper outlines the relevant cases and explains the reasoning behind their differences. While not all of the cases directly address whether a married debtor exempting real property under tenancy by the entirety can also claim the additional $4,000 wildcard exemption, the analyses they contain are germane to the issue. Generally, debtors who do not affirmatively claim the homestead exemption are entitled to the wildcard exemption if they do not receive the benefit of constitutional homestead. Part III …

Virtual Territoriality, Edward J. Janger

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Ideas, Interests And Institutions And The History Of Canadian Bankruptcy Law 1867-1880, Thomas G. W. Telfer

Law Publications

Michael Trebilcock's scholarship has long recognized the importance of ideas, interests, and institutions in shaping policy. Taking the same analytical approach that Michael Trebilcock and Ninette Kelley use in their ground-breaking book on the history of Canadian immigration, which focuses on economic interests, contested ideas, and institutions, this article examines the Canadian historical experience to gain an understanding of the ideas, interests, and institutions that have been influential in shaping the evolution of Canadian bankruptcy law. Specifically, the article addresses the rise of Canadian bankruptcy legislation in the early post-Confederation period and its ultimate repeal in 1880. Bankruptcy law represented …

The Appeal Of Direct Appeal – Use Of The New 28 U.S.C. § 158(D)(2), Laura B. Bartell

Law Faculty Research Publications

Prior to the amendments enacted in the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA), a decision of a federal bankruptcy judge could be appealed in one of two ways. First, a litigant could appeal a final judgment, order or decree (and certain interlocutory orders and decrees) to the district court for the judicial district in which the bankruptcy judge sits. Second, if the judicial council of the circuit in which the bankruptcy judge was serving had established a bankruptcy appellate panel (BAP) under 28 U.S.C. § 158(6)(1), and the district judges for the district in which the …

Virtual Territoriality, Edward J. Janger

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Principle Of Consumer Utility: A Contemporary Theory Of The Bankruptcy Discharge, 58 University Of Kansas Law Review 101 (2010), Michael D. Sousa

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Does An Economic Crisis Merit A Prima Facie Finding Of "Exigent Circumstances" Or Other Emergency Relief? The Impact Of The Credit Counseling Provision Of Bapcpa Upon Distressed Homeowners In A Severe National Economic Downturn, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 129 (2010), Gloria J. Liddell, Pearson Liddell Jr., Michael J. Highfield

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Reappraisal Of Attorneys' Fees In Bankruptcy, Michelle A. Cecil

Faculty Publications

This Article attempts to create a new method for approaching the priority of attorneys’ fees in bankruptcy. It criticizes Lamie for not going far enough toward resolving the attorneys’ fees issue, and proposes a statutory amendment to the Bankruptcy Code that will harmonize the interests of both creditors and debtors who are seeking bankruptcy protection during these difficult economic times.

Collective Bargaining Agreements In Corporate Reorganizations, Andrew B. Dawson

Articles

Congress enacted § 1113 to the Bankruptcy Code in 1984 in order to establish a standard for the rejection of Collective Bargaining Agreements. But the statute's ambiguous language has caused a split between the Second and Third Circuits, and has precipitated a lengthy academic debate largely centered on the interpretation of one word: "necessary." This debate has focused on proper statutory interpretation as well as deeper concerns regarding the policy goals behind the Bankruptcy Code. The present study reports data that indicate that the different interpretations are irrelevant in practice. No matter how "necessary" is defined, the result is always …

Calling All Debtors, Want To Defraud Your Creditors? Here Is How: The Tenancy By The Entirety Loophole And The Nullification Of Section 522(O), (P), And (Q) Of The 2005 Bankruptcy Amendments, Leigh J. Francis

University of Miami Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cutting The Gordian Knot: The Case For Allowing Modification Of Home Mortgages In Bankruptcy, Susan E. Hauser

Journal of Business & Technology Law

No abstract provided.

Insuring Against The Risk Of Collusion In Corporate Bankruptcy Cases: The Uncharted Waters Of The Insured Vs. Insured Exclusion In Directors' And Officers' Liability Insurance Policies, Cullen Ann Drescher

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Yellowstone Mountain Club, Benjamin Signer, Paul Wehmeier, Joseph Whelan

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Case Studies

No abstract provided.

Reply: Clawback To The Future, Miriam A. Cherry, Jarrod Wong

All Faculty Scholarship

In an earlier article also available on Scholarship Commons, Clawbacks: Prospective Contract Measures in an Era of Excessive Executive Compensation and Ponzi Schemes, Minnesota Law Review, Vol. 94, p. 368, 2009, Professors Miriam Cherry and Jarrod Wong set out an initial description and analysis of contractual clawback provisions. In this Reply, Profs. Cherry and Wong address three aspects of Michael Macchiarola's Response: its application of the clawback doctrine to the recoupment of executive compensation; the criticism that the clawbacks doctrine introduces latent subjectivity into contractual analysis; and the apparent operational difficulties in implementing clawbacks.

Single Asset Real Estate And Development Projects: The Kara Homes Mistake, Marshall E. Tracht

Articles & Chapters

The Kara Homes decision held that various affiliates of Kara Homes, Inc., each of which owned a separate real estate project, were "single asset real estate" ("SARE'') cases under the Bankruptcy Code's definition. According to the author of this article, the designation as single asset real estate substantially increased the difficulty faced by the debtors in maintaining their reorganization efforts, and has given lenders and their counsel a significant amount of comfort. However, the definition runs against the actual wording of the Bankruptcy Code, the intent underlying the SARE provisions, and the political winds. It should, and may well, be …

Nothing Natural About It: Still Searching For A Solution To The Chapter 11 Stamp Tax Exemption, Lindsay K. Taft

Seattle University Law Review

In June of 2008, in Florida Department of Revenue v. Piccadilly Cafeterias, Inc., the Supreme Court settled a circuit split and issued a bright line rule stating that asset transfers made prior to the confirmation of a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization no longer benefit from certain tax exemptions. As a result, the cost of selling assets in a bankruptcy case outside of a plan will increase. The provision at issue in the case, which exempts asset transfers and sales from certain state taxes, contains language ambiguous enough that four federal circuit courts have contemplated which types of asset …

Through Gritted Teeth And Clenched Jaw: Court-Initiated Sanctions In Bankruptcy Opinions, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

This article discusses what types of behavior can trigger a bankruptcy court's initiation of sanctions against an attorney.

Rethinking Professional Fees In Chapter 11 Cases, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

This article discusses the many ways in which professional fees can spiral out of control in chapter 11 bankruptcy cases and evaluates the possible ways to monitor and control those fees.

Saving Up For Bankruptcy, Ronald J. Mann, Katherine Porter

Faculty Scholarship

Bankruptcy is a numbers game. Policymaking, public perception, and the scholarly literature are captivated with the number of annual bankruptcy filings, which hit one million in 2008. The number of annual bankruptcy filings has become a barometer of economic health, reflecting an implicit assumption that bankruptcy is a useful proxy for financial distress.

But at the level of the individual family, the causative relation between financial distress and bankruptcy filings is unclear. On the one hand, only a fraction of those in serious financial distress will ever file for bankruptcy. For example, a study by Michelle White examined a group …

The Sec In Bankruptcy, G. Ray Warner, Keith Sharfman

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Since its founding, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has played an important role as both an advisor and regulator in bankruptcy cases, valuing debtor assets, opining on plans of reorganization, regulating the trading of claims and the disclosure of information, and much else. After a period of relative inactivity following the passage of the Bankruptcy Code (which has a less expansive view of the SEC's role than that of the former Chandler Act whose regime the Code replaced), the SEC's involvement in bankruptcy has intensified in recent years with the ascendancy of equity committees and with the increased …

Bankruptcy Reform And Economic Recovery, G. Ray Warner

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

In 2005, following years of intensive lobbying by the consumer credit industry, the focus of the consumer bankruptcy law was changed from the liberal debtor-focused "fresh start" approach embodied in the 1978 Bankruptcy Code to a creditor-focused "can pay/must pay" approach. Although the shift to a can pay/must pay system started years earlier to address perceived abuses, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 ("BAPCPA") completed that shift by engrafting onto the bankruptcy law a fairly strict and largely objective test for determining a debtor's ability to repay debt and by setting forth channeling rules designed …

Automotive Bankruptcy Panel Discussion - November 16, 2009, David G. Heiman, Stephen Kerotkin, Stephen D. Lerner, Thomas Moers Mayer

Cleveland State Law Review

This panel discussion concerning bankruptcy and the automobile industry took place in the Joseph W. Bartunek III Moot Court Room on the campus of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law on November 16, 2009.

Orthodox Jewish Women And Eligibility For The Parsonage Exemption, Jacob Lewin

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note examines the eligibility of Orthodox Jewish women for the parsonage exemption under Section 107 of the Internal Revenue Code, arguing that unordained women can qualify if they hold formal theological degrees, despite lacking formal ordination or certification. It critiques Michael Broyde’s proposal that functional roles alone suffice, asserting that requiring formal licensing or certification prevents abuse of the exemption while ensuring its purpose of supporting religious leadership is maintained.

The Secondary Market For Gift Cards And The Role Of Corporate Bankruptcy Risk, Kaitlyn A. Desai

CMC Senior Theses

The website, Plastic Jungle, is taking advantage of the rapidly growing gift card phenomena by creating a secondary market that enables consumers to buy, sell, and exchange gift cards online at a discount. This paper examines the relationship between this secondary gift card market and the corporate bankruptcy risk of companies with gift cards listed on the market. When a company issues a gift card, the card is unsecured debt and the cardholder becomes an unsecured creditor to the company. This paper investigates whether the cardholder acts similarly to other unsecured creditors or as someone who is merely holding another …

The Costs Of Bapcpa: Report Of The Pilot Study Of Consumer Bankruptcy Cases, Lois R. Lupica

Faculty Publications

Substantial changes were made to the consumer bankruptcy system with the enactment of BAPCPA. These changes, however, were enacted without data support for, or recognition of how such changes would affect the cost of accessing the bankruptcy system. The Costs of BAPCPA Pilot Study undertook a review of the costs of the consumer bankruptcy system following BAPCPA's enactment, to determine if costs were increased, and if so, whether these costs were passed on to the consumer. The issue of "costs" distills the question of what attorneys are charging consumers to represent them under the new regime. Thus a study of …

Anna Nicole Smith Goes Shopping: The New Forum-Shopping Problem In Bankruptcy, G. Marcus Cole, Todd J. Zywicki

Journal Articles

In the United States, relations between debtors and their creditors are governed by two distinct legal regimes. For the overwhelming majority of credit relationships, state law of contract, property, tort, and consumer protection set up the framework within which the debtor-creditor relationship is established, functions, and in the end, is dissolved. In a smaller but significant number of these relationships, a different forum orchestrates the end of these relationships, namely, federal bankruptcy court. These two distinct forums for debtor-creditor relations coexist side by side, with some disputes moving over time from one forum to the other. As with any system …

Ask The Professor: Portfolio Margining – How Will Dodd-Frank Impact Its Utilization?, Ronald Filler

Articles & Chapters

This article analyzes the background and current status of portfolio margining, how it has evolved over the past several years, and how the recent Dodd-Frank Act will impact its utilization and effectiveness. Portfolio margining allows a broker-dealer to analyze a client's total overall portfolio from a risk-based analytical model, establishing the proper minimum initial margin requirements for the entire portfolio applying certain parameters. To be a more effective tool, changes to the U.S. Bankrupcty Code were needed. The Dodd-Frank Act made those legislative changes. It's now up to the regulators to make portfolio margining an even more effective and utilized …

Ask The Professor: How Does The U.K. Client Money Rules Differ From The U.S. Customer Segregated Rules When The Custodian Firm Fails To Treat Customer Property Properly?, Ronald Filler

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of The Italian And U.S. Bankruptcy Systems: A Comparative Analysis, Paolo Manganelli

Journal of Business & Technology Law

No abstract provided.

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

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.