Commercial Law Commons^™

The Scope Of The Subchapter V Corporate Debtor’S “Fresh Start”: The Eleventh Circuit Is Poised To Weigh In, Robert J. Landry, Iii

University of Miami Law Review

The fifth anniversary of the effective date of The Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA) was February 19, 2025. This is a significant milestone in bankruptcy law as SBRA represents the most significant reform to Chapter 11 since the enactment of the Bankruptcy Code in 1978. SBRA created Subchapter V— a new tool for small businesses to rescue such businesses in financial distress. A significant body of caselaw has developed on a host of legal issues arising under SBRA over the last five years. One area that is evolving pertains to the scope of discharge available to small business …

The Legal Acrobatics Of Dealing With International Arbitral Awards Rendered In The United States, Damon R. Duchenne

University of Miami Law Review

International arbitration has become a preferred method for resolving cross-border commercial disputes, largely due to its efficiency and flexibility compared to traditional court litigation. However, the post-award phase, particularly the process of vacating or enforcing arbitral awards, presents significant complexities, especially in the United States. Despite the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “Convention”) guiding the international recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards, the U.S. has introduced an anomaly by categorizing certain awards rendered within its jurisdiction as “nondomestic,” subjecting them to the Convention’s framework. This has led to confusion regarding whether such awards are …

Postjudgment Procedures For Collection Of Small Debts: The Maine Solution, Maine Law Review

Maine Law Review

Debtors' rights and the due process of debt collection have received increasing attention recently in legislative as well as judicial spheres. There have been many efforts to rectify basic contractual inequities, to abolish summary prejudgment remedies and to limit extra-judicial collection abuses. However, comparatively little scrutiny has been focused on postjudgment or post-hearing remedies in the later stages of the collection process. Until recently, Maine's legal remedies for postjudgment debt collection were notorious for their harshness. Jail, the principal sanction, was freely used as a creditors' club to make debtors settle claims. Although inability to pay was not in itself …

State Action And Waiver Implications Of Self-Help Repossession, Maine Law Review

Maine Law Review

In Adams v. Egley, a California federal district court held the repossession sections of the Uniform Commercial Code to be unconstitutional as a denial of due process. The Adams court relied on Sniadach v. Family Finance Co., in which the Supreme Court invalidated the Wisconsin prejudgment wage garnishment law as violative of due process because property was garnished under the statute without hearing or notice to the wage-earning debtor. When Adams was decided, the scope of Sniadach was the subject of extensive judicial dispute. Since then, the Supreme Court's decision in Fuentes v. Shevin has clarified the meaning of Sniadach …

No Lawyer, No Jail: A Critical Case Study Of Pragmatism And The Flaws Of “Purposeful” Decision Making In Argersinger V. Hamlin, Alisa Smith, Sarah K. Stice

Seattle University Law Review

By releasing conference notes and internal communications, Supreme Court Justices provide insight into the otherwise private decisionmaking process, shedding light on how case outcomes and legal reasoning are framed and negotiated. The watershed case of Argersinger v. Hamlin (1972) extended the constitutional right to counsel to some, but not all, misdemeanor defendants. The case was argued twice, and the Court relied on empirical and authoritative sources to answer complex and practical questions about requiring counsel. This case study employs critical discourse analysis to uncover what influenced the Justices’ decisions and how they framed, shaped, and constructed social realities to foreground …

The Race To Erase: Destruction Of Government Documents Undermines Freedom-Of-Information Laws, Frank D. Lomonte

Seattle University Law Review

In August 2019, reporters with Chattanooga’s daily newspaper, the Times Free Press, filed what seemed to be a routine request for access to emails and other public records held by their local county government. The seemingly unremarkable request set the newspaper’s staff on a months-long journey of unpleasant surprises. The first was a demand to pay the county $717 in advance before being allowed to inspect the documents. The second was that—during prolonged haggling over the fee assessment— the county attorney’s office simply destroyed almost all of the disputed records. Third, and most glaringly, the journalists discovered that Tennessee law …

When You’Re Arrested For A Felony In Seattle, You’Ll Meet Me., Austin Field

Seattle University Law Review

In this Essay, Austin Field, a practicing public defender, uses a first-person perspective to describe what it is like to meet a criminal defendant for the first time. He explains the process from start to finish, detailing everything from the way he introduces himself to how bail works.

"I’ll ask you for your name. Most of the time, you tell me. I check your name against my list. On any given day I’m supposed to interview between five and fifteen people. I have a lot of questions for you. We only have about ten minutes."

The Public Square In A Private-Property Obsessed Country: What New York City’S Pops Regulations Get Right And Why Other Cities Should (Mostly) Copy Them, Carson Mcgregor

Seattle University Law Review

When New York City (NYC) was first becoming the metropolitan monolith it is today, it had a problem: the city streets were chock full of skyscrapers, and sunlight, air, and usable open space were at a premium. In response, the City promulgated its first Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) regulations, which allowed developers to build skyward in exchange for providing public space on the street level. Unfortunately, in July of 2023, the New York Times (NYT) discovered that New Yorkers received only a fraction of what they were promised. Building owners received billions of dollars’ worth of added floor space, …

Modern Day Colonialism Through HawaiʻI’S Quiet Title And Partition Laws, Cheyann Fujii

Seattle University Law Review

This Note will attempt to highlight important aspects of Hawaiian history to provide readers with a clear picture on how Native Hawaiians are still impacted by colonialism, specifically when plaintiffs bring a quiet title or partition action against Native Hawaiian owners of kuleana lands. Before colonization, the concept of private land ownership did not exist in Hawai‘i, and Native Hawaiians adopted a feudal system by dividing land into geographical areas. Missionaries and businessmen brought Western ideas to Hawai‘i and influenced legislation such as the Great Māhele and the Kuleana Land Act of 1850, which solidified the concept of private property. …

Data Advantage And Merger Review: Can Entrenchment Theory Reform Antitrust Enforcement?, Shin-Ru Cheng

Seattle University Law Review

A merger involving giant digital companies is likely to dampen competition, as it allows those companies to combine and control data access, enabling them to entrench their dominant positions in relevant markets and extend those positions into related markets. While competition law in many jurisdictions aims to prohibit mergers that may substantially lessen competition or create a monopoly, arguably the review of digital mergers is failing because antitrust agencies lack an effective approach to identify data-generated anticompetitive harms. This Article demonstrates that entrenchment theory, recently reintroduced in the 2023 U.S. Merger Guidelines, would help reform the process of antitrust enforcement. …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Caution: Potholes In E-Scooter Data Collection, Dakota Rakestraw

Seattle University Law Review

Lime scooters keep ending up in major waterways in Washington state metro areas, a testament to the ubiquity of e-scooters in the metropolitan landscape. How they get there is unclear. Why they get there is even murkier. Perhaps the answer lies in the implications of modern geolocation data collection through e-scooters and gaps in current data collection regulation curbing individual liberties.

Since September 2020, electric scooters have run Seattle’s streets and have dramatically overtaken ridesharing bike trips. For example, from September 2020 to September 2021, there were about 1.4 million scooter and bike trips with September 2021 seeing 300,000 scooter …

Machinists Preemption In The New Administrative Law, Andrew J. Ziaja

Seattle University Law Review

This Article assesses Machinists preemption—a labor-specific form of implied field preemption—while freshly considering implications both for and of new developments in administrative law. The radical transformation of administrative law in the Supreme Court, particularly its newfound emphasis on clear-statement rules, provides opportunities to reconsider the Machinists rationale. Aligning with scholars who have called to question the doctrine’s “ossifying” influence on labor and employment policy, it argues that the modern-day version of Machinists preemption clashes with the Supreme Court’s newly constrained view of delegated power and its differing conceptions of the major questions doctrine.

On the other hand, Machinists preemption might …

Volume 48 Masthead, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 48 Masthead

Defining Deference: Impacts Of Abandoning Chevron On Emerging Technology Governance And Administrative Law, R. Aubrey Davis Iii

Seattle University Law Review

Emerging technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), often lead to unforeseen legal outcomes. Notable abuses in areas such as facial recognition, employment bias, and housing discrimination are well known. However, legislative responses to these issues either have been largely reactive or there has been no legislative response at all. In lieu of legislation, agencies have sought to fill the gap. For example, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently proposed a rule mandating voter notification for all AI-generated political phone calls citing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) of 1991 as authority. However, the TCPA was originally passed to curtail telemarketing, not …

Intellectual Property Or Modern Folklore? The Problem With Open Gaming Licenses In Tabletop Gaming, Rosie Midget

Seattle University Law Review

This Note addresses how courts and legislatures should address “Open Gaming Licenses” commonly attached to tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs), which game publishers use to promote a false image of accessibility—misleading consumers and building goodwill from the misunderstanding. Part I discusses what TTRPGs are, including the defining features of the hobby and culture surrounding it, as well as the unique interplay between publishers and players. Part II explores the question of which elements in a TTRPG system may be subject to copyright protection. Part III examines these elements in practice using Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons and Dragons TTRPG as a …

Defenses Not Cleansed By The Endorsement Of A Check In Light Of Legal Provisions And Judicial Rulings: A Comparative Study, Abdelsalam A. Bani Hamad, Marwa Al-Shraida

An-Najah University Journal for Research - B (Humanities)

The study deals with the rule of defenses that are not "cleansed" by endorsement in a check and the scope of its application in law and jurisprudence. According to the rule, the rule of purifying defenses stems from the principle of independence of signatures, such that each signature on a check is independent of the other, meaning that the obligation signed by virtue of this signature has no relation to the other signatures on the check. For example, if the drawer’s obligation is invalid for any reason, this invalidity does not extend to the holder who did not intend to …

Abortion Travel Restrictions Under The Dormant Commerce Clause After National Pork Producers Council V. Ross, Katherine Bartley

Fordham Law Review

Since Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, twelve states have banned abortion entirely, and seven states have banned abortion earlier in pregnancy than the standard set in Roe v. Wade. As abortion access dwindles, patients increasingly cross state lines to seek reproductive healthcare. In response, antiabortion state officials and lawmakers have made efforts to restrict interstate travel for abortion care.

This Note examines abortion travel restrictions under the “Dormant” Commerce Clause doctrine, which limits state laws that burden interstate commerce. In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed but narrowed the judge-made doctrine in National Pork Producers Council v. …

Pedro Aceves Mfa Thesis, Pedro M. Aceves

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

My Work is about looking at Cruising through a queer decolonial lens. Using multiple mediums such as photo, glass, Augmented reality, and film, I explore these queer histories and aesthetics through not just an anthropological approach but also an artistic epistemological approach weaving together narratives of prehispanic and modern queer Latinidad.

Codetermination’S Moment Of Truth: Overseas Workers, Jens Dammann

BYU Law Review

The idea that employees of large corporations should be entitled to representation on corporate boards, a concept known as codetermination, is gaining ground. Progressive politicians Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have proposed codetermination regimes that would allow employees to elect between 40% and 45% of board members. Moreover, an increasing number of corporate law scholars are embracing the idea of giving employees a voice in corporate governance.

However, anyone endorsing codetermination must confront a critical dilemma: whether to limit representation to U.S.-based employees or whether to extend it to overseas workers as well. The question’s practical importance is obvious given …

Like Oil And Water: How The Guyana-Venezuela Border Dispute Impacts Foreign Oil Investors, Aisha Jehaludi

University of Miami Business Law Review

Guyana, a hidden gem located on the northern coast of South America, is an emergent nation primarily known as the land of many waters. However, in 2015, this hidden gem captured international attention when the country struck liquid gold: oil. The discovery put Guyana on the map as an attractive foreign investment opportunity, and over the last ten years, Guyana has gone from being one of the poorest nations in South America to the nation with the world’s fastest growing economy.

This economic boom, fueled by foreign oil companies, also caught the attention of Guyana’s neighboring country, Venezuela. On December …

Cultivating Legal Protection: Replacing Wine Labeling Regulations With Regional Certification Marks, David Corasaniti

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

While wine labeling in the United States is currently governed by a complex regulatory framework administered by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (“TTB”), intellectual property (“IP”) rights for wine producing regions could serve this core function of protecting consumers better and more efficiently. Regulating wine labeling through IP would more closely mirror the system used by the European Union, which recognizes Geographical Indications, such as Champagne, Rioja, and Bordeaux, as a unique form of IP. By deregulating American wine labeling, and encouraging wine producing regions to assert their IP rights in the form of collectively held certification …

Whither Leviathan? The Seepage Of Constitutional Law Into Public-Private Arbitration In The United States, Peter B. Rutledge

Scholarly Works

The chapter analyses how constitutional law influences private-public arbitration in the United States. Its central thesis is that constitutional law exerts a powerful indirect influence on arbitration law. While the US Constitution does not directly regulate arbitration, its underlying norms—such as separation of powers, federalism, and individual rights—impact arbitration law indirectly. The chapter explores the ways in which these constitutional principles influence public-private arbitration through statutory interpretation, treaty design, and private protocols reflecting constitutional norms. This pattern of influence manifests itself in public arbitration (i.e. arbitration involving states or state-owned entities) just as it does in private arbitration. Highlighting how …

Standard Search Logic Under Article 9: The Florida Debacle Revisited, Kenneth C. Kettering

University of Miami Law Review

If a financing statement is filed in a filing office that does not have a search system that uses a standard search logic, Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code provides that there is no tolerance for any error, however slight, in the debtor’s name shown on that financing statement. Such an erroneous financing statement will not be effective to perfect a security interest. In 2012 the author warned that the search system used by Florida’s central filing office lacks a standard search logic, and in 2022 the Florida Supreme Court so held. This Article (i) details how Florida should …

Upaya Hukum Bagi Pembeli Akibat Penerbitan Sertipikat Pengganti Dalam Pengikatan Jual Beli (Studi Putusan Nomor 646/Pid.B/2023/Pn. Mtr.), Alda Anabela Adelina

Indonesian Notary

Penelitian ini meneliti tentang penerbitan sertipikat pengganti setelah akta Pengikatan Jual Beli dibuat oleh Notaris. Penerbitan sertipikat pengganti tersebut dilakukan dengan alasan hilang dengan menyerahkan surat keterangan dari kepolisian. Hal tersebut mengakibatkan terdapat 2 (dua) dokumen fisik yakni sertipikat tanah dengan nomor yang sama. Hal tersebut berakibat kerugian terhadap pihak pembeli yang menguasai fisik sertipikat pertama karena dengan penerbitan sertipikat pengganti membatalkan sertipikat terdahulu. Kasus tersebut yang terjadi dalam Putusan Nomor 646/Pid.B/2023/PN.Mtr. Penelitian ini menganalisis kedudukan akta Pengikatan Jual Beli yang kemudian terdapat penerbitan sertipikat pengganti berdasarkan Putusan Nomor 646/Pid.B/2023/PN.Mtr. dan menganalisis upaya hukum yang bisa dilakukan pembeli untuk memperjuangkan …

Keabsahan Perjanjian Perkawinan Yang Dicatatkan Debitor Setelah Dinyatakan Pailit Pasca Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi Republik Indonesia Nomor 69/Puu-Xiii/2015 (Studi Putusan-Putusan Pengadilan), Nadira Ratunanda Wirjono

Indonesian Notary

Penelitian ini mengkaji keabsahan perjanjian perkawinan yang dicatatkan debitor setelah dinyatakan pailit berdasarkan analisis dari beberapa putusan-putusan pengadilan. Fokus utama penelitian ini adalah analisis perubahan regulasi pencatatan perjanjian perkawinan pasca berlakunya Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi Nomor 69 Tahun 2015, serta kekuatan mengikatnya perjanjian perkawinan yang dibuat sebelum debitor dinyatakan pailit namun belum dicatatkan terhadap kreditur yang mengajukan permohonan pailit. Untuk itu, penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan doktrinal, dimana analisis dilakukan terhadap putusan Mahkamah Agung Nomor 894 K/Pdt.Sus-Pailit/2019, putusan Mahkamah Agung Nomor 461 K/Pdt.Sus-Pailit/2019, dan putusan Mahkamah Agung Nomor 562 K/Pdt.Sus-Pailit/2021 dalam bentuk penelitian studi pustaka yang menggunakan data-data sekunder, yakni dari berbagai …

Kedudukan Hukum Anak Bawaan Dalam Perkara Kepemilikan Hak Atas Tanah Dalam Perkawinan Campuran (Studi Putusan Nomor 280/Pdt.G/2021/Pn Btm), Rana Mahirah

Indonesian Notary

Pengurusan harta warisan yang melibatkan anak kandung dan pasangan kedua menimbulkan berbagai macam celah hukum jika tidak dilaksanakan sesuai dengan ketentuan yang berlaku, terutama jika perkawinan kedua tersebut merupakan perkawinan campuran yang harus lebih diperhatikan lagi ketentuan ketentuannya terkait harta dan bendanya yang dapat menimbulkan sengketa di kemudian hari. Penelitian ini membahas tentang kedudukan anak bawaan dalam perkawinan kedua orang tuanya dan peran dan tanggung jawab terhadap notaris dalam melakukan pengurusan harta waris, dengan mengangkat kasus dalam Putusan Nomor 280/Pdt.G/2021/PN Btm. Penelitian ini menerapkan metode penelitian doktrinal dengan tipe penelitian eksplanatoris. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa anak bawaan dari perkawinan sebelumnya …

Keabsahan Surat Pernyataan Talak Pada Poligami Siri Menurut Hukum Perkawinan Islam Dalam Perspektif Al-Ahkam Al-Khams Dan Maqashid Al-Syariah, Aisyah Fildzah Khairunnisa

Indonesian Notary

Penelitian ini menganalisis keabsahan surat pernyataan talak pada poligami siri berdasarkan Hukum Perkawinan Islam. Fokus pembahasan penelitian ini didapati sebab dalam masyarakat, perkawinan tidak selalu dilaksanakan sesuai dengan hukum yang berlaku, sehingga masalah mengenai perkawinan berkembang cukup luas. Salah satu masalah perkawinan yang pratiknya masih dilakukan dalam masyarakat yaitu perkawinan poligami siri. Berdasarkan SEMA Nomor 3 Tahun 2018, perkawinan poligami siri tidak dapat melakukan mekanisme itsbat nikah, sehingga pemutusan hubungan perkawinan dapat terjadi di luar Pengadilan. Untuk mengkaji apakah pemutusan hubungan perkawinan yang terjadi di luar Pengadilan adalah penyelesaian yang tepat, maka dilakukan kajian dalam perspektif Al-Ahkam Al-Khams dan Maqashid …

Perbuatan Melawan Hukum Dalam Penyelenggaraan Musyawarah Sebagai Dasar Penetapan Ganti Kerugian Pengadaan Tanah Untuk Pembangunan Bendungan Bener (Studi Putusan Peninjauan Kembali Nomor 1382 Pk/Pdt/2022), Eileen Gani Setiawan

Indonesian Notary

Musyawarah antara pemilik tanah dengan pihak yang membutuhkan tanah merupakan suatu kewajiban dalam pelaksanaan pengadaan tanah berdasarkan Pasal 37 UU Pengadaan Tanah. Namun pada putusan Peninjauan Kembali Nomor 1382 PK/Pdt/2022, proses musyawarah untuk pembangunan Bendungan Bener tidak dilakukan sesuai ketentuan. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian doktrinal dengan analisis kualitatif. Terdapat 2 (dua) rumusan masalah dalam penelitian ini, pertama, kedudukan dan kekuatan hukum hasil musyawarah sebagai dasar penetapan ganti kerugian pada kasus pengadaan tanah dalam putusan Peninjauan Kembali Nomor 1382 PK/Pdt/2022; kedua, tentang pertimbangan majelis hakim terhadap gugatan perbuatan melawan hukum yang dilakukan oleh para warga dalam putusan Peninjauan Kembali Nomor …

Pengalihan Hak Atas Tagih Piutang Secara Sepihak Yang Menyebabkan Perbuatan Melawan Hukum Berdasarkan Akta Perjanjian Kredit (Studi Putusan Nomor 50/Pdt.G/2020/Pn.Bks), Lidya Dwi Putri

Indonesian Notary

Penelitian ini membahas Perbuatan Melawan Hukum terkait pengalihan Hak Atas Tagihan Piutang secara sepihak berdasarkan akta perjanjian kredit antara kreditur dan debitur. Untuk mendalami topik ini, penelitian ini merujuk pada Putusan Nomor 50/PDT.G/2020/PN.Bks. Fokus utama penelitian ini adalah akibat hukum dari pengalihan hak atas tagihan piutang yang berhubungan dengan Akta Perjanjian Kredit. Selain itu, penelitian ini juga menganalisis Perbuatan Melawan Hukum dalam konteks pengalihan hak atas tagihan (cessie) secara sepihak berdasarkan Akta tersebut. Teori yang dibahas mencakup Kredit, Hukum Perjanjian, Pengalihan Piutang (Cessie), Wanprestasi, dan Perbuatan Melawan Hukum. Penulis juga mengkaji dasar hukum yang relevan untuk Akta Perjanjian Kredit serta …