Prerequisite: Bankruptcy or permission from the instructor to waive the prerequisite

Exam Type: No Exam

Grades are determined by 20-page papers on approved topics.

Corporate Reorganization identifies the dominant causes of business failure or distress, and analyzes how (a) corporate governance enhanced by the best business research of the last 20 years can mitigate or avoid failure and (b) chapter 11 resolves failure/distress and impacts out-of-court resolutions. We do this by reference to governance and business research papers, jurisprudence, and articles about failures in the auto, steel, financial, and manufacturing industries, and industries subject to mass tort liability. In formulating resolutions of distressed situations, we apply chapter 11 resolutions as a baseline against which other resolutions are compared. The course is designed to show that optimal restructuring is a multidisciplinary undertaking, even within its legal framework where emphasis is put on governance jurisprudence, bankruptcy jurisprudence, statutory interpretation, the constitutional limits of the bankruptcy power, the bankruptcy court’s jurisdiction, and the use of litigation.

Note: This course will meet over seven sessions, ending on March 21st.