American Bankruptcy Law Journal

Issue 99:3 of the American Bankruptcy Law Journal (ABLJ) is proud to re-introduce its Book Review series. Book reviews are an important form of legal scholarship, as they offer a critical evaluation of books in the legal field to help professionals identify useful areas of research and stay abreast of significant changes. They can also advance ongoing academic and policy debates about the role and reach of bankruptcy law. The Book Review was once a regular part of the ABLJ’s publications.

The ABLJ published its first Book Review in 1929. That review assessed Cases on the Law of Bankruptcy Including the Law of Fraudulent Conveyance, by William Everett Britton, a Professor of Law at the University of Illinois. 3 J. Nat’l Ass’n Ref. Bankr. 113. It is thus perhaps fitting that the current Book Review is of Debt’s Grip, co-authored by Bob Lawless, also a Professor of Law at the University of Illinois. Professors Pamela Foohey (University of Georgia) and Deborah Thorne (University of Idaho) are Professor Lawless’ co-authors on the book. Professors Alex Sickler and Ted Janger each have contributed a review of Debt’s Grip for Issue 99:3. We look forward to publishing additional Book Reviews in the future.

Issue 99:3 also includes three articles on cutting-edge issues currently facing the bankruptcy profession: Professor Jason Iuliano focuses on what he sees as a student loan bankruptcy gap in the United States and how the system might better address student loan debt through the bankruptcy process. Professor Laura Coordes addresses a different kind of gap—what she terms a “guardian gap” in chapter 11 cases and how the bench and bar should think about filling that oversight gap. Finally, Professor Theresa J. Pulley Radwan explores different approaches to nonvoting classes in chapter 11 cases and how courts should treat those classes in the confirmation process.

We hope you enjoy Issue 99:3 and come away with at least one new or different perspective on current bankruptcy practice. The ABLJ strives to inform, inspire, and enhance the work of those in the bankruptcy and commercial law fields.

Honorable Michelle M. Harner
United States Bankruptcy Judge, District of Maryland
Editor in Chief

IN THIS ISSUE

Bridging the Student Loan Bankruptcy Gap offers an empirical look at the DOJ–ED’s November 2022 student-loan bankruptcy reforms. Drawing on an original (hand collected) dataset of more than 600 adversary proceedings, the article documents a real improvement in discharge outcomes. Despite this positive change, a core access-to-justice gap remains: very few eligible debtors ever file for relief.

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Chapter 11 practice has evolved significantly since the Bankruptcy Code’s enactment in 1978. Many cases move faster and not always towards plan confirmation. The key players around the chapter 11 negotiating table and the complexity of the issues also have changed. Professor Coordes examines these changes and identifies what she terms a “bankruptcy guardian gap.” Read this article to learn more about that oversight gap and Professor Coordes’ proposed solution.

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The conundrum of non-voting classes plagues debtors and the courts in chapter 11 cases, particularly under subchapter V. This article examines the three approaches currently found in decisional law regarding whether the presence of non-voting classes results in a consensual or cramdown plan confirmation and proposes a fair-minded solution to eliminate that material uncertainty in the process.

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Debt’s Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy by Professors Foohey, Lawless, and Thorne is as Professor Sickler describes it, “culmination of decades of interdisciplinary empirical study of the people who file bankruptcy.” In her review of the book, Professor Sickler examines the historical work of the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, and the body of literature stemming therefrom, including Debt’s Grip. The review highlights the methodology of the authors and the key findings of the book including the paths debtors take to bankruptcy, the realities of living on the financial edge pre-bankruptcy, the disproportionality of financial precarity in vulnerable groups of debtors, and the drain of student loans. Professor Sickler finishes her review highlighting some of the ways the empirical research of Debt’s Grip may be beneficial in the long-term discussion of policy and/or bankruptcy law reform.

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Debt’s Grip is the latest installment by Professors Foohey, Lawless, and Thorne (“FLT”) that examines the underlying causes and consequences of consumer bankruptcy filings. Professor Edward Janger’s book review applauds FLT’s scholarship and findings into the root causes of consumer filings and the impact credit has on American households. Professor Janger, however, encourages FTL to consider data from outside the bankruptcy system that might facilitate a more robust analysis of systemic issues and potential structural reform for the consumer bankruptcy system.

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The book Debt’s Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy explores the lives of individuals facing financial distress in the United States. It draws on data from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project and tells the stories of individuals trying to address their significant debt burdens both before and in a bankruptcy case. The authors of the book, Professors Foohey, Lawless, and Thorne, respond to the two reviews of Debt’s Grip in this issue of the ABLJ. Their response summarizes important aspects of the book and provides additional food for thought based on Professors Sickler’s and Janger’s reviews.

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IN THIS ISSUE

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