Bankruptcy

This course will be taught by James M. Carr, JD 1975, judge of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana, sitting in Indianapolis. The course examines the nature of the legal relationship between debtors and creditors under the Bankruptcy Code as well as under non-bankruptcy law. It is a survey course that provides a general basis for advising consumer and business clients, considering filing for bankruptcy, or creditors, who want to avoid detrimental impacts of others bankruptcy filings. The course will provide knowledge to support subsequent advanced study of business reorganization under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Subjects covered include debt collection procedures under state law, the underlying purposes and policies of bankruptcy law, liquidation under chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code, individual debt adjustment under chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code, business reorganization under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, recovery of fraudulent transfers and preferential transfers, and the jurisdiction of bankruptcy courts. The course will touch upon recent crypto bankruptcies, the increase in small business reorganizations under subchapter V of chapter 11, and the third party release issues raised by Purdue Pharma.

Bankruptcy can be a rewarding area of practice. Even in large cities, the bankruptcy bar is a small subset of the legal community with a strong sense of collegiality, shared expertise, and its own specialized courts. Bankruptcy practitioners often enjoy a satisfying mix of litigation and transactional practice centered around a unified code, which can take years of effort to fully master.

The course is taught using a text, ELIZABETH WARREN ET AL., THE LAW OF DEBTORS AND CREDITORS, Rachel E. Barkow et al. eds., 8th ed. 2021, and solution of client-focused problems. The course grade is based primarily on a scheduled final examination.

There are no prerequisites for this course.