On Bankruptcy and Mediation
By: Donald L. Swanson “Mom always liked you best.” --Smothers Brothers. I finished reading the U.S. Supreme Court’s Lucia v. SEC opinion (decided June 21, 2018). And I’m irritated: the entire situation is just-not-fair to bankruptcy courts and judges. --It’s obvious that the U.S. Supreme Court always liked judicial authority of administrative agencies, like the Securities... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson We explore “the ways in which” unsuccessful mediators “failed to satisfy” the expectations of their mediating parties. Prof. Stephen B. Goldberg and Margaret L. Shaw in a 2008 report titled, “The Secrets of Successful (and Unsuccessful) Mediators.” In the “unsuccessful mediators” portion of their study, Prof. Goldberg and Ms. Shaw follow-up... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson “We don’t want loans. We want grants!” —Yours truly, circa 2000s, on paying for college "We are creating a 'lost generation' of young adults; they're overwhelmed by their student loans!" —Recent comment from a friend This article identifies two things that are wrong with our student loan system (Exhibits “A”... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson If there’s anything the history of mediation tells us, it’s this: --We’ve gotta trust the process. Here’s an example, that’s happening right now [in June 2018], of how a failure to trust the mediation process creates issues: In re Las Cruces Country Club, Inc., Case Nos. 16-12947 & 16-12947-j7 (Bankry., D. New... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson Sports gambling is always a sexy topic. And the U.S. Supreme Court jumped in, recently, by overturning a federal statute that banned it. Supreme Court Opinion The Supreme Court’s opinion is anything but sexy. One reporter says it is, “boring as #@!!” The opinion deals with issues of constitutional law. But it’s not the... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L Swanson Voluntary mediation programs are often underutilized. This is an undeniable problem. One source of the problem is ignorance of mediation’s availability. We now have empirical proof that this is so. Ignorance is Not Bliss Prof. Donna Shestowsky [Footnote 1] conducted an empirical study titled, “When Ignorance is Not Bliss” [Footnote 2]. Her... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson The case is Henry & Buresh v. Weiss (Supreme Court Case No. 17-1210). The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari on May 29, 2018. This denial allows an injustice to stand, which is a travesty. I’ll try to explain. Facts Michael Bello was sole shareholder, director, and president of Walldesign, Inc. Over a... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson “a statement about a single asset can be a ‘statement respecting the debtor’s financial condition’ under §523(a)(2) of the Bankruptcy Code.” U.S. Supreme Court, Lamar, Archer & Cofrin, LLP v. Appling, Case No. 16-1215, June 4, 2018. One of the frequently-mediated types of disputes in bankruptcy is nondischargeability under 11 U.S.C. §... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson It’s not every day that the U.S. Supreme Court makes a pronouncement on criminal law in the context of a bankruptcy case. But that’s what happened on Tuesday (May 29, 2018) in the Supreme Court’s Lagos v. United States opinion (Case No. 16-1519). Bankruptcy Facts On February 2, 2010, a trucking enterprise, USA... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court made its latest pronouncement upholding arbitration: Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, U.S. Supreme Court Case No. 16-285 (issued May 21, 2018). The pronouncement follows a long line of precedents upholding and enforcing arbitration agreements, founded on the Federal Arbitration Act. This article explores the Epic Systems v. Lewis decision... Continue Reading →
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