On Bankruptcy and Mediation
By Donald L. Swanson “Lending to the most highly indebted companies in the U.S. and Europe is surging.”— Wall Street Journal [Fn. 1] When a large business files for bankruptcy, there is one group that almost always suffers. It is a group with little-to-no power. It is the unsecured trade creditors. It is those that supply... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson I have a new LinkedIn friend, Mark Winters from the U.K., who’s developed a mediation practice within an unusual context. And he’s making it work. Since the practice arose from his own creativity and out of unusual circumstances, he’s unbounded by common norms and can do creative things. One creativity is this:... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L Swanson Many people live the American Dream. They’ve started a business and are succeeding. They’re what makes the U.S. economy work. But bad things can—and do—happen to them: things like product obsolescence, economic downturn, health problems, a costly mistake, bad luck. Such things can destroy their Dream and can destroy the entrepreneurs themselves.... Continue Reading →
By Donald L. Swanson On June 12, 2017, the American Bar Association’s Section of Dispute Resolution published its “Report of the Task Force on Research on Mediator Techniques.” Notably, this report makes no reference to any research on bankruptcy mediation — not even a single study. The following article consists of four parts: --Summary of the... Continue Reading →
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 →
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