On Bankruptcy and Mediation
By: Donald L Swanson “Congress shall have Power”: “To establish . . . uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States”; and “To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers.” U.S. Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 8, cls. 4 & 18 (emphasis added). Any opinion... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson Tuesday, July 31, 2018, is the last day of Anthony Kennedy’s three-decades-long service as a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (since February 18, 1988). On bankruptcy issues, Justice Kennedy did not author many opinions of any sort (majority, concurring or dissent). Nevertheless, he has always been a part of what I... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson The U.S. Supreme Court has a history of screwing-up our bankruptcy world. Examples go back to the 1982 debacle called Northern Pipeline v. Marathon Pipe Line, where the Supreme Court came within one vote (one vote!) of declaring the entire Bankruptcy Code unconstitutional. A more recent example, Stern v. Marshall in 2011,... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L Swanson Actually, the U.S. Supreme Court does . . . but they’re wrong. Here’s why. Some History Back in early 1980s, when the Bankruptcy Code was but a few years old, the U.S. Supreme Court struggled with bankruptcy court jurisdiction. --Northern Pipeline That struggle resulted in the Supreme Court's 1982 Northern Pipeline v.... 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 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 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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