On Bankruptcy and Mediation
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 →
By Donald L. Swanson Have you ever solved one problem but created another in the process? That's, of course, not very helpful. But that’s exactly what the U.S. Supreme Court did a couple years ago in Husky International Electronics, Inc. v. Ritz, 136 S.Ct. 1581 (2016). And ramifications continue, to this day, in a three-way split... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson Football fan: “You just cost me $1,000.” Coach Tom Osborne: “I didn’t make the bet.” Steven M. Sipple, Lincoln Journal Star, May 15, 2018. Question: Can Congress command a state’s lawmakers to outlaw sports gambling? Answer: The U.S. Supreme Court says: "No," Congress has no such authority under the U.S. Constitution; but Congress... Continue Reading →
By Donald L. Swanson “Marley was dead, to begin with . . . dead as a doornail.” Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol About a year ago, I published this linked article declaring, “the ‘public rights’ doctrine for bankruptcy court jurisdiction, while always tenuous, in now dead and buried.” Now, I’m restating that declaration—this time based on... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson In our uncommonly vicious and partisan political culture, it’s refreshing to hear oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court on a non-partisan and apolitical issue. Here’s one: --Oral arguments held on April 17, 2018, in the bankruptcy case of Lamar, Archer & Cofrin, LLP v. Appling, Case No. 16-1215 [here’s the transcript] .... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson A new, and unanimous, decision from the U.S. Supreme Court is Hall v. Hall, Case No. 16-1150 (Decided March 27, 2018). A first read of this opinion seems like a, “What’s the big deal here?” The opinion: Is about a technical issue of appeal procedure; Reaches back, for historical authority, to... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson On April 3, 2018, Justices Kennedy and Thomas issue this Statement for the U.S. Supreme Court in Deutsche Bank v. McCormick, Case No. 16-317 [photo of entire Statement is above]: “consideration of the petition for certiorari will be deferred . . . given the possibility that there might not be a quorum... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson Whenever a court goes out of its way to say in an opinion, “We aren’t deciding issues X and Y,” it’s time to take notice. The omitted issues must be significant, in some way, to what’s being decided; otherwise, there’s no reason to mention them. And when the opinion is from the... Continue Reading →
By Donald L. Swanson On March 5, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issues its latest bankruptcy opinion in the case of U.S. Bank v. Village at Lakeridge, LLC., Case no. 15-1509. The Facts Village at Lakeridge has a single owner: MBP Equity Partners. And it has two creditors: it owes “over $10 million” to U.S. Bank... Continue Reading →
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