On Bankruptcy and Mediation
By Donald L. Swanson These are the best of times, these are the worst of times for 11 U.S.C. § 546(e). § 546(e) provides protection from fraudulent transfer liability in specialized circumstances: e.g., for sales of corporate stock through an intermediary. The “best of times” are because five circuit courts of appeals construe § 546(e)... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson The U.S. Supreme Court has a penchant for rulings that, as a practical matter, screw up our bankruptcy world. The most recent example is the Supreme Court’s March 22, 2017, ruling in the In re Jevic case [see this article]. Another case, where the U.S. Supreme Court did us no favors in... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson The only things I know about Judge (now Justice) Neil Gorsuch are from what I’ve read in two contexts: His rating by the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which voted unanimously to give its best possible rating to Judge Gorsuch as a Supreme Court nominee; and Five... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson “We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final.” --From concurring opinion of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, in Brown v. Allen, 344 U.S. 443 (1953), on role and function of the U.S. Supreme Court. Structured dismissals are [correction: were] a... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson “I think it is unwise for the Court to decide” this issue because: (i) “Experience shows that we would greatly benefit from the view of additional courts of appeals on this question,” and (ii) “We also would have benefited from full, adversarial briefing.” --Justice Clarence Thomas, dissenting in Czyzewski v. Jevic... Continue Reading →
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