Consumer Bankruptcy

Alexandria, Va. — An article by Alan T. Alexander in the Summer 2023 edition of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) Law Review (Vol. 31, No. 2) examines the issues surrounding bifurcated fee agreements in chapter 7 cases, which enable debtors who cannot afford to file for bankruptcy to split their attorney fees into pre-petition and post-petition portions. The article summarizes the state of current bankruptcy law as it applies to bifurcated fee agreements, reviews relevant case law, and analyzes the policy arguments for and against bifurcated fee agreements. Alexander also identifies the characteristics that make such agreements more likely to be approved or rejected by the courts.

The other articles in the Summer 2023 issue of the ABI Law Review are:

·      “Increasing Transfer Security for Securities: Application of the Section 546(e) Safe Harbor to Trust Indentures,” by James Britton, Beth Brownstein and Justin Kesselman of ArentFox Schiff LLP.

·      “Treatment of Intellectual Property Licenses in Bankruptcy,” by Prof. M P Ram Mohan and Aditya Gupta of the Centre for Financial Markets and Economy at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad in India.

·      “Is the End of FERC vs. the Bankruptcy Courts Upon Us?,” by Haig Najarian of Starwood Property Trust, Inc.

·      A student note, “Insider Leases in Bankruptcy: The Spanish Peaks Problem,” by Nicholas Smargiassi of St. John’s University School of Law.

ABI’s Law Review, published in conjunction with St. John’s University School of Law in Jamaica, N.Y., is among the most cited and respected scholarly publications in the bankruptcy community. Now in its 31st year, it has the largest circulation of any bankruptcy law review. Past issues of the Law Review have focused on a variety of timely insolvency issues, including chapter 11 reform, distressed sectors, single-asset cases, consumer bankruptcy, revised Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code and other topics.

Members of the press looking to obtain any of the articles from the Summer 2023 issue should contact John Hartgen at 703-894-5935 or jhartgen@abi.org.

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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes nearly 10,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abi.org/calendar-of-events.