Here are the picks of the month for November 2007, a month when we Americans reflected on all there is to be thankful for.  The book to the right, The Moment of Truth in Iraq: How a New "Greatest Generation" of American Soldiers is Turning Defeat and Disaster into Victory and Hope, contains a remarkable set of essays by a very brave freelance journalist, Michael Yon, and reminds us of all we have to be thankful for.  Michael has been embedded with the US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan for several years now and his searing daily narratives of events in Iraq and Afghanistan provide a unique and important perspective to the advances, setbacks, and challenges faced in these conflicts.  This book is required reading whether you’re for, against, indifferent, or ambivalent about America’s present wars. 

Here’s a link to the 108 customer reviews on Amazon.com, 94 of whom gave it 5 stars.  General David Petraeus said this about Michael’s book: 

He’s fearless … provides a candid, soldier’s-eye view … from the very unique perspective of being there with them for weeks and months at a time … delv[ing] deep into the human component.

Michael’s blog (now an "online magazine") has long been listed at the end of my blogroll.  Please take the time to read Michael’s blog posts and to lend support to his ventures, for which you are guaranteed he’ll be most thankful.

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Continue Reading Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for November 2007

Here are the picks of the month for October 2007.

To the right is a Stu’s Views cartoon by Stu Rees, and was the feature cartoon for Halloween 2007 on Tom Kirkendall’s Houston Clear Thinkers Blog under the blog post entitled, "A Halloween Harbinger?"

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Continue Reading Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for October 2007

As everyone watching this year’s entertaining (and sleep-depriving) Beijing Olympics knows, records are made to be broken.  Blogging records are no exception, with my latest post on Judge Markell’s bombshell ruling nearly, but not quite, breaking with 1,482 page views this blog’s two-day record of 1,519 page views from April 2006 (featuring BAPCPA-Guru Cathy Vance’s roundup of BAPCPA’s "terrible two’s").  Cathy’s post, too, holds the single-day "Ruthian" record of 1,074 page views.  Thanks to all for tuning in and continuing to inspire me to blog!

With the weekend upon us, here’s another in the picks of the month series, this one covering September 2007.  Special thanks to the firm’s phenomenal interns, 3L-Jamie Johnson and Barnard-bound Marie Whittaker, for their help in assembling this post.

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Continue Reading Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for September 2007

Ahh, the joy of twin boys!  A great blessing no matter how you slice it.  The first, David Charles, was born at 3:55 p.m. on October 1, and weighed a healthy 6 lbs. 14 oz.  The picture you see of him was about 2 weeks ago, and was about the only time I could catch him not crying.  Since then, the miracle of Baby Zantac has snuffed the curse my mother must have put on me for my three months of non-stop crying as a colicky baby.

Needless to say, life’s priorities have changed for me a bit since the twins’ birth, and blogging was an early victim of my sleep-deprived days.  But with Baby Zantac not only having controlled Davey’s colic, but also having given me a near full night’s rest, it’s time to catch up on my "Picks of the Month" series of posts, these being for June 2007, and dedicated to my newborn son, Dave.  Thanks to everyone for their good wishes this past month!

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Update – 10/31/07:   My wife read the post, and wanted me to know that Davey’s colic is neither "cured" nor "controlled."  Guess I’m leaving early tonight.

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Continue Reading Twin Picks of the Month: Dave’s Required Bankruptcy Reading for June 2007

Time to catch up on more "Picks of the Month."  These picks are for May 2007:

Today’s feature is Delaware, one of my favorite states, with its rolling hills, surprisingly lush forests, superlative courts (notwithstanding some opinions to the contrary, critiqued here), and outstanding bloggers–both "old" (e.g., Francis Pileggi’s "must-read" Delaware Corporate and Commercial Litigation Blog) and "new" (e.g., Chuck Kunz’s and Morris James’s Delaware Business Bankruptcy Blog).

The inset chart is from the March 2005 Newsletter of the Federal Courts, entitled For Delaware Bankruptcy Court, Appeal is a Mixed Blessing, and supports the point that though "according to the [complicated federal bankruptcy] judgeship formula, Delaware should currently field a team of 13 bankruptcy judges, [t]hey have two."  Since then, as reported here, they added more (to the delight of Delaware’s district court judges who pinch-hit for years to help carry the load)! 

Finally, speaking of Delaware Bankruptcy Courts, as attested to in Francis Pileggi’s link to Kevin LaCroix’s post in the D&O Diary on Judge Kevin Gross’s recent D&O coverage ruling in the World Health Alternatives case, a once great lawyer is proving to be a great judge too!

[6/22/07 Update:  Be sure to read Bob Eisenbach’s excellent commentary on Judge Gross’s decision, entitled Who Gets the Benefit of a D&O Policy’s Proceeds: The Directors and Officers or the Bankruptcy Trustee? Thanks also to Delaware’s gentleman and scholar, Francis Pileggi, for his kind words and links to this post!]

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Continue Reading Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for May 2007

The following comparative bankruptcy-related scholarly papers, arranged by SSRN abstract ID number, can be downloaded from the Social Science Research Network website:

[The inset image was taken from Tom Kirkendall’s post on the passage last August of "long-awaited amendments to China’s bankruptcy laws."  These amendments took effect June 1, 2007.  Those clammering for more on China’s bankruptcy laws, be sure to read this interview with Cadwalader’s Deryck Palmer and John Rapisardi, as well as this post by Dan Harris on the China Law Blog.  There’s also a helpful recent summary written by DLA Piper’s China-based partners Prue Mitchell, Louis Meng, and Lampros Vassilou entitled, China’s New Bankruptcy Law: A Long-Awaited Compromise.]

[6/12/07 – Update:  Check out Bob Eisenbach’s follow up on China’s new bankruptcy law at his (In the Red) Business Bankruptcy Blog, which links to an English translation of the new law and other pertinent topics.]

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Univ. Paris IX Dauphine’s Anne Epaulard and Univ. of Lausanne’s Aude Pommeret, "Bankruptcy Law and Firms’ Behavior" (Abstract ID: 987999)

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York University Law School’s Stephanie Ben-Ishai, "Bankruptcy for the Poor?" (Abstract ID: 974779)

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London Business School’s Viral V. Acharya and Emory University’s Krishnamurthy Subramanian, "Bankruptcy Codes and Innovation" (Abstract ID: 971566)

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Cranfield University’s Vineet Agarwal and Univ. of Edinburgh’s Richard Taffler, "Comparing the Performance of Market-Based and Accounting-Based Bankruptcy Prediction Models" (Abstract ID: 968252)

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Cranfield University’s Puliyur Sudarsanam, Nottingham University’s Mike Wright, and Cranfield University’s Jian Huang, "Going Private Buyouts and Shareholder Wealth Gains: Impact of Bankruptcy Risk" (Abstract ID: 967731)

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Institute for Macroeconomic Analysis and Development’s Arjana Brezigar Masten and Univ. of Ljubijana’s Igor Master, "Comparison of Parametric, Semi-Parametric and Non-Parametric Methods in Bankruptcy Prediction" (Abstract ID: 967637)

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Nagoya City University’s Kotaro Inoue, Nagoya University’s Hideaki Kiyoshi Kato, and Nanzan University’s Marc Bremer, "Corporate Restructuring in Japan: Who Monitors the Monitor?" (Abstract ID: 965595)

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Domagoj Satjer, "Must Bankruptcy Administrators Be Corporate Undertakers? Creation and European Perspectives of Restructuring in Bankruptcy" (Abstract ID: 965367)

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Cambridge Associates Asia Pte Ltd’s Beng Tat Lee, "Claiming a Pound of Flesh as a Contingent or Prospectives Creditor Under the Companies Act" (Abstract ID: 965259)

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Univ. of Waterloo’s J. Efrim Boritz and Duane B. Kennedy and Univ. of Auckland’s Jerry Y. Sun, "Predicting Business Failures in Canada" (Abstract ID: 963767)

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Univ. of Amsterdam’s Joseph A. McCahery, "Creditor Protection in a Cross-Border Context" (Abstract ID: 963348)

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Univ. of Milan’s Francesco Denozza, "Different Policies for Corporate Creditor Protection" (Abstract ID: 963345)

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Univ. of Mainz’s Peter O. Mulbert, "A Synthetic View of Different Concepts of Creditor Protection, Or: A High-Level Framework for Corporate Creditor Protection" (Abstract ID: 963342)

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Univ. of Munich’s Horst Eidenmuller, "Trading in Times of Crisis: Formal Insolvency Proceedings, Workouts and the Incentives for Shareholders/Managers" (Abstract ID: 963337)

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Univ. of Freiburg’s Hanno Merkt, "Creditor Protection Through Mandatory Disclosure" (Abstract ID: 963327)

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Abstracts for each of these papers follows: …

Continue Reading Recent Comparative Bankruptcy-Related Articles of Interest Available for Downloading from SSRN

Time to catch up on more "Picks of the Month."  These picks are for April 2007:

Bankruptcy veterans (and Tennesseeans) will recognize the inset photo of the Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, located in the famed U.S. Customs House in Nashville, Tennessee.  President Rutherford B. Hayes laid the cornerstone to the building in 1877 on the purported first visit of a president to the South since the Civil War.  According to this story, the building represented "something of a payoff for Southern support in Hayes’ bid for the presidency [and was] evidence that he was living up to his promises, because it was the first such federal building in the former Confederate states."

The court is presently home to the district’s chief bankruptcy judge, the Hon. George C. Paine, II, and to Judges Keith M. Lundin (famed BAPCPA basher and author of a 2005 article entitled "Ten Principles of BAPCPA:  Not What Was Advertised") and Marian F. Harrison (who is overseeing this political hot potato involving Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and her brother Tony).

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Continue Reading Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for April 2007

The following bankruptcy business-related scholarly papers, arranged by SSRN abstract ID number, can be downloaded from the Social Science Research Network website:

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Univ. of Chicago Law School’s Douglas G. Baird, IMD International’s Arturo Bris, and Yale School of Management’s Ning Zhu, "The Dynamics of Large and Small Chapter 11 Cases: an Empirical Study" (Abstract ID:  866865)

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Vanderbilt Univ. School of Law’s Robert K. Rasmussen, "Empirically Bankrupt" (Abstract ID:  895547)

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Harvard Law School’s Elizabeth Warren and UT Austin’s Jay Alan Westbrook, "The Dialogue between Theoretical and Empirical Scholarship" (Abstract ID:  945155)

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Univ. of Rochester’s Greg McGlaun, "Lender Control in Chapter 11: Empirical Evidence" (Abstract ID:  961365)

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Dartmouth College – Tuck School of Business’ B. Espen Eckbo and Karin S. Thorburn, "Automatic Bankruptcy Auctions and Fire-Sales" (Abstract ID:  963184)

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Max Planck Institutes Wolfgang Schoen, "Balance Sheet Tests or Solvency Tests – Or Both?" (Abstract ID:  963333)

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Univ. of Chicago Law School’s Douglas G. Baird, "Legal Approaches to Restricting Distributors to Shareholders: the Role of Fraudulent Transfer Law" (Abstract ID:  963335)

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Univ. of Pennsylvania Law School’s David A. Skeel Jr. and George Krause-Vilmar, "Recharacterization and the Nonhindrance of Creditors" (Abstract ID:  963338)

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LSE’s Paul L. Davies, "Directors’ Creditor-Regarding Duties in Respect of Trading Decisions Taken in the Vicinity of Insolvency" (Abstract ID:  963340)

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Jeffrey D. Van Niel and Nancy B. Rapoport, "’Retail Choice is Coming: Have you Hugged Your Utilities Lawyer Today? (Part 1)" (Abstract ID:  963912)

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Jeffrey D. Van Niel and Nancy B. Rapoport: "’Retail Choice is Coming: Have you Hugged Your Utilities Lawyer Today? (Part 1)" (Abstract ID:  963913)

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Seton Hall University School of Law’s Stephen Lubben, "Business Liquidation" (Abstract ID:  964214)

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Georgetown University Law Center’s J. Gregory Sidak and the Kellogg School of Management’s Daniel F. Spulber, "The Tragedy of Telecoms: Government Pricing of Unbundled Network Elements Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996" (Abstract ID:  964703)

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Georgetown University Law Center’s J. Gregory Sidak, "Why Did the U.S. Telecommunications Industry Collapse?" (Abstract ID:  964776)

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Sabanci University’s Mine H. Akso, "Going Concern Value Versus Abandonment Option Value in Debt Restructuring Firms" (Abstract ID:  965226)

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Univ. of Chicago’s Thomas Chaney, INSEE’s David Sraer, and HEC’s David Thesmar, "The Corporate Wealth Effect: From Real Estate Shocks to Corporate Investment" (Abstract ID:  965762)

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Indiana University School of Law’s Kenneth Glenn Dau-Schmidt, "The Changing Face of Collective Representation: The Future of Collective Bargaining" (Abstract ID:  967454)

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Florida State University College of Law’s Kelli A. Alces, "Enforcing Corporate Fiduciary Duties in Bankruptcy" (Abstract ID:  968006)

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California State University-Northridge’s Rafael Efrat, "Minority Entrepreneurs in Bankruptcy" (Abstract ID:  972656)

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California State University-Northridge’s Rafael Efrat, "The Tax Burden and the Propensity of Small Business Entrepreneurs to File for Bankruptcy" (Abstract ID:  976954)

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Univ. of Virginia’s David Mordkoff, "From Bonehead to Chaos: The Demise of the Right to Strike in the Airline Industry" (Abstract ID:  977581)

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UT Austin School of Law’s Henry T.C. Hu and Jay Lawrence Westbrook, "Abolition of the Corporate Duty to Creditors" (Abstract ID:  977582)

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Texas Tech University’s Stuart Gilliand and Baylor University’s John D. Martin, "Corporate Governance Post-Enron: Effective Reforms, or Closing the Stable Door?" (Abstract ID:  977585)

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UCLA School of Law’s Lynn M. LoPucki and Joseph W. Doherty, "Bankruptcy Fire Sales" (Abstract ID: 980585)

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Vanderbilt University School of Law’s Robert K. Rasmussen, "The Story of Case v. Los Angeles Lumber Products: Old Equity Holders and the Reorganized Corporation" (Abstract ID:  980708)

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Abstracts for each of these papers follows:…

Continue Reading Recent Posted or Updated Bankruptcy Business-Related Articles of Interest Available for Downloading from SSRN