American Bankruptcy Institute Annual Spring Meeting

Two days of the annual spring meeting of the American Bankruptcy Institute have come and gone. I've appreciated several fine programs that are valuable not only to the 1000+ lawyers and judges who are here but have alerted me to a serious problem. Depending on the District, from 5-8% of bankruptcy cases are currently filed pro se. This is in part what Congress intended with the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Protection and Consumer Protection Act [sic]. Specific authorization of "bankruptcy petition preparers" and onerous certifications of fact by lawyers have had the effect of driving folks priced out of the market of bankruptcy attorneys into the arms of untraceable internet operators who take $400-600 for pleadings that fail their intended purpose.

I was aware of this phenomenon but not its extent. The burden of dealing with an increasing volume of pro se filers whose filings are incomplete and who have no advice on dealing with issues like properly listing exemptions, avoiding liens, and even what is a "claim" fall on Chapter 7 trustees and the court. Word in the hallways is that some trustees are getting out of the business given the additional complexities caused by unrepresented debtors.

What is encouraging, however, were some conversations about adding preparation of simple bankruptcy petitions (and, of course, the other pleadings required at the outset of a case) to student-staffed clinical programs. I hope to pursue this possibility but want to suggest that other law schools consider adding supervised petition preparation to their clinical offerings.

I've always believed that bankruptcy law is a great capstone course. Not only does it combine statutory construction and Constitutional law, it forces students to recall and apply what they learned in first year contracts, property, and torts. Throwing in readings and discussions of legal policy (and, in my case, theology of debt relief) makes teaching bankruptcy loads of fun. Combining the classroom with fieldwork would be frosting on the cake.

Comments

[Tim Zinnecker]

Scott, I agree that the bankruptcy course is a great capstone course. In addition to touching on issues from first-year courses, I'd add tax, family law, and secured transactions. I also tell students that it's a wonderful subject matter for those seeking a blended transaction / litigation practice.

Perhaps the biggest difference I have found between teaching secured transactions and bankruptcy (which I haven't taught in several years) is the clarity found in the relevant statutes. Article 9 is drafted rather tightly, with little or no room for ambiguity or creative argument. The bankruptcy code, on the other hand, is just the opposite (in my opinion). That can make teaching each class both fun and challenging, for different reasons.

[An0n]

And yet, for a class which is challenging to teach, bankruptcy has the highest rate of adjunct teaching of any subject area in law school. Teaching it well requires mastery of the statute, caselaw (most of which is not Supreme Court), and customary practice. Would seem exactly the sort of subject which law schools would want to recruit full-time faculty for, rather than relying on practicioners who need to sandwich class meetings between conference calls.

[Matthew Bruckner]

I have recently described bankruptcy as the last generalist field of law to the astonishment of law students and faculty alike. Everyone seems to think that all there is to bankruptcy is learning the Code.

They do not consider that you need to know real property (to address lease issues), secured transactions (to consider avoiding security interests), financing (DIP loans?), M&A, etc.

Scott, what else went on at the ABI meeting? I'd love to read a longer post on the content and your thoughts post-conference.

[Hunting Alaska]

The Annual Spring Meeting features a roster of the best national speakers while the depth and scope of topics offer something for everyone. Specifically, four concurrent workshops will cover various “tracks,” including programs for attorneys in commercial cases, a track for restructuring professionals, a track of professional development programming and a track dealing solely with consumer issues. We offer more than 16 hours of CLE/CPE in some states and ethics totaling 3 hours. In addition, committee sessions will drill down on topics covered in the larger sessions to provide you with the most practical and varied CLE/CPE experience ever.