This course is a study of the rights of secured and unsecured creditors under state and federal bankruptcy law, and the corresponding rights of debtors. It covers methods of collecting judgments, fraudulent conveyances, general assignments, bankruptcy jurisdiction, powers of the trustee, the automatic stay, and reorganization under Chapter 11. It pays particular attention to the policy considerations underlying the bankruptcy code, as well as its relationship to other facets of commercial law.
This is the first of three courses (the other two are Secured Credit and Commercial Paper) dealing with the financing of commercial ventures through means other than the sale of corporate stock. These courses may be taken in any order: neither presupposes any knowledge of the others. Students who cannot take all three should probably prioritize them in the order they are listed -- that is, Bankruptcy is the single most important course to take, then Secured Credit, then Commercial Paper.