Curriculum Guide · Courses

Professor Adam Levitin

J.D. Course 545 | 3 credit hours

This course is a general introduction to business bankruptcy law. Bankruptcy provides a background term for nearly all business transactions. The possibility that a counterparty may not be able to fulfill its obligations is a critical factor in shaping deals. This course reviews the fundamentals of debt contracting, including the role of events of default, covenants, representations and warranties, debt priority, and security interests. It covers private and public orderings of debt restructuring: private workouts and bankruptcy reorganizations and liquidations. Topics to be covered include the distressed debt market, exchange offers, property of the estate, the automatic stay, the avoidance of prebankruptcy transactions, the treatment of executory contracts, the debtor's governance structure during bankruptcy, asset sales, the financing of operations of bankrupt companies, the distressed debt market, the process of negotiating, voting, and confirming a plan of reorganization, and transnational and sovereign issues in bankruptcies.

Students may not receive credit for this course and Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights or Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganizations.