Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code is the principal legal system for resolving serious financial distress of U.S. businesses. Because it allows managers of troubled companies to retain control, it rests on a seeming conflict of interest: how can creditors trust the managers who may have caused the trouble in the first place? To address
Social media has been and continues to be an incredible platform on which to build and improve a professional brand. But while the American Bar Association’s (ABA) most recent Legal Technology Survey indicates that lawyers are beginning to experiment with social media more than ever, for more risk-averse individuals, navigating the social media waters remains
What do recitals of contractual obligation actually do? Pennsylvania, uniquely, permits parties to contract into obligations under the Uniform Written Obligations Act. But many other states permit mere recitals of consideration to conclusively establish the enforceability of a contract, even gratuitous promises otherwise unsupported by bargained-for-exchange. In contract theory, the enforceability of such naked recitals
As legal-snark-lovers know, you can’t do much better than Above the Law (ATL), a website devoted to exposing the foibles and failings of lawyers, the legal system, and law schools. Rapidly becoming a media force in its own right, ATL held a “converge” in New York Wednesday, March 18 on media, technology, and the future
I moved to Beijing two and a half years ago to be the managing partner of Akin Gump’s Beijing office. I had also signed on to teach two courses in the Temple Beijing LLM program at Tsinghua University. I had expected that my lawyering and teaching would be two very different activities and worried that
The sovereign debt dispute involving Argentine bonds has attracted substantial attention and raised a number of novel and significant legal issues. This short essay provides a brief overview of this controversy. In 2001, the Republic of Argentina experienced a severe economic crisis. Inflation rose to over 40%, the stock market lost 60% of its value,
In an important recent ruling, the Delaware Supreme Court confirmed what many practitioners long suspected: that a secured creditor that mistakenly authorizes the filing of a “termination statement” will lose the lien covered by the termination statement, even though the creditor did not intend to release the lien. In Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of
A “series LLC” is an LLC that has one or more “series.” A “series” is like, but not quite, a subsidiary. About a dozen states currently offer series LLCs. Most can have their own assets and liabilities. Internal liability shields provide that assets associated with a series are available only to creditors of that series,
In ABC v. Aereo, the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, held that Aereo, Inc.’s subscription service – which gave subscribers access over the Internet to a miniature TV antenna and a miniature DVR housed in Aereo’s facility, allowing them to record over-the-air broadcast television signals (like the ones transmitted by your local ABC affiliate)
Harold Kohn, the Philadelphia lawyer who was the architect of the modern-day class action, will be honored in memoriam this fall at Temple Law. On October 9, to mark what would have been Kohn’s 100th birthday, Temple will host a lecture sponsored by Kohn’s eponymous chaired professorship, and delivered by Delaware Chief Justice Leo E.