Automotive Distress and Restructuring Considerations for 2026 By Joel E. Cohen and Raymond Roth, III New tariffs and their impacts on U.S. businesses have been at the forefront of recent news. While the automotive industry received a lot of…

Honest, but Still Unfortunate?Ninth Circuit Defines Authority of Social Security Administration to Recoup Overpayments Following Chapter 7 Discharge By Mark A. Fink and Richard E. Willi III As the U.S. Supreme Court has stated, the Bankrupt…

President’s Column Assuming the presidency of the American Bankruptcy Institute is both a profound honor and a deeply humbling responsibility. When I joined ABI more than three decades ago, I could not have imagined one day serving as Presi…

Congress Passes “Bankruptcy Administration Improvement Act” The House of Representatives passed (voice vote) S. 3424, the “Bankruptcy Administration Improvement Act of 2025,” 1 to double the compensation payable to chapter 7 trustees in no-…

Equitable Power, or Court’s Discretion: Everyone Wants a Piece, Part II 1 By Christopher Conte “Bankruptcy courts are courts of equity.” 2 Anyone who has practiced in front of bankruptcy judges for any length of time has undoubtedly heard, …

The New Value Corollary to the Absolute-Priority Rule Codified for Individuals in Chapter 11 By Donald L. Swanson The absolute-priority rule has always prevented individuals from reorganizing under chapter 11. The absolute-priority rule is …

Event Roundup ABI’s Annual Health Care Program Returns to DC ABI’s Health Care Program, a one-of-a-kind conference focusing on the future of health care and the latest on restructurings in this critical industry, returned to its roots in Wa…

Domestic Violence, Bartenwerfer and the Ninth Circuit By Prof. Angela Littwin Bankruptcy professionals might be surprised to learn that there is a major connection between consumer debt and domestic violence. Abusers in violent relationship…

The Separate-Filings Rule Is Neither Practical nor Equitable for Debtors or the Estate By Edward Boltz The separate-filings rule is often described as the most technically precise approach to allocating joint tax refunds between spouses in …

Should Courts Use the Separate-Filings Rule to Allocate Tax Refunds Among Spouses? By James C. Lanik When spouses file a joint chapter 7 petition, two estates are created, 1 although those estates are typically jointly administered. 2 The a…