A Road Map to Bankruptcy Law; Individual Debtor and the Fresh Start; Corporate Reorganizations and the Absolute Priority Rule; Claims, Property of the Estate, and the Strong-Arm Powers; Executory Contracts; Fraudulent Conveyances, Equitable Subordination, and Substantive Consolidation; Preferences; Automatic Stay; Debtor in Possession; Forming the Plan of Reorganization.

The "self-made" man is a familiar figure in nineteenth-century American history. But the relentless expansion of market relations that facilitated such stories of commercial success also ensured that individual bankruptcy would become a prominent feature in the nation's economic landscape. In this ambitious foray into the shifting character of American capitalism, Edward Balleisen explores the economic roots and social meanings of bankruptcy, assessing the impact of widespread insolvency on the evolution of American law, business culture, and commercial society. Balleisen makes innovative use of the rich and previously overlooked court records generated by the 1841 Federal Bankruptcy Act, building his arguments on the commercial biographies of hundreds of failed business owners. He crafts a nuanced account of how responses to bankruptcy shaped two opposing elements of capitalist society in mid-nineteenth-century America--an entrepreneurial ethos grounded in risk taking and the ceaseless search for new markets, new products, and new ways of organizing economic activity, and an urban, middle-class sensibility increasingly averse to the dangers associated with independent proprietorship and increasingly predicated on salaried, white-collar employment.

A careful analysis of the fundamentals of bankruptcy law.

Excessive household debt has allowed for economic growth, but this model has become increasingly unstable. Spooner examines bankruptcy law as a potential solution.

This authoritative treatise on bankruptcy fraud is an invaluable reference book for bankruptcy law practitioners, white-collar criminal lawyers, prosecutors, judges, restructuring professionals, and academicians. Bankruptcy Crimes is the only book extant on the subject and is unique in its dual perspective and analysis of criminality and bankruptcy law.

First released at the beginning of America's economic crisis, Bankruptcy of our Nation has been almost prophetic in its assessment of the explosion of the gold market, the loss of AAA credit rating, foreclosures, "manufactured" numbers from the government reported by the media, and the fragile foundations of our national and internationally linked economies. Families are scared and more interested than ever in making sure they do all they can to survive whatever this fiscal crisis brings. This step-by-step process is one of that individuals can implement to diversify their savings and investments to help create multiple streams of income. Get solid and easy-to-understand assessments of America's financial position now and the pressures of a global economy that loom ahead so that you can make the critical decisions to protect yourself no matter what the uncertain future holds. Take control of your own fiscal future today!

Together, the four co-authors have taught bankruptcy courses at more than 20 very different law schools; one of them sat as a bankruptcy judge for nine years; and all four have substantial practice experience. Drawing on their diverse experience, they have prepared original text, problems, and edited cases with three goals in mind: (1) introduce students to one new bankruptcy concept at a time, (2) show students the connection among the various concepts and (3) give the students a sense of how these bankruptcy concepts are utilized in both the smallest personal and largest business bankruptcy cases.