Customer Reviews

Courting Failure: How Competition for Big Cases Is Corrupting the Bankruptcy Courts

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Lynn M. LoPucki has described and documented the insidious corruption that has taken hold of the U.S. bankruptcy courts. Almost no one in the bankruptcy field will talk openly about what has happened to the practice of their profession. But the corruption and prevalence of greed are very real. Lynn M. LoPucki has decoded their playbook and exposed the pattern of corruption. The "case placers" (bankruptcy lawyers and professionals) choose where to file the cases; judges compete for big cases by appealing to them. Compromised judges readily approve lucrative fees for the lawyers and bankruptcy professionals with whom they have cozy relationships, while allowing them to suppress, muzzle and trample on the rights of shareholders and creditors who dare to object. Disturbingly, corrupt bankruptcy lawyers and professionals are becoming more artful at their game. The plays are now so well understood that case placers do not need to spell out their conspiratorial actions to one another. They have mastered the quick Section 363 sale (minimum time, maximum fees). They can effectively hijack companies through their counsel to boards of directors, then be opportunely positioned to generate millions in legal and professional fees, all readily approved by the judges who reward their brethren who bring cases to their courts, even praising them for their "hard work." The U.S. Trustee's office is no help in ferreting out the abuse. Nor is the SEC. Bankruptcy fraud and corruption are not even among the SEC's priorities. So it is "businessperson beware," and especially beware of your lawyers and professional advisors, their motives, and their connections to the bankruptcy world. No serious business person can afford not to know what is happening to the bankruptcy courts. LoPucki's book is required reading.

Great book, explains how companies can abuse the bankruptcy court system. Very well written, and interesting for a general audience.