News about the Business Law Program or news about faculty or students that relates to business law
When struggling with debt, many people delay filing for bankruptcy as long as possible; however, delaying may be more harmful than many realize. “People misunderstand bankruptcy and wait too long to see a bankruptcy lawyer. Most people would benefit by going earlier,” Professor Robert Lawless told CBS in a new article about the timing of […]
Research on overindebtedness and household incomes represents “low-hanging fruit,” according to Professor Robert Lawless. In a new article published in the Annual Review of Law and Social Science, he and his co-authors review current literature about who files bankruptcy, what causes bankruptcy, what happens in bankruptcy court, and what happens after cases conclude. They also […]
Professor Richard Kaplan is the recipient of the 2025 AALS Aging and Law Section’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors his distinguished career of teaching, service, and scholarship in aging and the law. A letter from the AALS Aging and Law Section explained his selection, noting “dedicated service to the profession, to your students, to […]
Professor Richard Kaplan presented “Gender Discrimination in Retirement Plan Distributions” at the American Tax Policy Institute Symposium, It’s a Man’s World: Revealing and Addressing Hidden Gender Bias in Tax Law and Policy, in Washington, D.C. His paper will appear next year in an issue of the Pittsburgh Tax Review devoted to the Symposium’s presentations.
In a video interview, Professor Richard Kaplan spoke to The Street’s Retirement Daily about the six major changes enacted by the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. The changes, he explained, represent Congressional efforts to address deficiencies in employer-provided retirement savings plans and continue a pattern of pension plans accommodating an array of social initiatives that […]
Though the results of the November elections in the United States will represent a mandate for one group, there are several issues the Biden administration will likely seek to address in its last few months in the White House. The Wall Street Journal compiled a list of some of these policy priorities, including student-loan discharges. […]
Bankruptcy Judge David S. Jones of New York ruled recently on a chapter 11 plan from cosmetics company Revlon regarding asbestos claims arising from products containing talc. In his ruling, Judge Jones noted that future asbestos claims can be discharged without a trust. In the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Rochelle’s Daily Wire, Professor Ralph Brubaker provided […]
Professor Richard Kaplan has a new article in the Elder Law Journal, titled “Analyzing the New Planning Opportunities in SECURE 2.0 for Retirement Plan Participants.” The article examines six major changes enacted by the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 pertaining to current plan participants in retirement plans. Kaplan notes that the changes continue the pattern […]
Professor Ralph Brubaker’s article, “Mass Torts, The Bankruptcy Power, and Constitutional Limits on Mandatory No-Opt-Outs Settlements,” was recently added to SSRN’s Top Ten Download list. The article, published by the Florida State University Business Review, is an examination of “constitutional tensions produced by aggressive efforts to resolve mass-tort liability through federal bankruptcy proceedings, as illustrated […]
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy, Professor Ralph Brubaker—who submitted an amicus brief in the case—published an article in the Harvard Law School Bankruptcy Roundtable on the implications of the ruling and issues that remain unsettled after the ruling. “Unless bankruptcy is to become a facile end-run around […]