Law 798: Perspectives in Bankruptcy and Commercial Law

In this seminar the students will read, discuss, and write a series of short reflection papers on several books that examine the phenomena of bankruptcy and debt from a range of perspectives.  The course is designed to be non-technical and is open to all students, whether or not they have had any courses in bankruptcy, business, or commercial law.  Among the books we likely will select from to read and discuss are:  Honore de Balzac, The Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau; Bruce H. Mann, Republic of Debtors: Bankruptcy in the Age of American Independence; Bethany McLean & Peter Elkind, The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron; Robert D. Manning, Credit Card Nation: The Consequences of America’s Addiction to Credit; Lendol Calder: Financing the American Dream: A Cultural History of Consumer Credit; Sullivan, Warren & Westbrook, The Fragile Middle Class: Americans in Debt; Scott Sandage, Born Losers: A History of Failure in America; and Mitchell Zuckoff, Ponzi’s Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend.

 

Sequence and Prerequisites:  None