United States International Insolvency Law 2008-2009 »

The Honorable Judge Samuel L. Bufford has served since 1985 as a bankruptcy judge in the Central District of California, one of the busiest bankruptcy courts in the United States. During this time he has overseen nearly 100,000 bankruptcy cases, including more than 2500 Chapter 11 cases. He is the author of one book, numerous law review articles and more than 75 published opinions. In addition, he is a frequent lecturer throughout the United States and abroad on issues of bankruptcy law and legal ethics. Judge Bufford served as editor in chief of the America Bankruptcy Law Journal from 1990 to 1994. Judge Bufford was Nomura Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School for the winter, 2004 term, where he taught a course in international and comparative insolvency law. He also taught this course at Harvard in 2003. He also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California Law Center, and has taught at Ohio State University. He earned his law degree from the University of Michigan, where he was an editor of the Michigan Law Review and of the Journal of Law Reform. In addition, he holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Texas.

U.S. International Insolvency Law is designed as the definitive interpretive work on Chapter 15 to the United States Bankruptcy Code, which took effect in October 2005. This code was introduced to coordinate international insolvency cases involving both the United States and one or more foreign countries. With the extensive growth of the international economy, international insolvency cases for international enterprises in financial difficulty are certain to increase. These cases will involve complex legal problems arising from assets located abroad in U.S. cases, foreign creditors in U.S. cases, and parallel cases in various countries for the same business entities.

This publication provides valuable guidance to a wide audience of professionals involved in international insolvency cases with U.S. connections, including lawyers, judges, accountants, turnaround specialists and other insolvency professionals. It is also useful as a text for international insolvency courses and to provide guidance to foreign judges, lawyers and other insolvency professionals.

The book analyzes the function of each provision of Article 15, and explains its role in an international insolvency case involving related cases in the United States and abroad. The author also explores the general legal framework for commercial disputes such as customary law, applicable treaties and the European Union Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings. These subjects include the extraterritorial application of national insolvency laws (and the application of the principles of universalism and territorialism), comity to foreign courts and foreign judicial decisions, reciprocity, jurisdiction and choice of law, and the allocation of assets to creditors in the affected countries.

This annual publication also addresses practical problems that arise in international insolvency cases, such as the negotiation and drafting of protocols for particular cases. It gives recommendations and suggestions on procedures to implement Chapter 15's requirement that courts and professionals from the relevant countries communicate with each other "to the maximum extent possible." Appendices include Chapter 15, the Cross-Border Insolvency Concordat, Guidelines Applicable to Court-to-Court Communications in Cross-Border Cases, the European Union Insolvency Regulation, and samples of protocols adopted in specific international cases.