Category: Blog Stuff

  • The Big 1-0

    Posted by

    Bob Lawless

    10th BirthdayToday is the tenth anniversary of the launch of Credit Slips. We started the blog in the middle of a big research project as an exercise in team building We also thought the blog might be a place where we could try to reach a wider audience about the scholarship coming out of the project. It is hard to believe we are still chugging along after 10 years.

    A lot has happened in 10 years. When we started, blogging was relatively new and especially new for academics trying to reach outside the ivy-covered walls. There weren't no Twitter or Facebook, and Pokemon was passé. Looking back at that first post, four of the original seven bloggers are still with the blog. Things have moved on considerably for most all of the original bloggers. One of us got hired and tenured at one of this nation's leading law schools. A few of us have moved universities. One of us even became the senior United States senator from Massachusetts. Some of our newest bloggers are people we were mentoring as junior scholars or even students ten years ago. For myself over the past 10 years, I managed to move to a new faculty office down the hallway.

    We have been talking about a few changes to the blog to keep current with the times, but the changes will not affect our topical focus. Our goal remains what it has been from the start, which is to reach outside the legal academy to have conversations with who care deeply about the policy issues surrounding credit, finance & bankruptcy. Thanks for being part of the conversation.

  • Making the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100

    Posted by

    Bob Lawless

    The ABA Journal has named Credit Slips to its annual Blawg 100. Thanks for the recognition! We really appreciate it. It is a list of great blogs, and we are honored to be included on it. And, thanks to our readers and commenters who help to make this little part of the Internet a great community.

  • Welcoming Back David Lander

    Posted by

    Bob Lawless

    Frequent readers of the blog will know that David Lander has guest blogged for us several times. When he was last with us, David left with four topics he wanted to discuss further. When David wrote and said he had the time to turn back to these topics, we were delighted to welcome him back. David combines extensive big law firm experience with a background in consumer and individual representations. These days, David is spending his time as an adjunct professor at St. Louis University. David always has thoughtful things to say about the state of our bankruptcy and consumer finance systems. Welcome back.

  • In Which We Enter the Fourth Grade

    Posted by

    Bob Lawless

    Ninth Anniversay LogoToday is the ninth anniversary of Credit Slips, which means we are now old enough for the fourth grade. Thanks for reading and for your support.

    The year we started, 2006, seems so long ago. The W was in the White House, and we were "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq for three whole years at that point. We had just experienced the second sitting vice president to shoot another person while in office. And, it was a year the St. Louis Cardinals would win the World Series (so some things change not so much). CFPB was just a nascent idea that one of our co-bloggers was promoting.

    I won't make any predictions about the next nine years lest I anger the Giant Robot Overlords who will be in charge by then.

  • Gelpern on Puerto Rico and Greece on Rehm

    Posted by

    Bob Lawless

    Credit Slips blogger, Anna Gelpern, was on the Diane Rehm Show this morning discussing the financial problems in Puerto Rico and Greece. Gelpern of Georgetown University was joined by Greg Ip of the Wall Street Journal and Matthias Matthjis of Johns Hopkins. A link to the full audio program can be found here. 

  • Professor Jay Westbrook Joins Us

    Posted by

    Bob Lawless

    My  best email of the day will be Professor Jay Westbrook's email saying he will join our mostly merry band of bloggers on a permanent basis. Westbrook has been guest blogging with us for a few weeks. Thanks to our great community of followers and your engagement with the issue we discuss, we have been able to persuade him to hang around. Westbrook is a legend in the field, and we are very proud to him as part of the Credit Slips team.

  • 1,000 Twitter Followers

    Posted by

    Bob Lawless

    That is an amazing milestone. Thank you everyone for your interest in what we have to say here.

    If you want to follow us on Twitter or subscribe to our Facebook page, there are buttons on the right-side of the screen. These outlets are simply other channels we use to get our content to those who want to receive it.

  • Credit Slips Bloggers’ Amicus Briefs in Caulkett

    Posted by

    Bob Lawless

    With my attention drawn to other matters, my personal blogging has been light for the past month. One of the things that had my attention was the Caulkett case currently pending before the Supreme Court. The issue in Caulkett is whether a wholly underwater second mortgage can be avoided in a chapter 7 bankruptcy. Without any value to reach, a wholly underwater second would not seem to be an allowed secured claim within the meaning of section 506.

    Along with fellow Credit Slips blogger, John Pottow, and Professor Bruce Markell, I filed an amicus brief in Caulkett supporting the debtor.  One of our points is that Long v. Bullard, which supposedly stands for the proposition that "liens ride through bankruptcy," involved other issues entirely. I'll try to expand on that point in another blog post. But, we were not alone in representing Credit Slips in the case. Blogger Adam Levitin filed his own superb amicus brief supporting the debtor that provides an in-depth look at the facts, evidence, and policy around second mortgages. All of the briefs in the case can be found at SCOTUSBlog.

  • Welcoming Jay Westbrook to Credit Slips

    Posted by

    Bob Lawless

    It is with great pleasure that I welcome Professor Jay L. Westbrook of the University of Texas as a guest blogger for Credit Slips. To people in the bankruptcy community, Professor Westbrook needs no introduction. He is a leader in both international bankruptcy and empirical studies of bankruptcy. The phrase "see Sullivan, Warren & Westbrook" is often the cite for any fact we need to know about the bankruptcy system. There is nobody I know who does not think the world of him, both professionally and personally. We have hoped for many years that he would take a turn at Credit Slips, and we are glad the time has finally come.

    Welcome to Credit Slips, Jay!

  • Legal Options for Ukraine’s Russian Debt Problem

    Posted by

    Mark Weidemaier

    Shutterstock_233925478Ukraine's financial position is worsening, restructuring seems likely, and the big question is what to do about the $3 billion loan Victor Yanukovych saddled the country with before fleeing. Coverage of the loan here and here on Credit Slips, and bonus coverage on FT Alphaville (free registration required). Though a government-to-government loan in substance, the loan is disguised as an ordinary eurobond issue, with contract terms that give Russia extraordinary leverage. These include the right to accelerate early, trigger cross-default, and block or impede restructuring. That may be why recent reports suggest the plan is to pay Russia in full when the bonds mature in December 2015, though I can't imagine either Ukraine or its official lenders are thrilled at the prospect.

    Perhaps there are other options. The academic literature on sovereign debt often discounts the relevance of law and legal institutions, although Mitu Gulati and I argue here that this may be a mistake. Ukraine's case may illustrate the point. The country's leverage – what little it has – depends in part on whether it can place meaningful legal barriers in the way of any effort to enforce the bonds. That would likely involve English law and courts (see par. 16, page 35 of the prospectus). Below the jump, I discuss two possibilities. The first is a proposal by Anna Gelpern described in detail in this paper (which also has good background on the loan) and this blog post. The second is a brief but tantalizing proposal by Joseph Blocher and Mitu Gulati in the final section of this paper. In short, Anna proposes legislation making the debt unenforceable in English courts. Joseph and Mitu suggest that Ukraine is entitled to compensation for Russia's annexation of Crimea and can use this claim as a set-off against the debt. Both proposals raise unique challenges and questions.

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