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Joe Smith has been (among other things!) the general counsel of a regional bank, Commissioner of Banks for North Carolina; and the official independent settlement monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement. And Joe has some reflections on these experiences that I recommend reading. One easy way to get started is with his 2026 essay published by The North Carolina Banking Institute.
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The red carpet is studded with property and contract questions. Who among those A-List stars even owns the outfits they showcase? In the article “25 Things You Don’t Know about the Oscars” from the March 9, 2026 edition of Us Magazine, author Molly McGuigan says Academy Award winners also do not own the statues they win. The cited explanation? “Since 1950, they’ve signed a special agreement stating they can’t sell or dispose of their trophies without first offering to sell them to the Academy for $1.” (The web version is slightly different from the digital version I quote here). Technically that’s not the same as lack of ownership, but to what extent does it hamper the bundle of sticks?
So … under what circumstances would you make a loan backed by an Academy Award statue (whether or not its name is Oscar)?
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Gather around and check out University of Texas Professor Dickerson’s interview on The Daily Show, a substantive conversation with Jon Stewart about her new book, The Middle-Class New Deal. Stewart decrees the book “fabulous!”
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You hear a bump in the night. Is it Edgar Allan Poe’s Telltale Heart? Or someone hauling away your car? If you have missed some car payments, it probably is the latter. And while most of your creditors aren’t allowed to lurk in the dark to snatch your car, your car lender can.
Recorded with steaks sizzling on a fire pit at a car repossession lot, a recent podcast from the Wall Street Journal discusses the physical risks and tight margins associated with the repo industry. Without mentioning the law that shapes this industry, the podcast shows how Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, a law passed by all state legislatures and yet virtually unknown, is far from a niche subject. That’s also an implication, to say the least, from the downfall of FirstBrands, now in bankruptcy.
Now is a good time for lawyers to ask their law schools if they regularly offer courses that include a hefty dose of UCC Article 9.
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A few months ago, Slipster Bob Lawless, former Slipster Deborah Thorne, and I published Debts Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy. The book draws on eleven years of data from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project to document the financial consequences of decades of risk privatization for individuals and families across the United States. Some people ultimately will file bankruptcy. Over the past few months, during panel discussions, podcasts, and interviews, we have been asked about the value of people filing bankruptcy earlier. We (well, at least I) think that for many people, filing sooner would be advantageous. People deplete their assets in the years they struggle before filing and suffer psychologically and physically from the stress of unmanageable debts. Based on our data, the stigma of bankruptcy and the inability to make good on their contracts remains a barrier to filing. So, how to encourage people to file? And, relatedly, how to make people feel “good” about their bankruptcies such that they have a better chance at succeeding when they are released post-bankruptcy into the same economic and social structure that may be stacked against them?
I recently spoke about Debt’s Grip as part of the National Association of Bankruptcy Attorneys‘ meeting. There I saw Adrienne Hines, a bankruptcy attorney from Ohio who I knew from her social media presence as The Lady Like Lawyer (Instagram, TikTok). I picked up her new book, Bankruptcy Magic: The Life-Changing Power of Debt Relief With Dignity. The book puts into a written guide format for people the core message of her social media: that filing bankruptcy can be an effective solution to unmanageable debt challenges for which people do not need to feel ashamed. Adrienne’s social media accounts are an excellent resource for struggling debtors. Her book may be even more excellent. It is part of the answer to the question of how to encourage people to file sooner.
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Credit Slips readers will want to check out a brand-new book from Pat McCoy, the Liberty Mutual Insurance Professor at Boston College Law School (and a past guest blogger here). Sharing Risk offers both a diagnosis and prescription for the financial precarity of American households. Because over half of Americans do not make enough to meet basic needs, they often turn to borrowing to make ends meet. McCoy proposes expended risk-sharing arrangements about income security, housing, health insurance, and college education. McCoy's proposals seek to enable American families to flourish and secured their economic well-being.
The book is available directly from the University of California Press. McCoy also passed along that she is now blogging at a new substack.
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More upcoming events open to the public – in person and virtual – for the new book Unjust Debts, including tonight in Washington DC. Join the conversation!
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First, thanks to Bob Lawless for his post about my new book. It has been great to engage with people about Unjust Debts so far, and especially appreciated the book making a new Financial Times best books list (links to that and other coverage here). Wanted to note a few upcoming book events for Credit Slips readers:
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Today is the publication date for Unjust Debts: How Our Bankruptcy System Makes America More Unequal from University of North Carolina law professor and Slipster, Melissa Jacoby. This book will be the talk of the bankruptcy community. Be the first in your firm or organization to have a copy. The book is available on Amazon or (better yet) Bookshop.org.
Bankruptcy touches most every aspect of modern-day financial life. Professor Jacoby questions whether bankruptcy works as an effective second chance for everyday Americans while documenting the many ways the system allows powerful individuals and corporations to escape commitments. As such, she shows how the bankruptcy system contributes to inequality. For those who work in the bankruptcy system, her thesis may be controversial. For those who are not immersed in that system, the book will be eye opening.
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Ryan Hampton, author of a book about the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy published earlier this month, is a "national addiction recovery advocate, community organizer, author, and person in long-term recovery" who also was a member of the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy official unsecured creditors' committee. On Purdue's committee, Hampton and three other personal injury claimants sat alongside five institutional/corporate creditors, at least some of which were defendants in other opioid crisis lawsuits. This is a quick post to recommend that the bankruptcy world read Unsettled for at least the five following reasons: