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Santa Clara University School of Law Syllabus Debtors' and Creditors' Rights Professor Neustadter Spring 2001 Course Description Three units. Graded. The course explores the methods by which unsecured creditors can seek satisfaction of debt through judicial process or in a debtor's bankruptcy and the methods by which debtors can seek relief from or discharge of debt under both state law and federal bankruptcy law. A substantial portion of the course considers these issues in the context of consumer debtors. Most of the legal issues raise fundamental questions about our perspectives on personal responsibility, forgiveness and compassion. The rights of secured creditors are treated in a separate course entitled Secured Debt. Required Reading Materials Warren and Westbrook, The Law of Debtors and Creditors (3rd Ed., Aspen) Bankruptcy Code, Rules and Official Forms (West, 2000 Law School Edition) Primary Reference Materials Blum, Bankruptcy and Debtor/Creditor, Examples and Explanations (Little, Brown and Co. 1993) (on special reserve) Epstein, Nickles and White, Bankruptcy (West 1993) (on special reserve) Collier on Bankruptcy, 15th Ed. (a comprehensive treatise, with forms, in about 8 volumes) (general stacks) Selected law review articles (on special reserve): by LoPucki (Wisconsin Law Review); Whitford (Wisconsin Law Review); Neustadter (Buffalo Law Review) California Department of Consumer Affairs, Collecting Your Small Claims Judgment, available for a small fee from the California Dept. of Consumer Affairs @ (800) 952-5210 West's Bankruptcy Reporter (general stacks) Reading Assignments Reading assignments will be announced during each class and posted thereafter on electronic reserve (ClaraNet). Most reading assignments will be to the Warren and Westbrook casebook, generally in the order listed in the Outline and Reading Assignments for this course. During our study of bankruptcy, you should also study sections of the Bankruptcy Code, Bankruptcy Rules, and Official Bankruptcy Forms that are referred to or implied from the assigned reading in the casebook. We shall spend most class time discussing the problems in the Warren and Westbrook casebook. Absent your request, we shall spend little time discussing the cases, except as they may be relevant to problems, because the cases are generally offered for illustration only. Development of skills in reading and analyzing judicial opinions is not a course objective. Electronic Communication Please take advantage of several available means of
electronic communication: I expect regular class attendance and consistent preparation of assignments in anticipation of class discussion. Please let me know prior to the start of class if you are not prepared for class discussion because of illness or for other appropriate reasons. Grading There will be one final examination. It will be a limited open book examination, in which you will be permitted to refer to your casebook, your Bankruptcy Code, and any materials (such as notes, outlines, charts) that you have prepared yourself or in collaboration with other students in the class. You will not be permitted to refer to any other materials. Your grade in the course will be your grade on the final examination, except that I reserve the right to adjust your final course grade downward for excessive absenteeism or frequent lack of preparation. California law on enforcement of judgments In 1983, California enacted a lengthy, detailed and in some ways unique law governing the enforcement of judgments. That law is integral to the practice of debtor/creditor law in California. Yet to focus exclusively or even largely on California law would frustrate other important course objectives. However, I would expect many of you who do anticipate practicing in California to have an interest in learning more details about California law. To accommodate that interest, I recommend, for a start, the Department of Consumer Affairs publication referred to the primary reference materials above. |
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