Synopsis
With these materials the author hopes the student will learn not only the major elements of corporate reorganization in chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, but also the major facets of bankruptcy that influence financing transactions. After all, much of the documentation that accompanies a complex loan is drafted & negotiated in anticipation of a possible reorganization in chapter 11, or a private reorganization accomplished in its shadow. For many lawyers, contact with bankruptcy is anticipatory, & not in front of the bankruptcy judge. It is also hoped that the student will acquire another skill while mastering these materials: good lawyers can advise clients about financial complexity. Indeed, if we can over-generalize, the hidden message in many first-year law school courses is that students need to understand how to distinguish one judicial decision from another. The hidden message behind these materials is how to understand complex financial deal-making & how to integrate finance with law. These deal-making skills are usually picked up (or not) by the young lawyer working in the law firm, but there's no reason why young lawyers shouldn't get a head start in law school. With these financial & deal-making skills in mind, the author has approached the subject of business bankruptcy not as an anatomy-of-bankruptcy, from filing to plan confirmation, but by focusing on those issues that are important to a financier in a financing transaction. That goal affected the type of materials included. When feasible, not just judicial opinions, but materials that financing lawyers use day-to-day: bond indentures, prospectuses, materials about drafting loan agreements, & SEC submissions are used. The result is that the materials are less black-letter law oriented, but more conceptual, more deal-oriented, & more finance-theory-oriented than is typical. The student or young lawyer who understands the basic concepts from finance theory-not just the sine qua non basics of discounting, present value, risk, & diversification, but also principal-agent theory, monitoring, information incompleteness, & so on-will be a better lawyer, will be better able to advise clients, & will be better able to structure deals.