Although federally- and state- chartered corporations function similarly, federal law privileges the former in at least one significant respect: their access to this nation’s federal courts. Pursuant to the language now codified in Section 1332 of the twenty-eighth title of the United States...

A festering ambiguity buried within the thirteenth chapter of the Bankruptcy Code threatens to shadow future rehabilitations of any mixed-use development owned by one or more individuals or proprietorships eligible to file for relief under that chapter. The reason for this pendant danger...

Amongst the group of related sections touching upon the creation and administration of a plan of debt adjustment pursuant to Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code (“Code”), just one—§ 1329—concerns post-confirmation modification. This section’s first lettered paragraph enumerates the...

Our laws have sought to promote “and enforce a sense of morality in the business community. Well-settled laws regulating fraud, undue influence, fiduciary relationships, confidential information, truth-in-advertising, fair reporting practices, etc., have their origins in moral codes and...

Beginning in the 1960s, state legislatures across the country enacted consumer protection acts that “were originally designed to supplement the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) mission of protecting consumers from ‘unfair or deceptive acts or practices’ and are referred to as...

Law is the way civilized societies provide for the conduct of citizens to enhance harmony and optimize achievement of personal liberties. Our laws are an attempt to deal with many of the most horrible ways humans treat each other. Laws are also divided into many sub-specialties, each requiring...

Over the course of its multi-decade existence, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ("RESPA") has been amended to cover many diverse yet related “real estate” subjects. In its present iteration, two provisions — sections 2605(g) and 2609 — deal with mortgage escrow accounts, with...

The rapid rise of cryptocurrencies over the last twenty years has interjected havoc into the staid field of commercial law, one long regulated by the Uniform Commercial Code (“U.C.C.” or “UCC”). Naturally, many individuals and organizations started to count their stash of...

Since 1978, dismissals of involuntary bankruptcy petitions due to petitioning creditors' bad faith have proliferated. In the process, a textual oddity has not gone unnoticed: even as “bad faith” is denominated as the basis for an award of punitive damages, nowhere in the Bankruptcy Code's...