REVIEW OF THE PROPOSALS OF THE NATIONAL BANKRUPTCY REVIEW COMMISSION PERTAINING TO BUSINESS BANKRUPTCIES - PART ONE

This Article reviews several of the major proposals of the National Ba nkruptcy Review Commission pertaining to business bankruptcies, and is based on the results of a representative survey of the members of the Business Bankruptcy Committee of the American Bar Association's Secti on of Business Law. The Article addresses proposals on the following s even topics: (i) altering the bankruptcy appellate structure; (ii) ref orming the treatment of executory contracts in bankruptcy cases; (iii) codifying the new value exception to the absolute priority rule in Ch apter 11 proceedings and modifying the rules governing a debtor's excl usive right to file a plan of reorganization; (iv) amending the classi fication rules in Chapter 11 proceedings for plans of reorganization; (v) altering the venue provisions for the filing of cases; (vi) establ ishing bankruptcy judges under Article III of the Constitution; and (v ii) amending various sections of the Bankruptcy Code to provide new ru les governing the treatment of mass future claims. Based on the result s of the survey, the Article evaluates each proposal in four critical respects: (i) whether the proposal responds to an actual need for refo rm in the current law; (ii) whether the proposal represents an improve ment over existing law; (iii) whether the proposal could be improved i n some way; and (iv) whether consideration of the proposal requires th e evaluation of additional issues. The discussion includes commentary on the current state of the law. The authors hope that the survey anal ysis and discussion undertaken in the Article will help advance the de bate in the area of business bankruptcies, as well as assist in the pr ocess of substantive legal reform.