Corporate Reorganizations Seminar

This class will meet two hours per week and will be taught in the conventional seminar format. Grades will be based primarily on either one paper that will satisfy the Capstone requirement or two short papers that will satisfy the WIE requirement. Students will be able to choose either of these options. Grades will also be based on in-class participation, which includes attendance and regular participation in classroom discussion.

In delving beyond the headlines, this course examines the largest and most infamous financial collapses of the last decade, including General Motors, Bernie Madoff Securities, Lehman Brothers, AIG, Enron, Washington Mutual and WorldCom. This course focuses on the salacious details of each case and discusses (i) why these prominent and once-successful companies filed for bankruptcy; (ii) what they hoped to accomplish by the filing; and (iii) the legacy that each case left.

There are absolutely NO prerequisites for this class. This class will NOT focus on bankruptcy procedure, case precedent or the mechanics of the bankruptcy code. The course will provide an overarching perspective on the two great recessions of the last decade that crippled some of the most successful companies in the world and revealed staggering levels of incompetence and fraud.

Meets the WIE or Capstone writing requirement.

Prerequisites: None