Law Courses Catalog

Professor Bushaw

Description: In this course, students glimpse the complex world of commercial finance that lurks behind most facets of modern life. This course examines the treatment of secured transactions under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. Article 9 is a complex, and some might even say impenetrable statute, yet it is an extremely important one as well. Article 9 transactions appear in almost all areas of law, and they do not necessarily announce themselves as such. Attorneys who are not familiar with Article 9 may find that they have advised their clients on a matter that appeared to be something else altogether, but was nevertheless in substance an Article 9 transaction. As this classification has important ramifications for the client, Article 9 poses a significant malpractice trap for the unwary lawyer. Study of Article 9 not only enables students to avoid pitfalls in their future practice lives, it also sharply hones their statutory interpretation skills. Students who have mastered Article 9 should be able to tame whatever snarled statutes may come their way. A study of Article 9 also questions the theoretical underpinnings of debt and security — what sorts of remedies creditors should have available to satisfy the debts owing to them, and why our legal system allows some creditors to gain preference over others. In this regard, Secured Transactions has some synergies with the Property Transactions and Bankruptcy/Debtor-Creditor courses. (Students who have a particular interest in commercial law may wish to take all three courses; other students may prefer to choose among them.)

Professor Newell

Description: The study of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code and related sections of the Bankruptcy Code. The course primarily deals with credit transactions in which a creditor takes an interest in personal property of its debtor as a way of increasing the creditor’s likelihood of being paid. Many business debtors use their equipment, inventory, accounts receivable and/or other peronsal property as collateral and consumers often finance their automobiles and/or household goods. Preventive law is a major focus of this course. Students learn how to create and perfect security interests and the rules for determining the priority among competing claims to the property of a defaulting debtor.