Chapter 9 Bankruptcy in California: The Efficacy of Mandating Alternative Dispute Resolution in Municipal Bankruptcy Filings

Authors

Michael Galen, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Abstract

The subject of this Note is of importance to ADR practitioners: the incorporation of ADR into a new state law can mitigate a heated legal struggle involving state and federal law, while balancing the competing interests of powerful parties like local governments and large unions. This subject demonstrates the efficacy of ADR as applicable to bankruptcy law, a realm with which many ADR practitioners may be unfamiliar. This Note's case study focuses solely on California law and cases because California stands alone in its approach of mandating ADR as a precondition to a municipal bankruptcy filing. Since all states have the option to condition their municipalities' access to Chapter 9, the lessons learned from California's experience are particularly useful to other states that may face municipal filings in the near future and wish to regulate such filings with similar ADR requirements.

Disciplines

Bankruptcy Law | Constitutional Law | Dispute Resolution and Arbitration | Law | Law and Politics | State and Local Government Law

Recommended Citation

Michael Galen, Chapter 9 Bankruptcy in California: The Efficacy of Mandating Alternative Dispute Resolution in Municipal Bankruptcy Filings, 15 Cardozo J. Conflict Resol. 547 (2014).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/cjcr/vol15/iss2/9