The Future of Chapter 11

Abstract

Sometime over the past decade-and-a-half, the conventional wisdom that a chapter 11 reorganization was more "economically efficient" than a liquidation shifted dramatically to the point where intelligent people take seriously the suggestion that chapter 11 should be repealed. This article assesses the future of chapter 11 by appraising the bases for the criticisms of reorganizations and inquiring into the normative justifications of chapter 11. Ultimately, chapter 11 should not be repealed, but rather a more effective chapter 11 will shape our nation’s legal and social calculus by being the forum in which many of our most critical and intractable problems are sorted out.