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Bruce Grohsgal
Helen S. Balick Professor in Business Bankruptcy Law
B.A. Brandeis University
J.D. Columbia Law School
Office Number 306
About
Bruce Grohsgal is the Helen S. Balick Professor in Business Bankruptcy Law. He joined the faculty in July 2014.
He previously practiced law for more than 30 years, most recently at the Wilmington, Delaware office of Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones, LLP. He has represented debtors, creditors’ committees, and trustees in chapter 11 bankruptcy cases and litigation, including the debtors in Solyndra, Global Home Products/Anchor Hocking/Mirro/WearEver, Chi Chi’s and Trans World Airlines, the creditors’ committees in Freedom Communications (Orange County Register) and Jevic Transportation, the medical benefits retirees’ committee in Allied Systems Holdings, Inc., and the chapter 11 trustee in Le-Nature’s.
Professor Grohsgal is the Editor-in-Chief of the Norton Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice, and of the Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law, and is the Director of the Institute of Delaware Corporate and Business Law. He was a Senior Fellow at Americans for Financial Reform, Washington, D.C., from October 2012 to January 2013, while on Sabbatical from his former firm, and was the Chair of the Bankruptcy Section of the Delaware State Bar Association in 2008-2009. He has spoken on numerous bankruptcy topics, including “first day” hearings, the sale of a business and other assets in bankruptcy, unsecured creditors’ committees, executive compensation, derivatives, repos and financial instruments in bankruptcy, and the discharge of student loans by individuals in bankruptcy.
He received his B.A. from Brandeis University in 1977 and his J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1980, where he was a Stone Scholar.
What do you learn when you study law in Delaware?
The rules that govern us must be just, both in their inception and in their application to each person, and serve the best of our collective aspirations. Lawyers play a central role in the quest to ensure that these rights and goals are realized. Delaware has long recognized and acted on the belief that the best legal system is that which is being constantly improved, both substantively and procedurally, to achieve these ends.
Courses
Bankruptcy, Contracts I and II, Secured Transactions, International Bankruptcy, Financial Regulation.
Publications
Law Review Articles:
From Referees to Robes: The Establishment of a U.S. Bankruptcy Bench and the Battle for Article III Status as Told in the Bankruptcy Oral Histories, 31 J. Bankr. L. & Prac. (2023)
The Alteration of Ex Ante Agreements by the Bankruptcy Code, 95 Am. Bankr. L. J. 713 (2021)
The Long Strange Trip to a Certainty of Hopelessness: The Legislative and Political History of the Nondischarge of Student Loans in Bankruptcy, 95 Am. Bankr. L. J. 443 (2021)
The Argument for a Federal Rule of Decision for a Bankruptcy Court’s Recharacterization of a Claim as Equity, 94 Am. Bankr. L. J. 681 (2020).
Can Student Loans be Discharged in Bankruptcy? 90 Miss. L. J. 35 (2020)
Absolute Priority Redux: Chapter 11 First Day Orders and Pre-Plan Settlements Post-Jevic, 10 Wm. & Mary Bus. L. Rev.61 (2018), also available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3384377.
How Absolute is the Absolute Priority Rule in Bankruptcy? The Case for Structured Dismissals, 8 Wm. & Mary Bus. L. Rev. 439 (2017), also available at SSRN.
Colder Than a Landlord’s Heart? Reconciling a Debtor’s Authority to Sell Property Free and Clear of a Lease Under Bankruptcy Code Section 363(f) with the Tenant’s Right to Remain in Possession on a Lease Rejection under Section 365(h), 100 Marq. L. Rev. 295 (2016), also available at SSRN.
Written Congressional Testimony:
Written Testimony on H.R. 1667, the “Financial Institution Bankruptcy Act of 2017, before the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law (March 23, 2017). The attached written testimony and a recording of the oral testimony from the hearing are available at https://judiciary.house.gov/hearing/subject-h-r-___-financial-institution-bankruptcy-act-2017/.
Written Responses to Questions for the Record submitted to the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee (May 17, 2017), following the March 23, 2017 hearing on H.R. 1667, the “Financial Institution Bankruptcy Act of 2017.
Editorships
Editor-in-Chief, Norton Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice.
Editor-in-Chief, Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law.
Co-Editor, Bankruptcy Update Column, Delaware Bar Association Journal.
Short Articles and Editorials:
Achieving Chapter 11 Bankruptcy’s Purposes by Procedural Innovation: The Case of Delaware,, The Journal of the Delaware State Bar Association (July/Aug. 2022) (with Hon. Kevin Gross (Ret.))
How Student Borrowers Lost the Promise of a Fresh Start, 41 Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 58 (Jan. 2022)
Why Student Loans Are Nearly Impossible to Discharge in Bankruptcy, American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, XLI JAN Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 58 (Jan. 2022)
A Bad Bargain: The Legislative and Political History of the “Undue Hardship” Requirement for the Discharge of Student Loans in Bankruptcy, 2021 No. 8 Norton Bankr. L. Adviser NL 1 (2021)
Must Bankruptcy Courts Apply the Punitive Gloss of Brunner for the Discharge of a Student Loan?, American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, 39-MAY Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 14 (May 2020).
Should the Appointment of a Committee of Unsecured Creditors Be Made Optional in Chapter 11 Cases?, with Hon. Christopher S. Sontchi, American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, 38-NOV Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 12 (Nov. 2019), and republished in Best of ABI 2019: The Year in Business Bankruptcy, a digital book published each year by the American Bankruptcy Institute, available at https://store.abi.org/ebook/best-of-abi-2019-the-year-in-business-bankruptcy.html.
Absolute Priority Redux: Chapter 11 First Day Orders and Pre-Plan Settlements Post-Jevic, Harvard Bankruptcy Roundtable (May 7, 2019), available at https://blogs.harvard.edu/bankruptcyroundtable/?s=redux, with a link to the Wm. & Mary Bus. L. Rev. 61 (2018) article listed above.
Does the Financial Institution Bankruptcy Act of 2017 (FIBA) Undermine the Effective Restructuring of a Failing Financial Institution? Harvard Bankruptcy Roundtable (June 13, 2017), available at http://blogs.harvard.edu/bankruptcyroundtable/, with a link to the March 23, 2017 House written testimony listed under “Publications and Congressional Testimony – July 1, 2014 to Present” above.
How a GOP Bill Could Cause the Next Financial Crisis, Politico (April 26, 2017), with Simon Johnson, available at http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/04/26/how-a-gop-bill-could-cause-the-next-financial-crisis-000428.
How Absolute is the Absolute Priority Rule in Bankruptcy? The Case for Structured Dismissals, Harvard Bankruptcy Roundtable (November 1, 2016), available at http://blogs.harvard.edu/bankruptcyroundtable/2016/11/01/how-absolute-is-the-absolute-priority-rule-in-bankruptcy-the-case-for-structured-dismissals/, with a link to the 8 Wm. & Mary Bus. L. Rev. 439 (2017) article listed above.
Why Recent SPOE Bills for SIFIs Fail, 33-DEC Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 10 (December 2014).
The Case in Brief Against Chapter 14, Harvard Bankruptcy Roundtable (June 17, 2014), available at http://blogs.harvard.edu/bankruptcyroundtable/2014/06/17/the-case-in-brief-against-chapter-14/.
Executive Compensation and the Great Recession, Delaware Lawyer, 28-FALL Del. Law. 24 (Fall 2010) (with Gregg M. Galardi).
Chrysler: A One-off, or the Shape of Things to Come? Norton Bankruptcy Advisor, September 2009 (with Judge Lawrence S. Walter, Judge Leif M. Clark and Rob Charles).
Vendors Win New Protections in Bankruptcy Amendments, The Journal of Corporate Renewal (August 2005).
New Law Deals Severe Blow to KERPs, Severance Programs, The Journal of Corporate Renewal (August 2005).
Hotel Revenues under the Bankruptcy Reform Act, 14-APR Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 20 (April 1995).
Landlord’s Lease Rejection Under the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994, 13-JAN Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 20 (January 1995).
The Twilight Zone of HMO Insolvencies, 13-MAY Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 22 (May 1994).
Whose Pension is it Anyway? – ERISA and the Bankruptcy Code, 97 Com. L.J. 12 (1992) (with Marvin Krasny).
Critical Issues in Single-Asset Real Estate Bankruptcies, Real Estate Review, vol. 22, no. 2 (Summer 1992) (Robert A. Silverman).
Treatise Chapters:
Contributing Editor and Author, Chapter 13, Abandonment of Property of the Estate, Norton Bankruptcy Law and Practice, 3rd ed. 2008.
Contributing Editor and Author, Chapter 74, Power of the Court, Norton Bankruptcy Law and Practice, 3rd ed. 2008.
Contributing Editor and Author, Chapter 102, Elections for Secured Claimants, Norton Bankruptcy Law and Practice, 3rd ed. 2008.
Contributing Editor and Author, Chapter 109, Plan Contents and Classification, Norton Bankruptcy Law and Practice, 3rd ed. 2008.
Book Chapters:
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2022), 2022 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 17
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2022), 2022 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 27
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2021), 2021 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 16 (with Joseph M. Mulvihill and Katelyn M. Crawford)
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2021), 2021 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 26
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2020), 2020 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 16 (with Joseph M. Mulvihill and Katelyn M. Crawford)
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2020), 2020 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 27 (with Sophie E. Macon)
Sections 363-364 – Use, Sale, or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, with Joseph M. Mulvihill and Katelyn M. Crawford, in Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law, 2019 Ann. Surv. of Bankr.Law 17 (August 2019).
Sections 542-543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, with Gregory J. Flasser and Katharina Earle, in Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law, 2019 Ann. Surv. of Bankr.Law 25 (August 2019).
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2018), 2018 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 18 (with Peter J. Keane and Joseph M. Mulvihill).
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2018), 2018 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 27 (with Gregory J. Flasser and Katharina Earle).
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2017), 2017 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 19 (with Peter J. Keane and Joseph M. Mulvihill).
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2017), 2017 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 29 (with Gregory J. Flasser).
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2016), 2016 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 17 (with Peter J. Keane).
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2016), 2016 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 26 (with Gregory J. Flasser).
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2015), 2015 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 17 (with Peter J. Keane).
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2015), 2015 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 26 (with Margaret E. Juliano).
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2014), 2014 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 17 (with Peter J. Keane).
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2014), 2014 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 26.
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2013), 2013 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 22 (with Peter J. Keane).
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2013), 2013 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 31.
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2012), 2012 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 22.
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2012), 2012 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 30.
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2011), 2011 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 23.
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2011), 2011 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 33.
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2010), 2010 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 22.
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2010), 2010 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 31.
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2009), 2009 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 25.
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2009), 2009 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 33.
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2008), 2008 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 25.
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2008), 2008 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 32.
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2007), 2007 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 22.
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2007), 2007 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 29.
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2006), 2006 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 22.
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2006), 2006 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 28.
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2005), 2005 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 31.
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2005), 2005 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 38.
Sections 363 and 364 – Use, Sale or Lease of Property and Obtaining Credit, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2004), 2004 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 30.
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2004), 2004 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 36.
Sections 542 and 543 – Turnover of Property of the Estate, Chapter in print edition of Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2003), 2003 Ann. Surv. of Bankr. Law 36.