Target Audience: Primarily firm librarians, but those in academic and court/county law libraries will also benefit from the content Learning Outcomes: 1. Participants will be presented with an introduction to the sources of bankruptcy law, the structure and jurisdiction of the court system, bankruptcy terminology and concepts, and key documents in a bankruptcy case. 2. Participants will gain an understanding of how information contained in bankruptcy filings can be useful for business intelligence gathering, as well as legal research and practice.
Business and consumer bankruptcies have been at the forefront of the news, and law librarians need a basic understanding of the process. Although bankruptcy is a federal statute, most of the proceedings take place in the bankruptcy courts that are adjunct courts to the district courts. Therefore, state law is largely applied to determine rights among parties. This program will explain the major concepts of bankruptcy law, including the various chapters and how they function; the appeals process; and where opinions are reported. Using PACER and other sources, we will also examine the more common documents filed in bankruptcy courts by debtors and creditors to uncover information that those unfamiliar with the bankruptcy process may not have suspected existed.
