Bankruptcy

No one topic dominated bankruptcy cases arising in the Eleventh Circuit in 2004, but several developments took center stage. First, judicial estoppel re-emerged as a tool used to prevent a windfall to the debtor when the trustee is the real party in interest. Second, any benefit accruing to debtors after last year's Supreme Court decision on state sovereign immunity may have been effectively eliminated by a recent circuit court decision. Third, student loan creditors endeavored to eviscerate the last remnants of the undue hardship discharge by invoking the availability of the income contingent repayment plan.

This Article addresses these and other recent developments in bankruptcy law. Where applicable, the Article also points out changes resulting from the recent enactment of bankruptcy reform.