Down and Out in Richmond, Virginia: The Distribution of Assets in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Proceedings Closed During 1984-1987

An explosion of interest in the practical workings and economic significance of the bankruptcy system has, in recent years, led to many efforts to study that system through data other than that contained in reported cases. In some key respects, the mere articulation and analysis of legal rules is no longer satisfactory. Indeed, it has been argued that such analysis is sometimes scarcely relevant. This article is intended to add a little more information to that already compiled regarding the actual nature and function of modern American bankruptcy law.

It further attempts to place this information into the context of the ongoing debate over the uses and purported abuses of that law.