Some Reflections on Bankruptcy

Congress is considering a bill to amend the 1978 Bankruptcy Code. According to Professor Frank R. Kennedy's historical view of bankruptcy, this reform effort is about 20 years too early, "Curiously, major overhauls have come at 40-year intervals - in 1898, 1938, and 1978," he says. Here, Kennedy shares an insider's view of the 1978 reform and the development of the bankruptcy bar and bench before and since. This article is adapted from a speech he gave at the American College of Bankruptcy induction ceremony at the U.S. Supreme Court in 1991.