Call for Papers "Real Estate Transactions in Troubled Times"

The American Association of Law Schools is having its 2009 Annual Meeting in January in San Diego. The section on Creditors' and Debtors' Rights and the section on Real Estate Transactions are planning a three-hour extended program on Real Estate Transactions in Troubled Times. The speakers will be selected by a submission of papers, which are due April 10, 2008, and can include early works in progress. Practitioners are eligible to submit papers for consideration, as are adjunct professors or professors in other fields (although the bulk of presenters will be law professors). The entire call for papers is after the jump.

Call for Papers—Real Estate Transactions in Troubled Times

Joint Extended Program of the AALS Section on Real Estate Transactions and the AALS Section on Creditors’ and Debtors’ Rights

The Section on Real Estate Transactions and the Section on Creditors’ and Debtors’ Rights have proposed a three-hour extended program on “Real Estate Transactions in Troubled Times” at the AALS annual meeting in San Diego on Saturday, January 10, 2009. See the program description below. We are seeking six speakers for this program, with selection to be based on submission of papers. We are looking for a range of approaches and subjects within the topic. The papers may be in any stage of development, from near final to early works in progress (the minimum is a three-page description of the topic and thesis). The degree of completion may be taken into account in selection. We do not plan a law review symposium around the papers, so you are free to submit your papers to any publication. The deadline for paper submission is April 10, 2008, and selections of speakers will be made by April 24. Commentators will also be included in the program. Please submit your paper by e-mail to Jean Braucher at the University of Arizona College of Law. The selection committee members are Professors Daniel B. Bogart of Chapman University, Jean Braucher of the University of Arizona, R. Wilson Freyermuth of the University of Missouri-Columbia, and Katherine Porter of the University of Iowa. As is always the case with AALS annual meeting programs, presenters must pay their own travel and accommodation expenses, typically with the support of their home institutions.

Real Estate Transactions in Troubled Times—Program Description

The national mortgage meltdown and general recessionary pressures have changed the dynamics between buyers and sellers, borrowers and lenders, landlords and tenants, and others involved in real estate transactions. This program will examine recent developments in both home and commercial real estate transactions. Although much of the focus to date has been placed on residential mortgages, uncertainties in the market also significantly affect commercial real estate transactions. For example, commercial property is often now securitized, just as home mortgages are. When securitized transactions go into default, how can workouts be arranged? To what extent are statutory changes needed, such as reinstatement and redemption rights, anti-deficiency protection and modification under the Bankruptcy Code?  How can foreclosed properties quickly be recycled to productive uses? During difficult financial periods, real estate lawyers and debtor-creditor lawyers often find themselves plowing the same fields, with insolvency and bankruptcy planning important to each.