Online International Bankruptcy Course

My friend, Professor David Epstein at Southern Methodist University, was telling me about an innovative course in International Bankruptcy. The course is offered at NYU, but through distance learning technology, law students at other schools can participate. I asked David if he would write up a few paragraphs about his experience with the course that I could share with Credit Slips readers. Here is what David wrote back.

I have often thought that students who are considering a transaction practice would benefit from a course in International Bankruptcy. The problem always has been that very few law schools have faculty members (or adjuncts) willing and/or prepared to teach such a course. I have been working with the American College of Bankruptcy (ACB) to address this need.

Thanks to the support of the ACB and the help of Kaplan Educational Corp. and Thomson/West, we are offering a two-credit course in International Bankruptcy for students at NYU, Tulane, and Utah this semester. Most of the teaching is done by four American lawyers – Don Bernstein, Richard Broude, Dan Glosband, and Lewis Kruger. With the ACB's financial help, they have been joined not only by New York bankruptcy judges but also by judges, lawyers, and professors from around the world. The syllabus includes not only Chapter 15 but also topics such as use of Chapter 11 by foreign nationals, a comparison of bankruptcy administration in the United States and other countries, and sovereign debt.

With Kaplan providing and supporting the technology, our faculty has done a great job of delivering the course content. While I have been somewhat less stellar in the role of "course administrator," I think I have learned from my mistakes. We're looking to expand the number of participating law schools.

If bankruptcy professors at other schools want to talk about how to make International Bankruptcy available to their students in the spring of 2009, please contact me.

Knowing David, I am sure his course administrator role has been stellar. Thanks for sharing the information, David.