About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

42 Emory L. J. 897 (1993)
Contribution Arguments in Commercial Law

handle is hein.journals/emlj42 and id is 907 raw text is: EMORY LAW JOURNAL Volume 42 FALL 1993 Number 4 ARTICLES CONTRIBUTION ARGUMENTS IN COMMERCIAL LAW Steven Walt* Emily L. Sherwin** Allocative decisions are the stuff of commercial law. This Article is con- cerned with the branch of commercial law that governs the rights of com- peting creditors, and specifically with priority claims to particular assets of a debtor. In this area, the function of legal rules might be characterized as an allocation of gains, insofar as the object is to divide a pool of assets among creditors. In another sense, priority rules are rules for allocation of losses resulting from a debtor's default. Taking the initial credit transac- tion as a baseline, each creditor expects to be paid in full. When the debtor's assets fall short of the sum of his or her obligations, priority rules come into play to allocate the shortfall, positioning creditors at varying points along the range from no loss to loss of the full amount of their claims. Accordingly, priority rules serve a loss allocation function within a larger body of commercial rules that allocate, or enable the parties to allo- cate, both expected gains from exchange and potential losses. * Professor of Law, University of Virginia. ** Professor of Law, University of San Diego. We thank Kenneth Abraham, Larry Alexander, Clayton Gillette, Michael Kelly, Jody Kraus, Saul Levmore, John McCoid, Maimon Schwarzschild, Robert Scott, Paul Stephan, and Christopher Won- nell for helpful discussion or comments on previous drafts of this Article. The usual disclaimer applies.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most