I am a researcher and teacher of the laws about bankruptcy, business, debt, and credit, and how they affect people and communities. Most of my work involves empirical studies of bankruptcy and related parts of the legal system, combining quantitative and qualitative research.

I am a co-investigator on the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, a long-term research project studying persons who file bankruptcy. Data from this research project serve as the basis of my co-authored book Debt’s Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy, University of California Press (August 5, 2025). My work in business bankruptcy focuses on nonprofit entities. Data from this project are included in my in-progress book, Forgive Us Our Debts: How Black Churches Use Bankruptcy to Survive, forthcoming with the University of Chicago Press (fall 2026). You can find highlights of my work under RESEARCH.

I also am a co-author for Secured Transactions: A Systems Approach, a leading textbook on the topic, and for Commercial Transactions: A Systems Approach.

During my time as a law professor, I have spoken with thousands of other professors, students, practicing attorneys, and judges about bankruptcy and related laws. I also have provided expert media commentary for many publications. I have been elected to the American Law Institute and the American College of Bankruptcy. I am a co-organizer of the Law & Society Association’s Household Finance Collaborative Research Network, served as the chair of several Association of American Law Schools sections, and served a three-year appointment on the editorial advisory board of the American Bankruptcy Law Journal. I am active in the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and have served as part of its Diversity Working Group since its formation. In 2019, the ABI named me a “40 Under 40” Emerging Leader in Insolvency Practice.

Current Employment

Allen Post Professor of Law, University of Georgia School of Law

Education

J.D., Harvard Law School

B.S., Economics & Finance, New York University, undergraduate Stern School of Business

Prior Employment

Professor of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University

Professor of Law / Associate Professor of Law, Indiana University Maurer School of Law

Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Illinois College of Law

Judicial law clerk, Honorable Thomas L. Ambro, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Judicial law clerk, Honorable Peter J. Walsh, United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware

Associate, Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring, Dorsey & Whitney LLP

(full CV)