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.

I am a co-investigator on the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, the only long-term research project the regularly collects data about the people who file bankruptcy. Data from this project serve as the basis of my co-authored book, with my fantastic research collaborators Robert M. Lawless and Deborah Thorne, Debt’s Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy, University of California Press (August 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, the leading textbook on the secured lending, 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 have provided expert media commentary for many publications. You can find details of these talks and commentary under Media + Talks. If you are media, I am delighted to talk with you, schedule permitting. You can find contact info under Contact Me.

I am elected to the American Law Institute and a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. I am a co-organizer of the Law & Society Association’s Household Finance Collaborative Research Network and have served as the chair of several Association of American Law Schools sections. I am active in the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI). In 2019, the ABI named me a “40 Under 40” Emerging Leader in Insolvency Practice.