Introduction to the Fifth Edition

• Jurisdiction: United States

Introduction to the Fifth Edition

This book is dedicated to our wives, Jamie Guin Bernstein and Donna C. Looper. MLB GWK

Jack Ayer, a law professor and former bankruptcy lawyer and judge, and Mike Bernstein, the chair of Arnold & Porter LLP's bankruptcy and corporate restructuring practice, wrote the first edition of this book in 2002. Our goal was to combine the ability of a gifted teacher to explain complex material in an understandable way with the real-world experience of a practicing bankruptcy lawyer. We sought, as we said in the introduction to the First Edition, "to marry the classroom with the courtroom: to offer a framework for understanding bankruptcy law, along with equipment with which to face the stern practical necessities of the day." Our primary target audience was the new or non-specialist lawyer who needs a jumpstart in understanding the practice of bankruptcy law. We were pleasantly surprised when the book became popular not only among lawyers, but also with accountants, bankers and restructuring professionals, as well as with law and business professors and students. As the law changed, but the demand for a practical introductory text continued, we wrote several updated editions of this book.

This year, we found that the law, and...