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Faculty News

Scarberry and Nelson Quoted in Wall Street Journal and LA Times

Professor Mark Scarberry, whose major academic interest is bankruptcy law, lent his expertise to the Wall Street Journal for an article on a new high for bankruptcy filings published on August 13. The article reported that July had the highest number of bankruptcy filings since the number went down off three years ago after new bankruptcy laws took effect. Read the article here (subscription required).

Scarberry's expertise includes both business and consumer bankruptcy. His scholarship includes the book Business Reorganization in Bankruptcy: Cases and Materials (now in its third edition) and a recent law review article for the ABI Law Review on the Supreme Court's decision in Travelers Casualty and Insurance of America v. Pacific Gas and Electric.

On Friday, August 15, the LA Times quoted Pepperdine Real Estate scholar Grant Nelson, the William H. Rehnquist Professor of Law, on a difference real estate issue. The article discussed how Rep. Laura Richardson's Sacramento home was declared a "public nuisance" after she defaulted on her loan, an investor bought the home, and Washington Mutual filed a letter of recision of the sale.

According to the Times, experts said such a move after the deed was recorded was almost unheard of. "It seems to me it has nothing to do with the law, but it has to do with [Washington Mutual] trying to be deferential to a congresswoman," said Nelson. Read the article here.