AMICUS BRIEFS
Commercial Law League of America
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AMICUS BRIEFS
Commercial Law League of America
Find A CLLA Attorney
Find A CLLA Certified Agency
Find A CLLA Agency
Find A CLLA Professional
Amicus Curiae Policy and Formal Procedures
Amicus Curiae—CLLA’s role as Friend of the Court
The Commercial Law League of America (“CLLA”), founded in 1895, is the nation’s oldest organization of attorneys and other experts in credit and finance actively engaged in the fields of commercial law, bankruptcy, and reorganization. The CLLA has long been associated with the representation of creditor interests while seeking fair, equitable, and efficient treatment of all parties involved in the process of debt collection and judgment enforcement. CLLA members can be found in every state across America and many foreign countries. The CLLA regularly submits policy papers to Congress and CLLA members have testified on numerous occasions before Congress as experts in fields related to creditor interests, and, further, will seek to intervene as amicus curiae (Friend of the Court) in important pending appellate decisions is to ensure that the court or tribunal is fully informed about the relevant issues that may impact the law.
Unlike the parties in litigations, who typically focus on the specific facts of a case and argue for a particular outcome, CLLA plays a neutral role, addressing only the legal issues. The amicus curiae mechanism can offer courts and other tribunals the benefit of CLLA’s independent perspective and its deep knowledge and experience about the laws and legal issues arising in the fields of commercial law, bankruptcy, and reorganization. CLLA’s involvement in these cases can strengthen legal discussions on such matters and improve decision-making in complex matters of public interest.
CLLA’s submissions in such cases are prepared by the CLLA’s Government Affairs Committee, known as the “Amicus Subcommittee.”
CLLA Amicus Briefs
2023
September 27, 2023
23-124 Amicus Brief (Download)
Commercial Law League of America and the Venue Reform Group Files Amicus Brief in Purdue Pharma Supreme Court Bankruptcy Appeal, Advocating for Venue Reform
Throughout its 129 years of existence, the Commercial Law League of America (CLLA) has consistently promoted and supported the fair, equitable, and efficient administration of collection and bankruptcy laws for all parties-in-interest, which includes advocating for bankruptcy venue reform. On September 27, 2023, the CLLA, along with the National Bankruptcy Venue Reform Committee, filed an Amicus Brief with the Supreme Court of the United States in the appeal of the Purdue Pharma case in which the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the use of non-consensual third-party releases. Although the CLLA did not take a position with regard to the main issue for the Supreme Court to determine, which is whether non-consensual third-party releases can be approved as part of a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization, the CLLA advocated for venue reform, noting how the Purdue case itself had been shopped and the systemic dangers of forum shopping in Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.
The CLLA noted that H.R. 1017, presently pending in the House of Representatives, would require that companies file for bankruptcy in the jurisdiction where their principal place of business or principal assets are located. In supporting that bill, the CLLA noted in the Amicus Brief that “While the issue before the Court is not about venue shopping, it is part of the fabric of how this case came to be before the Court. The Court should ensure that its ruling on the issue before the Court—nonconsensual third-party releases—does not further exacerbate the deleterious use of venue shopping in bankruptcy cases”. The Amicus Brief can be found here: DOWNLOAD PDF
2021
Recommendation to the CLLA Board of Governors, Government Affairs Committee, and Executive Vice President:
The Amicus Subcommittee reviewed this request and it appears that the dispositive issue presented by the trial court’s ruling in the special administrative proceeding is primarily an evidentiary issue, rather than an application of a legal standard or administrative regulation in an overly burdensome, unfair, inappropriate, improper, or illegal manner. Moreover, the debts and obligations were being enforced in the New York state trial courts by the collection agencies and their attorneys in a manner that was found to be abusive. On that basis, the ruling does not impinge upon the collective interests of the CLLA membership in safeguarding the fair regulation and operation of the commercial debt collection profession.
It is therefore the position of the Amicus Subcommittee not to recommend CLLA involvement as amicus curie (Friend of the Court). DOWNLOAD PDF
2020
November 16, 2020
20-457 Amicus Brief (Download)
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT
11 U.S.C. §523(a)(6) excepts from discharge in bankruptcy “any debt … for willful and malicious injury by the debtor to another entity or to the property of another entity.” In Kawaauhu v. Geiger, 523 U.S. 57, (1998), this Court held that the “willful and malicious injury” exception applies only to “acts done with the actual intent to cause injury.” Id. at 61. There is now a split in eleven Circuit Courts of Appeal in applying this holding to subsequent cases, resulting in a lack of uniformity in the application of law, with the result that the outcome of such cases can depend entirely upon the circuit in which the underlying bankruptcy case was filed. READ MORE
CLLA Amicus Briefs
2023
September 27, 2023
23-124 Amicus Brief (Download)
Commercial Law League of America and the Venue Reform Group Files Amicus Brief in Purdue Pharma Supreme Court Bankruptcy Appeal, Advocating for Venue Reform
Throughout its 129 years of existence, the Commercial Law League of America (CLLA) has consistently promoted and supported the fair, equitable, and efficient administration of collection and bankruptcy laws for all parties-in-interest, which includes advocating for bankruptcy venue reform. On September 27, 2023, the CLLA, along with the National Bankruptcy Venue Reform Committee, filed an Amicus Brief with the Supreme Court of the United States in the appeal of the Purdue Pharma case in which the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the use of non-consensual third-party releases. Although the CLLA did not take a position with regard to the main issue for the Supreme Court to determine, which is whether non-consensual third-party releases can be approved as part of a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization, the CLLA advocated for venue reform, noting how the Purdue case itself had been shopped and the systemic dangers of forum shopping in Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.
The CLLA noted that H.R. 1017, presently pending in the House of Representatives, would require that companies file for bankruptcy in the jurisdiction where their principal place of business or principal assets are located. In supporting that bill, the CLLA noted in the Amicus Brief that “While the issue before the Court is not about venue shopping, it is part of the fabric of how this case came to be before the Court. The Court should ensure that its ruling on the issue before the Court—nonconsensual third-party releases—does not further exacerbate the deleterious use of venue shopping in bankruptcy cases”. The Amicus Brief can be found here: DOWNLOAD PDF
2021
Recommendation to the CLLA Board of Governors, Government Affairs Committee, and Executive Vice President:
The Amicus Subcommittee reviewed this request and it appears that the dispositive issue presented by the trial court’s ruling in the special administrative proceeding is primarily an evidentiary issue, rather than an application of a legal standard or administrative regulation in an overly burdensome, unfair, inappropriate, improper, or illegal manner. Moreover, the debts and obligations were being enforced in the New York state trial courts by the collection agencies and their attorneys in a manner that was found to be abusive. On that basis, the ruling does not impinge upon the collective interests of the CLLA membership in safeguarding the fair regulation and operation of the commercial debt collection profession.
It is therefore the position of the Amicus Subcommittee not to recommend CLLA involvement as amicus curie (Friend of the Court). DOWNLOAD PDF
2020
November 16, 2020
20-457 Amicus Brief (Download)
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT
11 U.S.C. §523(a)(6) excepts from discharge in bankruptcy “any debt … for willful and malicious injury by the debtor to another entity or to the property of another entity.” In Kawaauhu v. Geiger, 523 U.S. 57, (1998), this Court held that the “willful and malicious injury” exception applies only to “acts done with the actual intent to cause injury.” Id. at 61. There is now a split in eleven Circuit Courts of Appeal in applying this holding to subsequent cases, resulting in a lack of uniformity in the application of law, with the result that the outcome of such cases can depend entirely upon the circuit in which the underlying bankruptcy case was filed. READ MORE
