Municipalities in fiscal distress may seek to adjust debts under Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code either because they are truly destitute or because they lack the political will to adopt affordable tax increases. Local officials of municipalities that enter bankruptcy proceedings nevertheless...

Recent state legislative enactments that preempt local legislation also include novel provisions that impose significant penalties on municipalities or individuals who challenge the state's action. These penalties include loss of funding or loss of office for localities or officials who assert a...

Courts in municipal bankruptcy cases have confronted the inherent vagueness in the statutory tests for municipal “insolvency” by embracing a test of “service delivery insolvency.” That test is typically evaluated in terms of a significant reduction in the availability of city services....

States have traditionally offered support to their fiscally distressed municipalities. When less intrusive forms of assistance fail to bring stability, some states employ supervisory institutions that exercise approval authority over local budgets or, more intrusively, that displace locally...

It is generally understood that the CISG is to be interpreted “autonomously” rather than through the lens of domestic law. Autonomous interpretation is required by the mandate of Article 7(1) that tribunals have regard for uniformity in the CISG’s application. There is, however,...

In numerous cases, courts have declined to apply the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods in litigation where the parties have pleaded domestic law, notwithstanding that the underlying contract satisfies criteria necessary for the CISG to serve as governing...