Samir Parikh

Samir Parikh

Professor of Law

Professor Parikh's research and writing focus on a variety of business law and bankruptcy issues, including mass tort restructurings, fraudulent transfer law, forum shopping, and municipal distress.

Professor Parikh is a nationally recognized expert on mass tort restructurings and business reorganizations. Cornell Law Review recently selected him as a co-organizer for its 2024 symposium, "Mass Torts Inferno: New Battle Lines in the Resolution Debate." He has also served as a co-organizer for symposia hosted by the University of Pennsylvania Law Review and Fordham Law Review.

His scholarship has been published in leading law reviews, including the Yale Law Journal Forum, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Northwestern University Law Review, Cornell Law Review, Duke Law Journal Online, and Fordham Law Review.

In 2022, Professor Parikh was invited to join both the American Law Institute and the American College of Bankruptcy. He is one of fewer than 15 individuals to be admitted to both organizations.

On September 19, 2023, Professor Parikh testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the hearing topic, "Evading Accountability: Corporate Manipulation of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy." Further, On February 8, 2022, Professor Parikh was invited to testify before the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights. He provided a Written Congressional Statement on the hearing topic, "Corporate Efforts to Side-Step Accountability Through Bankruptcy." He frequently provides expert commentary for national media, including The Wall Street Journal, 60 Minutes (on background), The New York Times, Bloomberg News, NBC News, Law360, The Financial Times, and The Deal.

Professor Parikh's 2020 article, Bankruptcy Tourism and the European Union's Corporate Restructuring Quandary: The Cathedral in Another Light, was published in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law and is the culmination of his work as a Fulbright Schuman Scholar at Oxford University. The article was one of eight articles selected to be part of the Oxford Business Law Workshop Series (Trinity Term).

Professor Parikh is the Editor-in-Chief and an original contributing author for Bloomberg Law Bankruptcy Treatise.

Background:

Before entering legal academia, Professor Parikh practiced complex financial restructuring at Latham & Watkins and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy in Los Angeles, California and Baker Botts in Houston, Texas. While in private practice, Professor Parikh's representations included the following engagements:

• In re Lehman Brothers Holdings (counsel to official committee of unsecured creditors)
• In re Aloha Airlines (counsel to acquirer of assets)
• In re Station Casinos (counsel to debtors)
• In re Adelphia Communications Corp. (counsel to financial advisor) Virgin Airlines (bankruptcy advisor)
• In re Kmart (counsel to primary landlord)

Professor Parikh holds a JD from the University of Michigan Law School. After graduation, he was a law clerk for the Honorable Alan M. Ahart of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California.

Expert Witness Engagements:

Professor Parikh served as an expert witness and consultant in numerous cases, including:

• In re Diocese of Rochester (bankruptcy expert)
• HotChalk v. Concordia University (expert for plaintiffs regarding fraudulent transfer law)
• Turnage et al. v. Mississippi Power Company (expert for plaintiffs regarding various business law matters, including civil RICO claims)
• In re NexxLinx (expert for defendant regarding fiduciary duties and related business law matters)
• Bloodworth v. Tyfone (expert for plaintiff regarding fiduciary duties and fraudulent transfer law; testified in court)
• Htaike v. Sein (expert for plaintiff regarding various business law matters, including civil RICO claims)
• Guire v. Humphries (expert for debtor regarding various bankruptcy issues and attorney malpractice)
• McKay v. Humphries (expert for debtor regarding attorney malpractice claim)
• Advisor to Association of Oregon Counties regarding municipal bankruptcy legislation
• Advisor to Bankruptcy Venue Reform PAC regarding federal legislation
• Advisor to foreign government regarding comprehensive revision of local bankruptcy laws.

Education

JD, University of Michigan, 2001
BBA, University of Miami, 1997

Download Curriculum Vitae

Courses

LAW 130 Contracts

LAW 515 Corporate Bankruptcy: Financial Restructuring and Mass Torts

LAW 629 Epic Corporate Scandals

Publications

Books

Examples & Explanations for Bankruptcy and Debtor/Creditor, Seventh Edition (2018) (with Brian Blum).
Bloomberg Law Bankruptcy Treatise (2018).

Articles

The Alchemist's Inversion, (forthcoming 2025).
Mass Tort Trusts (D)evolve, 110 Cornell Law Review (forthcoming 2025).
Opaque Capital and Mass-Tort Financing, 133 Yale Law Journal Forum 32 (2023).
Financial Disequilibrium, 171 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1925 (2023).
Creditors Strike Back: The Return of the Cooperation Agreement, 73 Duke Law Journal Online 1-33 (2023).
Scarlet-Lettered Bankruptcy: A Public Benefit Proposal for Mass Tort Villains, 117 Northwestern University Law Review 425 (2022).
Mass Exploitation, 170 U. Pa. L. Rev. Online 53 (2022).
Due Process Alignment in Mass Restructurings, 91 Fordham Law Review 325 (2022).
The New Mass Torts Bargain, 91 Fordham Law Review 447 (2022).
Bankruptcy Tourism and the European Union's Corporate Restructuring Quandary: The Cathedral in Another Light, 42 U. Pa. J. Int'l L. 205 (2020).
Failing Cities and the Red Queen Phenomenon, 58 Boston College Law Review 599 (2017).
A New Fulcrum Point for City Survival, 57 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 221 (2015).
Exploring the Chapter 9 Option for Oregon's Municipalities, 58 Willamette Law Review 619 (2014).
Modern Forum Shopping In Bankruptcy, 46 Connecticut Law Review 159 (2013).
Saving Fraudulent Transfer Law, 86 The American Bankruptcy Law Journal 305 (2012).
The Improper Application of the Clear and Convincing Standard of Proof: Are Bankruptcy Courts Distorting Accepted Risk Allocation Schemes?, 78 University of Cincinnati Law Review 271 (2011).

Other

3rd-Party Financiers Have Power to Drive Mass Tort Cases, Opinion Piece, Law360 (February 8, 2024).
The Day-In-Court Ideal is Distracting from Victim Recovery, Opinion Piece, Law360 (March 16, 2023).
Why Bidding Format Can Be a Problem in Section 363 Sales, Opinion Piece, Law360 (January 4, 2023).
Bankruptcy is the Optimal Venue for Mass Tort Cases, Opinion Piece, Law360 (February 28, 2022).
Mass Tort Defendants Exploit Bankruptcy Rules to Avoid MDL, Opinion Piece, Law360 (April 14, 2021).

Professor of Law

Education

Courses

Publications

Contact Information

Samir Parikh