(November 16, 2009, Weil Gotshal News)
On October 22, Business Finance and Restructuring partner Harvey Miller testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law. He spoke as part of oversight hearings on the role of bankruptcy law and bankruptcy courts in the current financial crisis.
Miller, making reference to his experiences with the
chaos of the previously unimaginable Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, stressed the need for more options in the legal system: "there should be as many options available to the government as necessary to avoid the failure of a systematically important institution such as a Lehman." He continued, urging that "flexibility to deal with distressed institutions with potentially systemic consequences should be effectuated to the maximum extent possible."
Miller concluded, "we are fortunate to have developed a body of laws dealing with the consequences of failure. We should rely upon this foundation and continue to build upon it, rather than hastily construct a framework that will remain untested and appear foreign to us when the next crisis occurs."
The full transcript of his presentation is available
here.