George W. Kuney

Associate Professor of Law and
Director of the Clayton Center for Entrepreneurial Law
B.A., 1986, University of California, Santa Cruz
J.D., 1989, University of California, Hastings College of the Law
M.B.A., 1997, University of San Diego

Contracts I, Contracts II, Contract Drafting, Debtor-Creditor, Property, Representing Enterprises, and Workouts & Reorganizations

gkuney@utk.edu

Professor Kuney's administrative assistant is Sophia Dardy and she can be reached at sdardy@utk.edu. Professor Kuney does not schedule regular office hours for students; instead, please schedule an appointment with him through Ms. Dardy. Drop-ins are also more than welcome as time permits.

Professor Kuney was born and raised in San Francisco and was a partner in the San Diego office of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble & Mallory LLP where he concentrated his practice on insolvency and reorganization matters nationwide.  Prior to that he received his legal training with Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Robertson & Falk LLP and Morrison & Foerster LLP.  

Professor Kuney's expertise and scholarly interests relate to business transactions and litigation with an emphasis on acquisitions, recapitalizations, reorganizations and financing. He is a Research Fellow of the Center for Corporate Governance, a multi-disciplinary research center of the University of Tennessee.  He is also an Editor Emeritus of the California Bankruptcy Journal and the Business Law News and is currently the editorial advisor to Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law.  

In addition to his other activities, professor Kuney consults for outside clients on matters related to business law, contracts, Chapter 11, and insolvency. One of his current passions is exploring and advocating the limitations of bankruptcy law as a device to affect non-debtor rights and duties that could not be affected under otherwise applicable non-bankruptcy law. He conducts transactional training seminars and clinics for law students, lawyers, and law firms across the country.

Professor Kuney lives in the Ft. Sanders neighborhood of Knoxville with his wife, Donna C. Looper, also an attorney and an Adjunct Professor at the College of Law.  His interests include architecture, entrepreneurship, history, real estate development, land use, carpentry, hiking, and Lady Vols basketball.

For a copy of the Code of Academic Conduct Certification form to be used when submitting any non-exam written work product to Professor Kuney for academic credit, click here. For a copy of the directed research and independent study forms to use when working with Prof. Kuney for credit, click here.

For a copy of the full priority ladder for unsecured claims that is established by various sections of the Bankruptcy Code, click here.

Publications

Books & Chapters:

Franchise Law & Regulation: Transactions and Litigation (publication planned 2009).

Lead Editor, Zoning and Land Use Regulation in Tennessee (publication planned 2008).

Mastering Intellectual Property Law (publication planned Carolina Academic Press 2008).

Mastering Bankruptcy Law (publication planned Carolina Academic Press 2008).

Contributing Editor, Norton Bankruptcy Practice and Proceedings, Chapters 28 (Meeting of Creditors -- Section 341), 29 (Notice -- Section 342), and 30 (Examination of Debtors -- Sections 343/344)(publication planned West 2007).

Author, Bamboozled: An EntrepreneuriaL Journey from Business Success to Legal Failure (publication planned 2007).

Co-Author, Legal Drafting: Practical Exercises and Problem Materials (publication pending, West 2007, with Thomas R. Haggard).

Co-Author, Legal Drafting in a Nutshell 3rd edition (publication pending, West 2007, with Thomas R. Haggard).

Co-author, Chapter 11-101: The Essentials of Chapter 11 Practice (ABI 2007, with Jonathan P. Friedland, Michael L. Bernstein, and Professor John D. Ayer). Click here for the Chapter 11 Lifecycle chart. Click here to access the ongoing collection of research on actual Chapter 11 cases conducted by students in the Workouts & Reorganizations seminar at the UT College of Law.

Author, The Elements of Contract Drafting with Questions and Clauses for Consideration, 2nd edition (text and teachers manual, West 2007).

Author, California Law of Contracts (University of California CEB Treatise 2007).

Co-author, Contracts: Transactions and Litigation (text and teachers manual, Thompson/West 2006).

Author, All I Ever Needed to Know about Enron I Learned in Kindergarten (and Graduate School), Enron: Corporate Fiascos & Legal Implications (Foundation Press 2004).

Author, The Elements of Contract Drafting with Questions and Clauses for Consideration (text and teachers manual, West 2003).

Academic consultant and reviewer, Personal and Small Business Bankruptcy Practice in California (CEB 2003).

Articles:

Divestiture by Appeal and Equitable Mootness, Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (publication planned West 2007).

Chapter 11 - 201: the Intersection of Chapter 11 and UCC Article 9, XXV Am. Bankr Inst. J. (July 2006). You may view the article in PDF format here.

A Taxonomy and Evaluation of Successor Liability, 3 Fla. St. U. Bus. Rev. 1 (2006). The state-by-state appendix to Taxonomy may be accessed by clicking here. It is updated annually.

Best Efforts and Reasonable Efforts Clauses: Couldn't You Try Just a Little Bit Harder, 21 Cal. Bus. L. Pract. 64 (2006). You may view the article in PDF format here.

Jerry Phillips' Product Line Continuity & Successor Corporation Liability: Where Are We Twenty Years Later?, 72 Tenn. L. Rev. 777 (2005). You may view the article in PDF format here.

Where we are and where we think we are: An Empirical Examination of Bankruptcy Precedent, 28 Cal. BankR. L.J. 71 (2005). You may view the article in PDF format here.

Successor Liability in California, 20 CEB Cal. Bus. L. Pract. 50 (2005)(co-authored with Donna C. Looper). You may view the article in PDF format here.

Hijacking Chapter 11, 21 Emory Bank. Dev. J. 1 (2005).

Boards Must Reduce Their Exposure to Creditor Suits, San Francisco Daily Journal (May 7, 2004) (co-author).

Let's Make It Official: Adding an Explicit Pre-Plan Sale Process as an Alternative Exit from Chapter 11, 40 Houston L. Rev. 1265 (2004). You may view the article in PDF format here.

Bankruptcy Law and Recovery of Tort Damages, 71 Tenn. L. Rev. 81 (2003). You may view the article in PDF format here.

Selling a Business in Bankruptcy Court Without a Plan of Reorganization, 18 CEB Cal. Bus. L. Pract. 57 (Summer 2003). You may view the article in PDF format here.

Further Misinterpretation of Bankruptcy Code § 363(f): Elevating In Rem Interests and Promoting the Use of Property Law to Bankruptcy-Proof Real Estate Developments, 76 Am. Bankr. L.J. 288 (2003) ("Misinterpretations II"). To view the REAs discussed in Misinterpretations II, click here. To view Richard White's detailed analysis of the Alladin REA discussed in Misinterpretations II click here.

Misinterpreting Bankruptcy Code § 363(f) and Undermining the Chapter 11 Process, 76 Am. Bankr. L.J. 235 (2002)("Misinterpretations I"). You may view the article in PDF format here.

The Fiduciary Duties of Officers and Directors of Insolvent Corporations, 17 CEB Cal. Bus. L. Pract. 73 (Summer 2002). You may view the article in PDF format here.

Co-author, Single Asset Real Estate Under 11 U.S.C. § 362(d)(3): A Narrower Contruction Than You Might Expect, 26 Cal. Bankr. J. 130 (2002).

Intellectual Property Licenses in Bankruptcy, 16 CEB Cal. Bus. L. Pract. 33 (Spring 2001). You may view the article in PDF format here.

Qualified Settlement Funds: A Tool to Shelter Gains and Taxable Income with Payments on Account of Disputed Claims, 24 Calif. Bankr. J. 137 (1999).

Co-author, The Allowed Secured Claim: Accounting for Payment of Net Rents, 23 Cal. Bankr. J. 111 (1996).

11 U.S.C. Sections 1125(a) and 1145: Going Public Via Chapter 11, 23 Cal. Bankr. J. 3 (1996).

Financial Reporting By Chapter 11 Debtors: A Limited Critique of SOP 90-7, 5 J. Bankr. L. and Prac. 311 (1996).

New Value Questions Remain, Whatever the Decision in Bonner Mall, 112 Bankr. L. J. 383 (1995).

Claims for Attorney's Fees Under the Bankruptcy Code, 4 J. Bankr. L. and Prac. 203 (1995).

Interest on Nothing?, 9 Comm. L. Bull. 30 (1994).

Selected Professional Presentations and Service

"Recent Developments in State Law Issues Affecting Commercial Transactions that Every Bankruptcy Lawyer Ought to Know," Mid-South Commercial Law Institute, Nashville, Tenn., November 16, 2006.

"Bankruptcy Proofing Techniques: Substantive Consolidation Opinions and Bankruptcy Remote Entities," Mid-South Commercial Law Institute, Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 17, 2006.

"Contract Law and Teaching: Transactions and Litigation," panelist, SEALS, July 21, 2006.

Author, "Contract Drafting Workshop," Written Materials (TBA Four City Presentation, June 7, 2006).

Author and Publisher of "Living Off Campus: A Quick Guide to Town Living for University of Tennessee Students" (1st edition 2005, 2nd Edition 2006).

"The Nuts and Bolts of Contract Drafting," workshop speaker and "Drafting Rules, Adding Value to the Deal, and Ethical Issues in Contract Drafting," speaker, Teaching Contract Drafting Conference, Northwestern University School of Law, July 20-21, 2005.

"Putting 'Business' Back Into the Education of Business Lawyers," panelist, American Bar Association, Business Law Section Spring Meeting, Nashville, Tenn., March 31, 2005.

"U.S.C. Section 363(f): What Can You Sell Free and Clear Of?," panelist, American Bar Association, Business Law Section Spring meeting, Nashville, Tennessee, March 31, 2005.

"Collaboration," panelist, Pedagogy to Practice: Maximizing Legal Education with Technology Conference, American Bar Association, Newark, NJ, October 15, 2004.

"Teaching Contract Drafting: The Whereases and Wherefores," presenter, Legal Writing Institute, annual conference, Seattle, Wash., July 23, 2004.

"Ethical Considerations in the Formation and Representation of Entities," panelist, Partnerships, LLCs and LLPs: Organization and Operation in Tennessee, October 8, 2005.

"The Intersection of Law and Business," panelist, Southeastern Association of Law Schools Annual Meeting, August 1, 2004.

"Ethical Considerations in the Formation and Representation of Entities," Panelist, Partnerships, LLCs, and LLPs: Organization and Operation in Tennessee, October 9, 2003, Knoxville, Tennessee.

"Bankruptcy and the Tort Lawyer: What You Need to Know," Damages in Tort Law Symposium speaker, University of Tennessee College of Law, April 3, 2003.

"Contract Drafting: Fundamentals, Plain English & Papering the Deal," United States Department of Energy BWXT Y-12, LLC, December 4, 2002.

"Teaching Entrepreneurship," Panelist, Southeastern Conference AALS Annual Meeting, July-August 2002.

"Combining Academic and Practical Training Through an Entrepreneurship Program," Kaufman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, April 2002.

"Legal Issues, Problems and Guidelines for Small Businesses: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You!," coordinator and designer of curriculum and visual aids, co-sponsored by the Knoxville Bar Association, Clayton Center for Entrepreneurial Law, the Pellissippi State Small Business Development Center, and the Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership, October 2001 and March 2002.

"Doing Business on the Internet," panelist, sponsored by the Business Law Section of the State Bar of California, June 1998.

"Attorney vs. Client: Working Toward Better Client Relations," panelist, sponsored by the Business Law Section of the State Bar of California, June 1996.

Selected Achievements and Affiliations

Harold C. Warner Outstanding Teacher Award, 2005.

Carden Award for Outstanding Service to the Institution, 2004.

W. Allen Separk Faculty Scholarship Award, 2003.

Research Fellow, Center for Corporate Governance, The University of Tennessee.

Member, American Bankruptcy Institute.

Member, American Bar Association.

California Bankruptcy Forum; California Bankruptcy Journal, Editor Emeritus, Editor in Chief (1999-2003), Managing Editor (1997-1998), Contributing Editor (1996).

January 19, 2007