Thomas E. Plank

Joel A. Katz Distinguished Professor of Law
A.B., 1968, Princeton University
J.D., 1974, University of Maryland

Debtor-Creditor, Commercial Law, Property, Representing Enterprises(Securitization), Comparative Business Transactions

tplank@tennessee.edu

Professor Plank joined the UT faculty in 1994 and became the Joel A. Katz Distinguished Professor of Law in 2004. His scholarly interests include the nature of property, the relationship between bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy law, and the historical development and comparison of commercial law and property law systems. He is a nationally recognized expert on mortgage backed and asset backed securities. Before joining the UT faculty, he was a partner with Kutak Rock LLP specializing in real estate finance, commercial finance, bankruptcy, and securities, in particular serving as issuer’s counsel and bankruptcy counsel in securitization transactions. Since joining the UT faculty he has served as a consultant and an expert witness on securitization and other bankruptcy and commercial law matters. Since 2001, he has been Of Counsel to McKee Nelson LLP, one of the nations’s leading securitization law firms, providing advice on bankruptcy, commercial law, and real estate issues in connection with securitizations and other transactions. During the 2002-2003 academic year, Professor Plank was a visiting Professor of Law at the Notre Dame Law School.

Professor Plank graduated with honors from Princeton University with a degree in history and a Certificate of Proficiency in Russian Area Studies and then served three years in the United States Marine Corps, including eight months in Vietnam as an infantry platoon commander. He graduated 5th in his class from the University of Maryland School of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Maryland Law Review. He was a law clerk for the Chief Judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals, an associate with Piper & Marbury in Baltimore, MD, and an assistant attorney general for the State of Maryland. Initially, his practice included a wide variety of transactions and litigation, including a four month trial on the constitutionality of the Maryland public school finance system and oral arguments in the United States Supreme Court and federal and state appellate courts. He then concentrated his practice in real estate, commercial finance, public finance and securities transactions.

Publications

Toward a More Efficient Bankruptcy Law: Mortgage Financing Under the 2005 Bankruptcy Amendments, 31 S. Ill. U. L.J. (forthcoming 2007) (part of the Symposium on Shredding the Safety Net: A Critical Examination of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005).

State Sovereignty in Bankruptcy after Katz, 15 Amer. Bankr. Inst. L. Rev. 59 (2007) (part of the Symposium on Federalism and Bankruptcy).

Assignment of Receivables Under Article 9: Structural Incoherence and Wasteful Filing, 68 Ohio St. L.J. 231-271 (2007) (part of symposium on Commercial Calamities).

The Key to Securitization: Isolating the Assets to Be Securitized from the Risk of An Insolvency Proceeding, in John Arnholz and Edward E. Gainor, eds., Offerings of Asset Backed Securities (2005, plus annual updates).

The Security of Securitization and the Future of Security, 25 Cardozo L. Rev. 1655-1741 (2004) (part of the Symposium on Threats to Secured Lending and Asset Securitization).

The Erie Doctrine and Bankruptcy, 79 Notre Dame L. Rev. 633-92 (2004), reprinted in 13 J. Bankr. L. & Prac. 55-113 (2004).

Bankruptcy and Federalism, 71 Fordham L. Rev. 1063-1131 (2002).

Bankruptcy Professionals, Debtor Dominance and the Future of Bankruptcy: A Review and a Rhapsody on a Theme, 18 Bankr. Dev. J. 337-71 (2002) (reviewing David A. Skeel, Jr., Debt Dominion: A History of Bankruptcy Law in America (2001)).

The Limited Security Interest in Non-Assignable Collateral Under Revised Article 9, 9 A.B.I. L. Rev. 323-49 (2001).

The Bankruptcy Trust as a Legal Person, 35 Wake Forest L. Rev. 251-293 (2000).

The Creditor in Possession Under the Bankruptcy Code: History, Text, and Policy, 59 Md. L. Rev. 253-351 (2000).

Why Bankruptcy Judges Need Not and Should Not Be Article III Judges, 72 Am. Bankr. L.J. 567-639 (1998).

The Outer Boundaries of the Bankruptcy Estate, 47 Emory L. J. 1193-1287 (1998).

The Essential Elements of Judicial Independence and the Experience of Pre-Soviet Russia, 5 Wm. & Mary Bill of Rights J. 1-74 (1996).

Peter M. Pantaleo, et. al, Rethinking the Role of Recourse in the Sale of Financial Assets, 52 Bus. Law. 159-98 (1996) (one of ten co-authors).

The Constitutional Limits of Bankruptcy, 63 Tenn. L. Rev. 487-584 (1996).

Sacred Cows and Workhorses: The Sale of Accounts and Chattel Paper Under Article 9 of the U.C.C. and the Effects of Violating a Fundamental Drafting Principle, 26 Conn. L. Rev. 397-520 (1994).

When a Sale of Accounts Is Not a Sale: A Critique of Octagon Gas, 48 Consumer Fin. L. Q. Rep. 45-53 (1994).

The True Sale of Loans and the Role of Recourse, 14 George Mason U. L. Rev. 287-359 (1991).

Achievements and Affiliations

2005 Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute Distinguished Visiting Professor at Georgia State University College of Law, two week long visits each semester that included presentations to and consultation with faculty and students on bankruptcy law and other matters.

The UT College of Law 2004 Marilyn V. Yarbrough Faculty Award for Writing Excellence.

The American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers 2002 Grant Gilmore Award for Writing Excellence on Commercial Finance Topics.

The UT College of Law 1999 Carden Award for Outstanding Achievement in Scholarship.

The UT College of Law 1999 Marilyn V. Yarbrough Faculty Award for Writing Excellence.

Member of the American Law Institute since 1993.
Member, Editorial Advisory Board, American Bankruptcy Law Journal (2005-2007).

Peer Reviewer, American Bankruptcy Law Journal since 2002.

Order of the Coif.

Professional Service

Expert witness, 2007, on use and characteristics of special purpose entities, Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. v. Tenaska, Inc. (D. Ct, Johnson Co., TX, 249 th Jud. D., No. C-2002-00267).

Expert witness, 2006-2007 on use and characteristics of special purpose entities, AEP Energy Services Gas Holding Co. v. Bank of America, N. A. (U.S. S. D. Tex., No. NO. H-03-4973).

Prevailing counsel in Lifewise Master Funding v. Telebank, 374 F.3d 917 (10th Cir. 2004), on the issue of the interpretation of a funding commitment in a securitization transaction.

Expert witness, February 2001 on the true sale of a trade receivables and the proper structuring of trade receivables securitization, in In re LTV Steel Co. (Bankr. N.D. Ohio, No. 00-43866).

Expert witness on mortgage backed securities for the United States Government, in U.S. vs. Weiss, No. 98-99-Cr-Orl-19A (M.D. Fla. 1999).

Selected Professional Presentations

Toward a More Efficient Bankruptcy Law: Mortgage Financing Under the 2005 Bankruptcy Amendments, part of the Symposium on Shredding the Safety Net: A Critical Examination of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, Southern Illinois University School of Law, February 16, 2007.

State Sovereignty in Bankruptcy after Katz, part of the Symposium on Federalism and Bankruptcy, St. Johns University School of Law, February 9, 2007.

The Constitutional Limits on Using Bankruptcy Law As An Alternative Legal System, Georgia State University College of Law, January 26, 2005.

The Security of Securitization and the Future of Security, symposium on Threats to Secured Lending, Cardozo Law School, April 7, 2003 (New York).

Perfection of Security Interests–Electronic Chattel Paper and Forms of Opinions, Revised Article 9: Questions from the Perplexed: Common Drafting Problems, American Bar Association Business Law Section Annual Meeting, April 4, 2003 (Los Angeles).

The Efficiency of Securitization: The Inefficiency of Bankruptcy, Notre Dame Law School, October 2003.

Supreme Court and Legislative Update (discussing United States v. Craft, United States v. Young, and Zandford), Southeastern Association of Law Schools, July 28, 2002.

Discussion leader at Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference, January 25-26, 2001 (discussing the new value exception to absolute priority rule).

What Revised Article 9 Tells Us About the Bankruptcy Code, Debtor-Creditor Section, Association of American Law Schools, Annual Meeting, January 4, 2002 (New Orleans).

The Efficiency of Securitization and the Implications for Bankruptcy Law, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, July 15, 2001.

Bankruptcy, Federalism, and the New Common Law, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, July 31, 2000.

Legal Issues in Securitizing Equipment Leases, First Annual Rocky Mountain Leasing Conference, Denver, Colo., January 27, 2000.

The Firm Legal Foundations of Securitization, ABA Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law, 10th Annual Spring CLE & Committee Meeting, May 19-21, 1999, Washington, D.C.

The Advantages of Law Review Publication, 12th annual Comparative Literature Conference, the University of Tulsa, on "The Sociomaterial Turn: Excavating Modernism," March 1998.

Works in Progress

The Nature of the Security Interest.
Insolvency and Bankruptcy.
Equity and Federal Common Law in Bankruptcy.
The Efficiency of Securitization: The Inefficiency of Bankruptcy.

May 4, 2007