Bankruptcy Law by Michael Forde And Daniel Simms

• Date: 01 January 2010
• Author: Julie Murphy-O'Connor, Partner, Matheson Ormsby Prentice And Karen Reynolds, Assistant Solicitor, Matheson Ormsby Prentice

BANKRUPTCY LAW

MI CHAE L FO RDE AND DANI EL S IMMS

Thomson Round Hall, August 2009

ISBN 978–1–85800–534–8

Julie Murphy-O’Connor, Partner, Matheson Ormsby Prentice

Karen Reynolds, Assistant Solicitor, Matheson Ormsby Prentice

This text is a co mprehensive and accessi ble summary of developments in

bankruptcy law in Ireland over t he last 20 years. The authors’ preface to

Bankruptcy Law informs the reader that there have been no radical changes

to the law of bankruptcy since the first edition of this book, nearly twenty

years ago. The absence o f revolution or evolution is, of course, due in no

small part to the occasional manner in which the bankruptcy process was

utilised by creditors in Ireland. A number of factors contributed to the

infrequent use of the bankruptcy procedure; many years of a growth

economy coupled wit h widespread availability of finance and refina nce

created an environment where recourse to the courts to pursue debtors was

virtually unheard of. The economic downturn in 2008 and 2009, the

attendant illiquidity of finan cial institutions and the consequences of a

failing construction industry has spurred change – pursuing debtors under

threat of bankruptcy presents real potential to creditors seeking redress.

Set against this stark reality, the arrival of Forde & Simms’ Bankruptcy

Law is nothing short of timely. Legal, tax and accountancy practitioners are

experiencing unprecedented demand for expertise in both corp orate and

personal insolvency related areas. The authors have been afforded the

opportunity to provide a text that could become a practitioner’s handbook

in the area, and overall they have succeeded in so doing. The content of the

book is concise and provides a useful starting point for legal practitioners,

students, accountants, tax advisors and laypersons alike.

Forde and Si mms have pres ented their w ork in a logi cal and acces sible

manner. The introdu ctory chapter serves to contextualise the origins and

sources of the Bankruptcy Act, 1988 (“the Act”), the impetus for reform of

regimes which preceded the Act and the c oncerns and objectives of

bankruptcy law. The authors ’ discussion of the origins of bankruptcy law

is brief but insightful, and details how severe limitations and susceptibility

to abuse resulted in infrequent use of the pre-1988 regimes. The authors

note that the Act is more favourable to creditors than earlier regimes.

The central themes of the Act ar e identified by the au thors as be ing (i)

arrangements; (ii) petitions of ban kruptcy; (iii) adm inistration of the

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