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The 'Doctrine of Necessity': Missing Authority

<i>Nothing ... in the Code covers payments made to pre-existing, unsecured creditors, whether or not the debtor calls them 'critical.' Judges do not invent missing language ... A 'doctrine of necessity' is just a fancy name for a power to depart from the Code. In re Kmart Corp.</i>, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 3397, *5, *11 (7th Cir. Feb. 24, 2004) (Easterbrook, J.)

30 minute read March 24, 2004 at 02:27 PM
By
Michael L. Cook And William R. Fabrizio
The 'Doctrine of Necessity': Missing Authority

“'But the Emperor has nothing on at all!' cried a little child.” Hans Christian Andersen, Danish Fairy Legends and Tales (1846), “The Emperor's New Clothes.”

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