Chris Hampson

@chrishampsonlaw.bsky.social

5802 Followers 810 Following

Law Professor at the University of Florida (Bankruptcy, Insolvency & Jubilee). Husband, father, cat person, puns.

A record-breaking crowd at the CSC in Gainesville to talk about AI, faith, and the nature of being human.
Courts have been finding ways to avoid hearing bankruptcy cases for a long time. This practice distinguishes bankruptcy from other types of federal cases. The federal district courts operate under the twin principles that they are courts of limited jurisdiction and have a “virtually unflagging” obligation to exercise it. But those twin principles are inverted in bankruptcy. That is because bankruptcy courts do more than just resolve disputes; they solve problems. Bankruptcy jurisdiction is expansive and dramatic. When a debtor commences a bankruptcy case, the bankruptcy court has jurisdiction not only over the case itself and proceedings “arising in” the case, but also a broad swath of cases “related to” the bankruptcy proceedings. Yet, unlike their district court relatives, bankruptcy courts have much broader authority to dismiss or abstain from hearing cases before them, as well as to reshape the contours of a
When a senior law professor asks to see what you’re working on
The group photo of the 2025 junior scholars conference at the University of Michigan.
Papers from the WHIRC conference, with a large timecard reading "STOP"