2 - A Seat at the Table

Summary

This chapter connects fraudulent conveyance principles to the practices that judges adopted during the reorganization of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe and the other great railroads that failed in the second half of the nineteenth century. The benchmarks judges put in place during this era established the ground rules for bargaining among investors for the next several decades. Judges did not try to shape the outcome of the negotiations. Instead they ensured that deals were only struck honestly and in good faith. There had to be a process that gave everyone a fair opportunity to participate.