The "reforms" to the bankruptcy code included strict new deadlines which companies must abide by if they are to succeed in bankruptcy. The Federal Reserve has undertaken a study of the impact of these new shortened deadlines of corporate cases. In the context of this study comes the finding that the tenure of the bankruptcy judge also has a significant impact on the outcome of the case. "The study, by Daniel M. Covitz, Song Han and Beth Anne Wilson of the Fed's research staff in Washington, also found that the tenure of a bankruptcy judge makes a noticeable difference to the outcome of the case he or she is overseeing. For every year of the judge's tenure, the creditors' recovery rate goes up by as much as 1 percentage point, the study concluded." Here is a link to an article on the subject: Shortcut to: http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D8KA5POG0 Here is a link to the entire Federal Reserve Study entitled: Are Longer Bankruptcies Really More Costly? http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2006/200627/200627pap.pdf Mike