Melissa B. Jacoby
Graham Kenan Professor of Law

Areas of Expertise
- Bankruptcy Law
- Commercial Law
- Contracts
- Law and Social Sciences
- Secured Transactions
Biography
Melissa B. Jacoby is the Graham Kenan Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she teaches bankruptcy law, contract law, and commercial law. In 2021, Jacoby was appointed by Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts to assist the Federal Judicial Center on educational programming for bankruptcy judges. Jacoby’s book about the American bankruptcy system is under contract with The New Press.
Jacoby has been elected to the American Law Institute, the National Bankruptcy Conference, the American College of Bankruptcy, and the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers, and has served as the Robert M. Zinman Scholar for the American Bankruptcy Institute. She is a recipient of the Grant Gilmore Award for scholarship from the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers and the Byrd Award for teaching, among other honors.
Jacoby held judicial clerkships with the Honorable Robert E. Ginsberg of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Honorable Marjorie O. Rendell of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and was a staff attorney for the National Bankruptcy Review Commission. Before joining the faculty at UNC, she taught for four years at Temple University in Philadelphia. Jacoby graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, as well as from Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences, where she was a history major.
Selected Publications
Fake and Real People in Bankruptcy, 39 EMORY BANKR. DEV. J. 497 (2023).
SSRN
Sorting Bugs and Features of Mass Tort Bankruptcy, 101 TEX. L. REV. 1745 (2023).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein
Unbundling Business Bankruptcy Law, 101 N.C. L. REV. 1703 (2023).
SSRN
Other Judges' Cases, 78 NYU ANN. SURV. AM. L. 39 (2022).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
Shocking Business Bankruptcy Law, 131 YALE L.J. FORUM 409 (2021).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress | Document Link
Consumer Protection After a Global Financial Crisis (with E. Balleisen), 107 GEO. L.J. 813 (2019).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
Corporate Bankruptcy Hybridity, 166 U. PA. L. REV. 1715 (2018).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress | Document Link
Tracing Equity: Realizing and Allocating Value in Chapter 11 (with E.J. Janger), 96 TEX. L. REV. 673 (2018).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
Federalism Form and Function in the Detroit Bankruptcy, 33 YALE J. ON REG. 55 (2016).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
Ice Cube Bonds: Allocating the Price of Process in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy (with E. J. Janger), 123 YALE L. J. 862 (2014).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
In the Media
- Gunmaker Remington to pay $73M to settle lawsuit with Sandy Hook families, Jacoby quoted (Axios)
- Special Report: Inside J&J's secret plan to cap litigation payouts to cancer victims, Jacoby quoted (Reuters)
- Judge overturns $4.5bn opioid-related settlement in Purdue Pharma bankruptcy, Jacoby quoted (Financial Times )
- Judge overturns deal giving Purdue Pharma’s Sackler family civil immunity from opioid claims, Jacoby quoted (Washington Post)
- Boy Scouts Abuse Victims Caught Up in Chapter 11 Lobbying, Jacoby quoted (Wall Street Journal)
- Purdue's bankruptcy deal shields sackler family owners from opioid liability; Jacoby quoted (Financial Times)
- Jacoby Talks abut Bankruptcy, Wave of Addiction from Sackler Family's Fortune (KQED)
- NRA CEO LaPierre Acknowledges Failing to Disclose Free Stays on Yacht, Jacoby Quoted (Wall Street Journal)
- The Sackler Family's Bankruptcy Scheme; Jacoby quoted (The American Prospect)
- Neiman Investor Slammed in Government Report; Jacoby Quoted (Wall Street Journal)
- Warren bankruptcy plan aims to close loophole for police brutality; Jacoby quoted (Washington Examiner)
- Jacoby Comments on How Biden Helped Create the Student Debt Problem He Now Promises to Fix (The Guardian)
- Jacoby Comments on Two-Decade History Between Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer (National Journal)
- Would a Purdue Bankruptcy Protect the Sacklers? Jacoby Quoted (New York Times)
- Jacoby Discusses Elizabeth Warren's Bankruptcy Reform Work (Associated Press)
- Jacoby Discusses Payless ShoeSource Bankruptcy: When to Use Payless Gift Cards and Make Returns By (USA Today)
- Courtroom Clash Will Decide Fate of Sears; Jacoby Quoted (USA Today)
- Victims Object to Private Equity Firm Buying Weinstein Company; Jacoby Comments on Bankruptcy (NPR Morning Edition)
- Jacoby Explains How Bankruptcy Law Could Keep Money From Weinstein Victims (Washington Post)
- Puerto Rico Seen Sliding Toward Bankruptcy as Deadline Nears; Jacoby Quoted (Reuters)
- Ever-Shorter U.S. Bankruptcies Have Creditors Scrambling, Jacoby Quoted (Reuters)
- Vallejo Man Can Collect Damages Awarded in Lawsuit Against Police, Court Rules (Wall Street Journal)
- Jacoby Cited in 'Why Are We Colonizing Puerto Rico' (The New Republic)
- Puerto Rico Takes Restructuring Law to U.S. High Court, Jacoby Quoted (New York Times)
- San Bernardino Bankruptcy Leaves Little for Police-Brutality Payouts, Jacoby Comments (Wall Street Journal)
- Jacoby Quoted: New Rules to Limit Tactics on Hospitals' Fee Collections (New York Times)
- Judge To Rule Friday On Detroit's Bankruptcy Exit, Jacoby Quoted (National Public Radio)