Michael Sousa
Associate Professor
303-871-6292 (Office)
Office 435D, Frank H. Ricketson Law Bldg., 2255 East Evans Ave. Denver, CO 80208
Specialization(s)
Bankruptcy and Commercial Law
Professional Biography
Michael Sousa teaches and pursues scholarship in the areas of bankruptcy law and commercial law. Prior to joining the faculty at the College of Law, Michael was an associate in the Business Reorganization and Financial Restructuring Practice Group at Duane Morris LLP, an AM Law Top 100 law firm. In addition to his private practice experience, Michael served as a judicial law clerk in both state and federal court. He served as a law clerk in federal bankruptcy court for the Honorable Rosemary Gambardella, Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, and for the Honorable Donald H. Steckroth, Bankruptcy Judge for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. He also served as law clerk for the Honorable William J. Martini in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, and for the Honorable John E. Wallace, Jr. in the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court.
Michael received his J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law, his LL.M. in bankruptcy from St. John’s University School of Law, his Master’s of Arts in anthropology from the University of Denver, and he is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Colorado – Boulder. He currently serves as a member of the Advisory Board for the LL.M. in Bankruptcy Program at St. John’s University School of Law. Michael was recently appointed to a three-year term to serve on the Editorial Advisory Board for the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review. In addition, Michael is a contributing editor to four national bankruptcy publications, including the Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice, the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, the Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law, and the multi-volume treatise, Norton Bankruptcy Law and Practice 3d. Moreover, he is a co-author of the one volume treatise, Consumer Bankruptcy Manual, published by Thomson-West. He is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice.
To date, his articles have been cited by several judicial opinions, including Biltmore Associates, LLC v. Twin City Fire Insurance Co., 572 F.3d 663 (9th Cir. 2009), Miller v. Ameriquest Mortgage Co. (In re Laskowski), 384 B.R. 518 (Bankr. N.D. Ind. 2008), In re Xpedior Inc., 354 B.R. 210 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2006), and Smith v. Butler Associates (In re Smith), 2008 WL 4148923 (Bankr. D. Kan. 2008). Another article was cited as authority in an appellate brief to the United States Supreme Court in Board of Trustees of the Ohio Carpenters Pension Fund v. Bucci, No. 07-1107 (June 9, 2008).
Degree(s)
- PhD, University of Colorado
- MA, University of Denver
- LLM., St. John's University School of Law
- JD, Rutgers University School of Law
Licensure / Accreditations
- Admitted Attorney
Featured Publications
- Consumer Bankruptcy in the Neoliberal State, 39 Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal 199 (2023).
- Procedural Due Process, Drug Courts, and Loss of Liberty Sanctions, 14 New York University Journal of Law & Liberty 733 (2021).
- Therapeutic Discipline: Drug Courts, Foucault, and the Power of the Normalizing Gaze, 2021 Michigan State Law Review 143 (2021).
- Health Insurance and Bankruptcy Risk: Examining the Impact of the Affordable Care Act, 86 Brooklyn Law Review 975 (co-authored, funded study) (2021).
- Moving Beyond Medical Debt, 27 American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review 93 (2019) (co-authored, funded study).
- The Persistence of Bankruptcy Stigma, 26 American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review 217 (2018).
- Debt Stigma and Socioeconomic Class, 41 Seattle University Law Review 965 (2018).
- Uncertainty Remains: The “Insured vs. Insured” and “Bankruptcy Exclusion” Provisions, Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (2018) (invited submission).
- Legitimizing Bankruptcy Petition Preparers: A Sociolegal Prescription for Change, 89 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 269 (2015) (peer reviewed).
- Just Punch My Bankruptcy Ticket: A Qualitative Study of Mandatory Debtor Financial Education, 97 Marquette Law Review 391 (2014).
- Bankruptcy Stigma: A Socio-Legal Study, 87 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 435 (2014) (peer reviewed).
- A Casus Omissus in Preventing Bankruptcy Fraud: Ordering a Search of a Debtor’s Home, 73 Ohio State Law Journal 93 (2012).
- A Delicate Balancing Act: Satisfying the Fourth Amendment While Protecting the Bankruptcy System From Debtor Fraud, 28 Yale Journal on Regulation 367 (2011).
- The Principle of Consumer Utility: A Contemporary Theory of the Bankruptcy Discharge, 58 University of Kansas Law Review 101 (2010).
- Arbitration Agreements in Bankruptcy, in Norton Bankruptcy Law and Practice 3d (Thomson West 2009).
- Recent Developments in Chapter 11, in Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (Thomson West 2008 ed.).
- Making Sense of the Bramble-Filled Thicket: The “Insured vs. Insured” Exclusion in the Bankruptcy Context, 23 Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal 2 (2007).
