The language and concept of equality among creditors, which has long dominated Anglo-American bankruptcy jurisprudence and analysis has recently been cast into question by a leading bankruptcy scholar who has constructed a compelling and disquieting case for the dual propositions that the equality principle in contemporary bankruptcy law and practice is on life support and that, while the patient could easily be resuscitated, no steps should be taken to do so. Against this provocative backdrop,

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... I attempt to make the case in this article that (to sustain the analogy) the patient may have quite a bit of lfe left in her and that restoring her to health would be a boon to system participants in business reorganization as well as consumer bankruptcy cases. In justifcation of this assertion, I identify and develop a role for the equality norm in bankruptcy that not only makes it constructive in approaching key issues in bankruptcy, but that also preserves the integrity and coherence of the system to the benefit of debtors and creditors, as well as society at large.