Reconciling Bankruptcy Law and Corporate Law Principles: Imposing Successor Liability on GM and Similar Sleight-of-Hand 363 Sales

In June 2009, General Motors filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Now in 2016, General Motors has entered what some have called its renaissance period with flourishing sales and increased profitability. Meanwhile, thousands of vehicle owners who were harmed by defective General Motors vehicles have been barred by 11 U.S.C. § 363(f) of the Bankruptcy Code from seeking an equitable remedy from the now thriving company. This Comment argues that those harmed by General Motors\u27 defective vehicles should have access to an equitable remedy via the successor liability doctrine. Successor liability has been scantly applied to § 363 sale purchasers. However, this Comment contends that General Motors\u27 § 363 Sale was a \u27sleight-of-hand\u27 transaction which allowed the corporation to essentially sell its assets to itself and escape most of its liabilities and that the successor liability doctrine was intended to prohibit these \u27sleight-of-hand\u27 transactions