The Greek GDP Warrant Drama

Greece’s debt situation has improved remarkably, from default status in 2012 to investment grade in 2025. A few weeks ago though, Bloomberg reported on a brewing drama with the GDP warrants that were offered to investors in the brutal 2012 restructuring. Apparently, Greece has elected to exercise its right to call the warrants, and holders are yelling bloody murder at the low price at which Greece says it is entitled to buy. Every side has lawyered up and claims the other side is acting unreasonably. We speculate wildly on what might actually be going on and what is likely to happen.

Producer: Leanna Doty

Ep 159 - The Greek GDP Warrant Drama

Ukraine's Expansive "Fiscal Laws" Clause
 
International sovereign bonds, and particularly those issued under English law, often include a clause providing that payments are subject to the applicable "fiscal and other laws." Usually, the clause makes clear this refers to fiscal laws in the “place of payment” (e.g., Luxembourg). Separately, international bonds also provide that, if the issuer imposes any taxes on bond payments, it must "gross up" payments to foreign investors, so the tax does not reduce their payments. Together, the two clauses usually immunize foreign investors from taxes imposed by the issuer but leave room for taxes imposed by the place of payment. Ukraine's bonds are different. They seem to leave room for Ukraine to impose its own "fiscal" law on payments. Arguably, they leave investors subject even to local laws that aren't fiscal in nature. Might this be a source of leverage for the country in its negotiations with GDP warrant holders, who have so far refused to make concessions in restructuring talks?

Producer: Leanna Doty

Ep 160 - Ukraine's Expansive "Fiscal Laws" Clause

Virginia men’s basketball Associate Head Coach Griff Aldrich ’99 joins Admissions Dean Natalie Blazer ’08 to discuss his journey from UVA Law student to college basketball coach to corporate attorney and back again. Now in his first season coaching at UVA, Aldrich shares the “intangibles” he looks for that signal success on the court and in the classroom, his take on the transfer portal and the recent transformation of college sports, how skills learned in law school apply to all areas of life and more. 

S7 E1: Law and Basketball

Professors Asaf Lubin of Indiana University, Martin S. Lederman of Georgetown University and Alan Rozenshtein of the University of Minnesota discuss Vice Dean Ashley Deeks’ new book, “The Double Black Box: National Security, Artificial Intelligence, and the Struggle for Democratic Accountability.” Professor Danielle Citron moderated the panel and Dean Leslie Kendrick ’06 introduced the event, which was sponsored by the Law School and co-sponsored by the LawTech Center. (University of Virginia School of Law, Sept. 4, 2025)

Inside ‘The Double Black Box’

Professor and Double Hoo Xiao Wang, director of UVA Law’s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, joins Admissions Dean Natalie Blazer ’08 to discuss how the clinic gets selected to take on high-profile cases; why a people-first approach is critical to successful advocacy; and how his time at UVA helped prepare him for the grand stage of the Supreme Court. Following the clinic’s back-to-back 9-0 victories at the Supreme Court in the 2024-25 term, Wang emphasizes that UVA Law students are at the forefront of the research, briefing and preparation for oral argument of each case presented before the Supreme Court, all while still in their third year of law school.

S7 E2: Supreme Court Litigation Clinic at UVA Law

Argentina Again
 
The Trump administration says it will do “whatever it takes” to rescue the Argentine peso and bond yields, saving buddy Javier Milei from electoral disaster. We do not think the U.S. Treasury can simply dole out money to Milei. If the administration does not want to go to Congress for permission (it generally does not), and if the Mexican bailouts of 1982 and 1995 are indicators, the U.S. Treasury will ask the Argentines to provide collateral of some sort. (The Falklands, maybe?) If so, holders of Argentine sovereign bonds might wonder whether they are entitled to some collateral too. Sovereign bonds have negative pledge clauses, which generally prevent the borrower from creating new secured debt without securing bondholders on equivalent terms. So, we looked at some of the negative pledge clauses in Argentine bonds. They are weird, but don't seem very protective. These are beautiful clauses, folks, BEAUTIFUL. Looks like the U.S. gets collateral, bondholders don't. Total disaster for them!

Producer: Leanna Doty

Ep 161 - Argentina Again

From college sophomores to first-year law students, Sarah Beddingfield ’28 and Morgan Gaspar ’28 join Admissions Dean Natalie Blazer ’08 to discuss their experience in UVA Law’s Roadmap Scholars Initiative.

S7 E3: A Roadmap to Law School

The Invasion Tax

The lawsuit over Ukraine's $3 billion bond debt to Russia seems to be on hold (maybe forever) in the English courts. And maybe there is no way for the Russian government to force repayment. Still, the debt is a minor cloud hanging (along with many bigger ones) over Ukraine. It would be nice if there was a way to make it go away permanently. Might there be? We talk about a common provision in a sovereign bond's Taxation section — we aren't sure how common, but it certainly isn't unique to Ukraine — that lets the issuer tax investors who have a connection to it other than simply holding its bonds. As written, this provision would allow Ukraine to impose a 100% tax on bond payments to Russia. This may not be what the drafters had in mind, and it opens the door to some unsavory tax shenanigans, but an Invasion Tax doesn't seem too objectionable.

Also: "Whatever it takes" means "whatever it takes!" Except when it means something else.

Producer: Leanna Doty

Ep 162 - The Invasion Tax

Judge Lisa Lorish ’08 joins her classmate, Admissions Dean Natalie Blazer ’08, to discuss her path to the Virginia Court of Appeals following a successful career in private practice and as a federal public defender. Currently a lecturer at UVA Law, Judge Lorish offers advice to law school applicants, students and graduates, and shares what she loves most about serving on the bench.

S7 E4: Approaching the Bench

What if POTUS wanted an OBBD?

Let us say, purely hypothetically, that there is a point at which some combination of the spending excesses of the One Big Beautiful Bill, the government shutdown, a rejection by the Supreme Court of tariff mania, and more, result in a shortfall of revenues for the current administration. And let us also say that POTUS goes to his brains trust to ask how best to do an OBBD/R (One Big Beautiful Default/Restructuring). What path might the brains trust take? And what about the option of taxing the treasury holdings of foreign governments, which the administration has already signaled its interest in?

Producer: Leanna Doty

Ep 163 - What if POTUS wanted an OBBD?

Older, wiser law students (“owls”) Neil Noronha ’26 and Kathleen Samuelson ’26 join Admissions Dean Natalie Blazer ’08 to discuss how they forged their paths as nontraditional applicants and found community at UVA Law. 

S7 E5: Happy OWL-oween!

To request an audio transcript that is not at law.virginia.edu/news/videos-podcasts, please contact comm@law.virginia.edu. Founded in 1819, the University of Virginia School of Law is the second-oldest continuously operating law school in the nation. Consistently ranked among the top law schools, Virginia is a world-renowned training ground for distinguished lawyers and public servants, instilling in them a commitment to leadership, integrity and community service.

Inside ‘The Double Black Box’

University of Virginia School of Law

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