2022 Northeast Bankruptcy Conference & Consumer Forum

On behalf of our faculty and the Northeast Advisory Board, we are pleased to welcome you back to the in-person Northeast Bankruptcy Conference and Northeast Consumer Forum! The advisory board has assembled a roster of great speakers on a wide variety of timely topics that offer something for everyone. Plus, you can enjoy Maine’s beautiful landscape while staying at the historical Samoset Resort overlooking Penobscot Bay. In between educational sessions and networking opportunities, you can take advantage of the resort’s many recreational activities and the coastal town of Rockland, Maine, situated less than 10 minutes’ drive away.

Consumer lawyers on behalf of both debtors and creditors deal with myriad ethical issues to ensure effective and economical representation of their clients. This panel will explore the implications of representing individuals, small businesses, insiders and creditors, including what to do when your client becomes your creditor (how far can you go to get paid?) and how to avoid breaching the attorney/client privilege (just who do or can you talk to?). In a small business, the owner often considers counsel to be representing “her” interest. How does counsel for a business deal with this issue under the ethical rules and the Bankruptcy Code? For the creditor, what are the implications of potential conflicts by counsel to the debtor? Can the creditor reach out to a principal of the corporate debtor directly on their guarantee without violating the Rules of Professional Conduct? What are the ethical limits of “unbundling services” to make it more affordable for the client, whether you represent a debtor or a creditor? This panel will explore ways to accomplish your client’s goals, as well as the ethical boundaries of representation under those scenarios.

ABI will team up with IWIRC for an exciting and interactive discussion of real-world ethical dilemmas arising in bankruptcy practice, including while working from home. Play along with our panel of lawyers and judges as they discuss the “3 Cs” — confidentiality, communication and competence — along with information hygiene, duty to supervise, remote depositions and trials, judicial ethics, and much, much more!

A trial is fraught with opportunities for lawyers on both sides to make mistakes. By using hypotheticals infused with current and common issues, this panel will provide useful tips for successful examination and cross-examination, preparation for common motion practice, and laying a proper foundation for submission of evidence.

This panel will analyze issues that arise in, and provide helpful tips for, the winding up of a chapter 11 case (as well as any special or different considerations for subchapter V cases), including early planning for the wind-down, closing the case, conversion vs. structured dismissal vs. plan, the preservation of claims and claim objections for a liquidating trust and related privilege considerations, professional compensation and final tax returns, winding down debtor obligations such as employee benefit plans, and cost and funding issues.

This panel will cover the cutting-edge issues that practitioners need to know, (potentially) including recent makewhole decisions, the “Texas two-step,” the impact of inflation on cram-down interest rates, and circuit splits on whether § 363(m) is jurisdictional.

This panel will cover recent pertinent case law, analyze trends in increased district court oversight of bankruptcy courts, and examine the policy considerations for and against both consensual and nonconsensual nondebtor third-party releases, the relevant standards for approval on the merits, the scope of consent (opt-in vs. opt-out), the use of death-trap plan voting to encourage a consensual release, and the question of a bankruptcy court’s power to award them.

This panel will discuss the issues that arise when the growing state-sanctioned cannabis trade intersects with the insolvency world, in both commercial and consumer settings. The panel will discuss the federal statutory scheme governing marijuana, its tension with state laws governing marijuana businesses, and the ability or inability of marijuana-related businesses and individuals involved in the industry to access the relief provided in the bankruptcy courts when facing financial insolvency. The panel will also address state court receiverships and other non-bankruptcy methods for dealing with cannabis related businesses, and special concerns that lenders and other parties should address when dealing with those in the industry.

The petition is filed. At the § 341 meeting, the trustee asks the debtor whether there have been any personal-injury actions, whether the debtor has the right to sue someone, and whether the debtor inherited any assets 180 days prior to the petition date or within 180 days after the petition date. However, debtor clients often intentionally or inadvertently fail to disclose an asset. This panel will explore best practices for dealing with these and other post-filing litigation pitfalls, and for handling cases where there are undisclosed or undiscovered assets.

This panel will cover the various overlapping bankruptcy law and regulatory issues facing the transfer of a health care business, including financing obstacles, license transfers, successor liability, recapturing of Medicare or Medicaid overpayments, attorney general consent procedures, and related governmental issues particular to health care transactions. This practical panel will include tips of the trade for paving the way to a smooth closing and transition.