2026 Annual Spring Meeting

Hosted by the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Young & New Members Committees This session will focus on everything you wish they had taught you in law school, but didn’t. This intergenerational panel will bring together newer and seasoned insolvency practitioners to discuss a multitude of topics, including early-career realities, evolving professional expectations, and the lessons learned only through practice. 

Hosted by the Asset Sales & Financial Advisors and Investment Banking Committees This session will analyze and evaluate the various options that can be used to resolve distress. The transaction types will be evaluated in the context of the scope of the distressed situation, taking into consideration timing, cost and potential outcomes (maximizing value and minimizing risk). 

Hosted by the Bankruptcy Litigation and International Committees Cross-border insolvency practice is undergoing rapid transformation as courts in major jurisdictions adapt to increasingly global restructuring activity. This panel will explore how these developments are helping — or hindering — bankruptcy professionals seeking recognition, coordination and effective global enforcement. Using recent case law and examples from ongoing restructurings, the panelists will highlight emerging litigation trends, cross-border friction points, and practical guidance for navigating complex multijurisdictional insolvencies. 

Hosted by the Veterans and Servicemembers Affairs Task Force This panel will discuss the demographics of servicemembers today — their backgrounds, their needs, and what ABI members can do to better serve those needs. The panelists will cover how ABI can help launch their entrepreneurship efforts (not just provide education on financial distress), and will draw on current leaders to help us understand how to aid the next generation of leaders. 

This panel will address how practitioners can apply mega-case concepts to small business and subchapter V cases. The panelists will cover everything from debt-to-equity transactions to professional support options to prepacks. Attendees can look forward to a lively conversation about which big-case strategies might work in smaller cases, which ones are nonstarters, and the practicalities practitioners may face when advising their small business clients in light of mega-case case law.

This panel will discuss merchant cash advances (MCAs), including what they are and what you can do about them. The panelists also will explore various tools and tricks for dealing with them in subchapter V cases, from practical suggestions to litigation issues.

This session will discuss the laws that govern business decisions by companies facing financial distress, particularly laws that regulate board decision-making before and after a chapter 11 filing. The panelists will begin with a foundational overview of the principles that Delaware corporate law uses to regulate business judgment outside of bankruptcy, followed by an in-depth analysis of the key legal cases that have shaped its application in distress. The panelists will present examples of how legal requirements intersect with governance challenges, especially in times of distress. Strategies for advising corporate clients — particularly directors and officers — on how to avoid becoming targets of litigation will be explored, including the role of independent board directors in mitigating risk.

This panel will discuss practical and operational limitations of AI technology, as well as ethical and legal considerations, and will focus on risk-management practices for its use. The panelists also will examine AI trends and concrete use cases in connection with due diligence and corporate investigations.

This panel will explore compliance with state professional rules of conduct for practitioners in a federal practice, including the rule prohibiting the unauthorized practice of law amid the reality of clients with demands that fall across state lines. What nuances do professional rules of conduct prescribe to accommodate this reality? When must you seek local counsel? How do the local rules for the court in which you seek to practice inform (or conflict) with those obligations? 

Bankruptcy professionals are required to prepare various types of financial information that are used by several stakeholders (e.g., U.S. Trustee, creditors, lenders, creditors' committees). This information is prepared at various times throughout the bankruptcy lifecycle and is used for different purposes. This panel will discuss monthly operating reports (MORs), statements of financial affairs (SOFAs), statements of assets and liabilities (SOALs), cash-flow budgets and projections, and liquidation analyses. The panelists will focus on the preparation of these items, including assumptions in preparing the information and its use by stakeholders. They also will discuss limitations in preparing the information (not GAAP), information that is not readily available from the debtor’s financial reporting systems, and timing in preparing the information, using real-world examples based on the debtor’s industry.