abiLIVE Webinars

Signed into law on August 23, 2019, the “Honoring American Veterans in Extreme Need (HAVEN) Act of 2019” grants significant relief to consumer debtors that have military ties. Are you up to speed on the HAVEN Act and how to use it in your practice? This panel of experts will discuss the events leading up to the HAVEN Act’s passage, the new exemption from Current Monthly Income created by the Act, suggestions on how to talk with your clients about military or VA benefits and documents, and how the Act applies to your pending cases.

The long countdown to the Small Business Reorganization Act (SBRA) is over! The law takes effect on February 19. Thousands of struggling small businesses will now have a faster, cheaper and more efficient process for filing Chapter 11. SBRA includes several significant changes to current law. Join our panel to update your legal toolbox so you’ll be ready when businesses come calling. Learn more at: https://www.abi.org/sbra

Hosted by the Asset Sale Committee Marijuana-related businesses are being denied access to bankruptcy relief in all but a tiny handful of cases. This webinar will discuss prospects for success in bankruptcy court, available alternative methods of affording relief to troubled cannabis businesses, and possibilities for changes in the regulatory climate.

Hosted by the Consumer Bankruptcy Committee This webinar will discuss how new Bankruptcy Student Loan Management Programs are helping debtors solve their student loan issues. The webinar will cover the issues affecting debtors and their student loans as well as the solutions and tools the courts are implementing.

Hosted by the Commercial Fraud Committee The webinar panel, comprised of bankruptcy lawyers, a panel bankruptcy trustee and a financial advisor, will delve into what occurs when an individual debtor files bankruptcy and fails to properly disclose their assets. The discussion will include methods of investigating and discovering hidden assets and the means by which a trustee can successfully recover the assets for the bankruptcy estate. The panel will also address defenses that a debtor may raise, including exemptions, tenants by the entirety, or business assets transferred to trusts.

The automotive industry has been relatively stable since the crisis ten years ago. But there are disruptions within the supplier base as platforms change and technology evolves. With declining volumes and the stress of trade wars, are we approaching another downturn in the automotive industry? Are we better prepared to manage through potential automotive distress now than ten years ago, or have supplier operations and financing structures and agreements become more complex? This webinar will explore these issues and more.

The automotive industry has been relatively stable since the crisis ten years ago. But there are disruptions within the supplier base as platforms change and technology evolves. With declining volumes and the stress of trade wars, are we approaching another downturn in the automotive industry? Are we better prepared to manage through potential automotive distress now than ten years ago, or have supplier operations and financing structures and agreements become more complex? This webinar will explore these issues and more.

Panelists will discuss ethical issues relating to due diligence and debtor and creditor actions online as well as practice pointers for engaging in social media.

There have been a number of recent bankruptcy filings by large and high profile healthcare providers, such as the filings of Verity Health System of California, Inc., in Los Angeles (the second largest hospital bankruptcy case in American history), Hospital Acquisition LLC and 25 related debtors d/b/a Promise Health and American Academic Health System (Hahnemann University Hospital and St. Christopher Hospital in Philadelphia) in Wilmington, Delaware, and Astria Health in Yakima, Washington. Additionally, EmpowerHMS owned or helped manage a rural hospital empire that encompassed 18 facilities across eight states. After funding from a controversial lab-billing venture dried up, 12 of the hospitals entered bankruptcy and eight closed their doors. There has also been a steady stream of lower profile cases, including Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park, Illinois, Penobscot Valley Hospital in Maine, and Springfield Hospital, Inc., in Vermont, and it appears that there are more filings in store. The webinar will discuss (i) the reasons for this growing trend of healthcare cases, (ii) the unique challenges in those cases, which involve not only the typical payment of creditor claims, but also the care of patients, (iii) the particular issues that arise uniquely in this class of cases, including jurisdiction over the Medicare and Medicaid Programs, treatment of provider agreements, the intersection of nonprofit law and bankruptcy law, and treatment of medical malpractice claims, and (iv) whether this trend of healthcare filings will continue.

We will take a deeper dive into some of the more interesting and unique local rules that practitioners should be aware of when completing assets sales in various districts. The panelists will also discuss the need for local rules, differences across jurisdictions, and the process for revisions and implementation.