Business

Discussion about unanticipated and anticipated problems in chapter 11 cases in which all or substantially all of the assets are being sold in a § 363 sale; “pay to play” arguments by unsecured creditors; should bankruptcies be run exclusively for the benefit of secured creditors?; presale orders regarding the use of sale proceeds; funding of wind-down costs and payment of administrative claims; post-sale chapter 7 conversions

What are the consequences of using § 9019 settlements as a means of resolving primary intercreditor disputes?; does application of settlement approval standards effectively alter § 1129 standards?; do settlements become sub rosa plans?; is the door open for “involuntary settlements” based on a debtor’s assessment of litigation probabilities?; other related issues might include “gifting” through § 9019 in the Third Circuit vs. the Second Circuit, plan-support agreements, absolute priority rule/new value plan (Castleton Plaza), equitable mootness (Charter/SemCrude); fee reimbursements for participants (Lehman, AMR)

Nortel (involving two courts simultaneously trying allocation issues); Kelmsley (U.S./U.K. courts regarding anti-suit injunction); ABC Learning/Fairfield Sentry (circuit court cases involving chapter 15 recognition); troubled foreign banks’ use of chapter 15 (Anglo Irish, Banco Pontual S.A.); In re Barnet (Octaviar)

Past Presidents’ Debate: Michael P. Richman Hunton & Williams LLP; New York Deborah D. Williamson Cox Smith Matthews Incorporated; San Antonio Resolved: Secured creditors should be required to fund the payment of all administrative claims and make a distribution to general unsecured creditors as a condition of cleansing substantially all of the debtors’ assets through a § 363 sale process. Judicial Debate: Hon. Kevin J. Carey U.S. Bankruptcy Court (D. Del.); Wilmington Hon. Frank J. Santoro U.S. Bankruptcy Court (E.D. Va.); Norfolk Resolved: A claim is not impaired for purposes of § 1129(a)(10) if the alteration of the rights in question arises solely from the debtor’s exercise of discretion, because § 1129(a)(10) recognizes impairment only to the extent that it is driven by economic need. Consumer Debate: John Rao National Consumer Law Center; Boston Brett Weiss Chung & Press, PC; Greenbelt, Md. Resolved: The Bankruptcy Rules and Forms should require that a national chapter 13 official plan form be used in all cases.

In today’s marketplace, more and more thought is being given to pursuing state law remedies rather than commencing chapter 11 cases. This is especially true in the middle market. This panel will discuss the financial professional’s role and obligations in out-of-court restructuring solutions, including compositions, foreclosures, assignments for the benefit of creditors and asset sales.

A panel of younger lawyers/financial professionals will talk about the issues and challenges of working for senior lawyers and suggest ways to improve the working relationship between senior and junior lawyers.

This panel will discuss a variety of issues arising due to the explosion of social media communications. Topics will include property rights, evidence, spoliation, ethics and trustee investigation duties.

A panel of participants in ABI’s Civility Task Force will discuss the work of the task force in an interactive program designed to further the conversation about civility in our profession.

Individual chapter 11 cases continue to present practitioners with a variety of complex and perplexing issues. This panel will discuss navigating through an individual chapter 11 case from the perspective of both the debtor and its creditors.

"As the U.S. Trustee guidelines for large chapter 11 cases are nearing their six-month anniversary, this panel will discuss how the guidelines have been implemented, what reception they have received from the courts and whether they have changed the way large chapter 11 cases are administered."