Consumer

This panel will discuss the effects that the pandemic has had on both business and consumer bankruptcy filings, as well insolvency case work in general. The panelists will provide their insights on whether there will be permanent changes to bankruptcy and insolvency practice spurred by COVID-19. Sponsored by AlixPartners, LLP

To make meaningful progress, legal professionals and the organizational cultures they inhabit must adopt a learning goal orientation and be willing to change. Join this keynote panel of legal professionals from across the nation for an active discussion on the business impacts of racial and gender diversity, equity, and inclusion within the legal industry. The panel will begin with a plenary session followed by breakout rooms.

This panel of legal experts will break down topical circuit-level and bankruptcy court rulings that are dividing circuits across the country.

This panel will review the basics of the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019, as well as recent case law and issues that have cropped up since the SBRA went into effect in February 2020. Topics discussed will include an overview of subchapter V and how it differs from traditional chapter 11, qualifying corporate (and individual) debtors, debt limits pre- and post- CARES Act, the PPP and its changing role in subchapter V, the role of a subchapter V trustee, and conversion/redesignation of a case to subchapter V.

This panel of bankruptcy judges from the Eighth and Tenth Circuits will discuss several recent decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Eighth and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeals and Bankruptcy Appellate Panels, and elsewhere that are likely to impact your bankruptcy practice.

When developing a strategy for an entity in distress, good insolvency lawyers weigh all their options, both in and out of bankruptcy. This presentation will consist of two mock client consultations (one debtor-focused and one creditor-focused) discussing the pros and cons of various alternatives to bankruptcy. The presentation will culminate in a mock status conference before a federal district court in an action where the plaintiff is seeking the appointment of a federal receiver in a loan-enforcement action. This session also will provide an in-depth examination of assignments for the benefit of creditors, as well as state and federal receiverships.

Sponsored by Hinkle Law Firm LLC The panel will examine four distinct emerging issues in consumer cases that are related to the effects of COVID-19: (1) the decrease in cases; (2) remote signings and appearances; (3) national and local moratoriums on foreclosures and evictions and similar protective measures; and (4) the legislative efforts to increase the chapter 13 debt limits.

This year's ABI Talks, presented in the style of the ever-popular TED Talks, will focus on four timely topics: The Rhetoric and Reality of Student Debt, Not Your Parent’s Loan, Energy in Bankruptcy, and Health Care in Bankruptcy.

Unemployment rates are slowly dropping after hitting an all-time high in April of this year and remaining in the double digits for four months straight. However, the effects of the ongoing pandemic remain. Rent payments are down, and homeowners are delaying payments on their mortgages. The Federal Reserve has dropped interest rates to near-zero, and small business revenue nationwide is down nearly 20%, even after accounting for the thousands of businesses that have already closed for good. Congress, states and local governments are scrambling to put policies and programs in place that will help forestall financial collapse. As bankruptcy practitioners and scholars, this is our moment — or is it? This presentation will explore the role that bankruptcy policy can and should play in a global pandemic, discuss the role that bankruptcy policy has already begun to play, and query what factors may be limiting the effectiveness of bankruptcy policy in easing financial distress and limiting unnecessary business closures.

Presented by NACBA This panel will focus on recent cases that have reexamined the proper application of the Brunner standard without the punitive standards, as well as cases that have distinguished and explained portions of § 523(a)(8) and why they don’t apply to all private student loans. Finally, the panelists will discuss the effect that the CARES Act has had on student loans.