No CLE

Many bankruptcy cases have property that is partly owned by the debtor and partly owned by a nondebtor. This session will address some of the issues that can arise for debtors, creditors and trustees in these circumstances. Can a chapter 7 trustee administer property that is co-owned by a nondebtor? Under what circumstances can such property be partitioned? What steps can a nondebtor co-owner take to protect his or her interest in estate property? What about equitable title vs. legal title? What rights does the nonfiling co-debtor have? When does the co-debtor stay apply? How does having parents on property/bank accounts impact the debtor and the bankruptcy estate?

This panel will address the psychology, mindfulness and strategies for dealing with tough clients and tough ethical issues.

The panel will discuss the state of distressed and bankruptcy related investing, including where they currently see opportunities, their thoughts on the credit cycle, what may drive the next wave of bankruptcies, the potential effects and repercussions of the leveraged loan market, the role of CDS and the “empty creditor” dynamic, and the impact of BDC’s, CLO’s and direct lending firms.

The panel will discuss the fiduciary duties of officers and directors under Delaware and other applicable state law, including the duty of care and the duty of loyalty, when the business-judgment rule applies to the conduct of officers and directors, and when a higher standard (such as enhanced review or entire fairness) applies their conduct.

Cash-collateral, DIP-financing, § 363 bid-procedure and assumption-of-restructuring-support-agreement orders all enter into the early stages of a chapter 11 case, and all have the potential to dictate how the case will end. Some argue that setting a firm course for the case in the early days promotes efficiency and recognizes the financial realities posed by current capital structures. Others argue that those same orders, fashioned by a small subset of the creditor constituencies, preclude all but those at the top of the capital structure from having an effective voice in the case. The panelists include people on both sides of that debate, and the discussion will feature such topics as benchmarks in DIP financing and cash-collateral orders, recent developments in bid-procedure orders such as the recent approval by some courts of multiple breakup fees and of a no-shop clause, and just how far a restructuring support agreement can go in a pre-negotiated case.