No CLE

This session is a nonlegal overview of the current state of the coal and oil & gas industries and will provide a primer on terminology, extraction methods and related industries. It will also address how energy workouts and restructurings are different from traditional restructurings, and why (with a particular focus on how these companies are financed and their operations are structured — i.e., lease rights, management/servicing agreements, etc.).

This session is a nonlegal overview of the current state of the coal and oil & gas industries and will provide a primer on terminology, extraction methods and related industries. It will also address how energy workouts and restructurings are different from traditional restructurings, and why (with a particular focus on how these companies are financed and their operations are structured — i.e., lease rights, management/servicing agreements, etc.).

This panel will explore the trend of private-equity firms and hedge funds favoring out-of-court workouts (with or without a pre-packaged or pre-arranged bankruptcy case) rather than traditional chapter 11 cases for achieving their restructuring goals. The panel will also debate whether the Chapter 11 Reform Commission’s recommendations adequately address such issues. Cases to be discussed include Tribune Co. fraudulent conveyance litigation, Sun Capital, ICL Holding and Sabine Oil & Gas Corp., et al.

Mortgage escrow accounts remain a mystery in many cases as debtors’ and creditors’ attorneys both struggle to understand the calculations set forth in them and the effect they have on chapter 13 cases. This panel will focus on escrow accounts, as well as new proof-of-claim forms and how they treat escrow accounts.

This session will focus on a very hot topic in consumer bankruptcy cases: debts owed by a debtor for overpayment of unemployment compensation. Learn about the automated process used by the State of Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency. What can be discharged under § 523(a)(2)(A) and (a)(7)? What are the nondischargeability differences between chapters 7 and 13? Are the Agency’s procedures for contesting a determination of overpayments sufficient to create a collateral estoppel argument in a later bankruptcy case? The panelists will educate the attendees both about the process used to obtain unemployment benefits and the potential issues that the payment of unemployment benefits can cause in a later bankruptcy case.

Creditors seemingly rarely get paid in full in a bankruptcy, and without allowed claims, they can pretty much forget about getting anything at all. This panel will discuss the recent developments in claims litigation and strategies employed to maximize returns in bankruptcy cases for creditors (and possibly debtors).

This is the second part of a two-part panel that will cover a potpourri of current hot topics being litigated in chapter 7 and 13 cases, with a special focus on LVNV v. Crawford and related litigation, consumer protection (including the basics of credit reporting and regulatory actions), mortgage modifications and post-discharge actions, and the UST’s enforcement activities.