No CLE

IP experts will shed light on the mysteries of understanding IP law and navigating the often puzzling sales processes, drawing from their experiences in Nortel, Kodak and other important cases.

This panel will discuss the update on mortgage relief programs; litigation between homeowners and lenders; intersection with bankruptcy and motions for relief from stay.

Was the deal ill-conceived? Was the borrower undercapitalized/overleveraged? Was it the victim of intervening circumstances and unforeseeable events? In today’s covenant-light world, more financial players and operating companies’ owners are availing themselves of relatively accessible credit facilities to cash in on the perceived value of entities with attractive balance sheets. But what happens if the company later fails and ends up in bankruptcy? Are redeeming shareholders really supposed to be the guarantors of the deal’s success?

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A session designed for new(er) attorneys or those looking to brush up on the basics of a Chapter 13. The esteemed panel will discuss the Chapter 13 process from inception to discharge (or as much as they can get done in an hour). Topics will include: Initial consultation issues; Confirmation of the plan, including, how to prepare the plan and how to address objections to confirmation; Loan modifications, including how to properly request one and how to deal with an approved/denied modification; Post-confirmation plan modifications—what you can, should, and can’t do; What’s next when the Debtor passes away; and Getting to the finish line (discharge). View Materials

Beyond the basics, the panel will discuss topics of importance to the practitioner who is interested in revisiting some of the most common questions and issues in Chapter 7 practice, including: unusual titling of assets and related exemption issues – is it or isn’t it mom’s house; resolving matters before getting to the courthouse; how did that amended Schedule B and C to add a bank account result in an objection to the cat? Can the Trustee even do that?; and to round it all out, a little bit of ‘horseshoes, hand grenades, and….voluntary petitions? (also known as: how accurate is accurate-enough?)’

The key elements to trying contested matters are planning, writing effective pleadings, knowing rules of evidence, knowing when to use expert testimony and having a strong oral argument. The techniques, among others, are discussed in this panel.

Even before the first discussion in Newport at the 2011 ABI Consumer Forum, practitioners have experienced the difficulties inherent with managing a client with a mental illness or impairment. There can be even more challenges to managing any client matter when an opposing party suffers from a mental illness, especially when that party is self-represented. This panel of experienced practitioners and mental health professionals will discuss the evolving legal and practical issues surrounding mental illness and its impact on the bankruptcy system, as well as discuss methods of remaining calm in what can be an unpredictable and increasingly unavoidable storm.