Consumer

This discussion will keep attendees informed about the most recent developments on the most powerful procedural remedy in bankruptcy: the automatic stay. Learn the latest strategies and nuances in the still-developing case law concerning the stay.

How do hedge funds and other distressed investors think about the world? Our panelists know the answers! Come and learn how distressed investors examine opportunities in bankruptcy cases and how they think about pursuing their objectives during a bankruptcy case.

This session will provide guidance on how to frame your argument, avoid jargon, provide the appropriate statutory framework and strengthen your case when presenting arguments before nonbankruptcy judges.

Commercial chapter 11 has suffered double-digit percentage decreases in in the number of filings in each of the past three years. This plenary session will be conducted by a law firm marketing expert, who will provide advice on obtaining market share in a down market. Jim Durham, chief marketing and business development officer at Littler Mendelson and author of The Essential Little Book of Great Lawyering and The Law Firm Marketer’s Guide to Survival, will provide marketing advice, including getting known, getting referrals, maximizing client satisfaction and increasing profit.

This panel will explore options for dealing with the difficult situations experienced by consumer debtors who on the surface fail to qualify for relief under chapter 7, have too much debt for relief under chapter 13 jurisdictional limits, and are unable to satisfy the absolute priority rule to qualify for an individual chapter 11 case.

A debtor’s real property is worth less than the debt it secures. Taxes, HOA fees, fines and liability for accidents can pile up on property that a debtor can’t afford and no longer wants. This panel will examine whether a debtor can get rid of the property and these problems in bankruptcy.

This panel will conduct a mock oral argument at the conclusion of a confirmation hearing in an individual chapter 11 bankruptcy case. Issues unique to individuals who file chapter 11 will be explored by counsel for the debtor and an objecting creditor, as well as by the three-judge panel.

Judges will respond to questions submitted from attendees in advance of the event.

Debtors and their counsel want a smooth, quick chapter 7 experience and discharge: a simple no-asset case that will proceed promptly through a short, uneventful first meeting of creditors, to discharge and case closing in a matter of a few months. The chapter 7 trustee stands in the way, though, as he/she looks for discharges to deny and assets to pay creditors. Forewarned is forearmed: This seminar will explore recent skirmishes in the struggle between the impecunious and their trustees, including the important areas of homestead exemption and mortgage-lien avoidance, avoidance of large pre-filing family expense payments, and nondisclosure issues.