No CLE

The panelists will delve into issues that arise during an LLC bankruptcy. What happens when parties contract out of fiduciary duties? What effect does bankruptcy have on key provisions in an LLC operating agreement, including management and ownership rights and remedies, and what happens when a bankruptcy proceeding is initiated against the LLC or one or more of its members? Learn more about two recent decisions in which bankruptcy courts refused to enforce LLC agreement provisions requiring the respective LLCs to obtain the unanimous consent of their members in order to seek bankruptcy relief (Intervention Energy, Lake Michigan). Finally, the panelists will discuss possible hidden fraudulent-conveyance issues relating to tax attributes. Do LLCs insulate management, and should releases be provided?

Given the popularity of the Limited Liability Company as a business organization, in recent years insolvency professionals are encountering LLC's more than ever. This is a trend that we expect to continue. This program provide online learners with a review of the major issues that arise in such cases from the debtor's, the trustees' and the creditors' standpoints. This webinar is useful for those without deep bankruptcy experience who want to keep abreast of developments in this fast-paced area, as well as experienced bankruptcy practitioners.

This panel will explore the evolution of real estate financing structures leading up to today’s market, and discusses how current trends and varying structures can affect results in a future workout or bankruptcy.

This session will examine three issues: (1) the role of management in § 363 sales (how to make sure that management plays the role of neutral stakeholder throughout the plan and/or § 363 process; what actions management might tend to take when it favors a particular bidder in the process; what happens when management wants to participate in the § 363 process); (2) managing management’s interests, including participation in the bankruptcy process (how to address management’s sometimes parochial concerns and keep them from adversely impacting the bankruptcy; the interplay between management’s desires and the desires of the fulcrum class as new owners post-restructuring; issues around management compensation (e.g., employment contracts, incentive plans, severance policies), including the assumption or rejection of existing contracts, plans or policies and/or the implementation of new ones and U.S. Trustee objections; who represents management and when management should look to cut its own deal); and (3) labor issues (issues around benefit plans; whether § 1113 is the only way to eliminate a successor clause (A&P); whether § 1113 is an option if the collective bargaining agreement expires or is expired (Hostess, Trump, Journal Register); whether the union has a claim for damages if rejection relief under § 1113 is granted).

Although mediation is a recommended method of dispute resolution by many government agencies, in the bankruptcy context it is often hard to get government litigants to the table. This panel will explore the Issues and methods of mediating disputes in commercial cases that involve governments and such government agencies as the SEC, EPA, and FCC, as well as state attorneys general and relevant state agencies. Issues to be discussed include how to get the decision maker into the room and how to get a governmental party to the table when its policy agenda may go beyond the business issues in the case at hand. In some instances, there may be perceived statutory impediments or “conflicts” between the government agency as regulator and as creditor. The focus will be on restructuring-determinative issues involving government agencies and adversary proceedings between debtors or other creditor constituencies and government agencies. The program will not include discussions of chapter 9 mediations, which involve very different issues. The panel will include judges, mediators and public and private litigants with experience in this type of mediation.

Financial difficulties, especially bankruptcy, are among the most traumatic events an individual can experience. This session will focus on some of the mental health issues that can arise when advising clients with financial difficulties, and in filing and going through bankruptcy. How do mental health issues influence consumer credit choices? What resources are available for you to refer to your clients to help them cope with financial difficulties and bankruptcy? How do mental health issues impact a debtor’s ability to obtain a discharge of student loans? What legal standing must be shown to take action on behalf of a mentally ill individual who is either filing a bankruptcy case or is a debtor in a pending case? What are the best practices for interacting with debtors who have mental health issues?

Most individual chapter 7s proceed seamlessly from petition to discharge, but an effective practitioner must be able to identify and manage those difficult cases where obstacles to discharge abound. How do you identify chapter 7s with potential problems (debtors with businesses, searching public records for assets and transfers, requesting and reviewing documents in advance of filing, effective communication, etc.)? The session will also discuss how to manage chapter 7s that go sideways (staying on top of trustee document-production requests, 2004 exams, objections to discharge, and negotiating effectively with the trustee), how to get paid (supplemental 2016(b) statements, new retainers and retention agreements, what’s covered by the original retainer agreement), and when and how to get out (declining to file messy cases to avoid consequences for you (malpractice) or your client), as well as withdrawing for lack of post-petition payment for new work or client cooperation.

Join this session for an update on Puerto Rico and to discuss recent developments and ramifications beyond Puerto Rico; equitable mootness (JeffCo); and reviewing pension issues in prior and existing municipal bankruptcies, as well as prospective municipal bankruptcies (e.g., Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut).