No CLE

This panel will cover unique bankruptcy issues affecting unincorporated debtors, including general and limited partnerships, limited liability companies and trusts. Beginning with issues of eligibility and authorization to file a petition, the panelists will cover questions that arise throughout the life of a bankruptcy case, including executory contracts, fiduciary-duty disputes, sales and pledges of ownership interests, and control over these noncorporate entities.

This panel will discuss how case law since Lehman has both narrowed and expanded the various safe harbor provisions contained in the Bankruptcy Code.

This panel will address the selection and use of expert witnesses, including tips on how to select an expert, how to prepare an expert and what a judge might find most useful.

In a riff on the popular television show “Shark Tank,” bankruptcy practitioners will pitch a panel of judicial “sharks” for requested modifications to recent Supreme Court/circuit-level decisions and timely bankruptcy issues.

Hosted by the Mediation and the Unsecured Trade Creditors Committees Formatted largely as a mock mediation session, this interactive panel will demonstrate best practices to prepare for, participate in, and successfully conclude a mediation session. Topics will include pre-mediation written submissions, preparing clients (and oneself) for a mediation session, managing the mediator and the client once the session begins, strategies for guiding a mediation session to a successful resolution, and tips for breaking an impasse.

Hosted by the International and Young & New Members Committees This panel will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of filing bankruptcy under chapter 15 vs. chapter 11 in the U.S. where the prospective debtor is a multinational company, and the potential consequences of each type of filing across the capital structure of the company (e.g., secured creditors, unsecured creditors, equity, etc.). The panelists, all ABI 2017 ""40 Under 40"" honorees, will contrast the insolvency laws of specific countries with the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, and explain how these comparisons can ultimately guide a company's decision on whether to file in the U.S. and, if so, under what chapter.

This panel will discuss safe harbors after Merit Management, the reach of the UFTA after Crystallex, and the preemption of creditor claims after Tribune and Physiotherapy Holdings, and will take a look at where the law is heading.

It is difficult to confirm reorganization plans in small business cases and individual chapter 11 cases. This panel will discuss best practices in getting these types of cases across the finish line.

Many of the challenges that exist in complex business cases are equally at play in small commercial cases. But whereas time and resources might be more abundant in the larger cases, small chapter 11 restructurings frequently demand a more organized — and affordable — process. In this session, the panelists will discuss strategies for efficient reorganizations in small commercial cases by examining different structures for maximizing success, including out-of-court restructuring alternatives, prearranged filings, disincorporation (the transfer of all assets to an individual owner, who then files) and mergers (the combining of entities to avoid multiple filings). The panel will also review Bankruptcy Code and local rules that can be utilized for a simpler, more efficient restructuring process.