No CLE

This business/consumer crossover panel will tackle various issues relating to small-business cases, including the formation issues involving corporate governance documents and restructuring issues, as well as the sale of minority interests and the filing of the small business and small business owner.

The Limited Liability Company is an ever more popular business entity structure. Its popularity makes perfect sense in that it is designed to limit owners’ personal liability and to provide greater contractual flexibility in all aspects of company ownership, management, allocations, and distributions, among many other things. LLCs may also offer significant tax benefits. However, state LLC law and its interplay with federal bankruptcy law is a minefield of trouble for the LLC debtor or where one or more members of an LLC are the debtors in a bankruptcy proceeding. This panel will explore the unique issues that LLCs present in bankruptcy. Believe it, if you have not seen this issue yet, you are about to!

Ethical considerations in the preparation and presentation of financial consultants as expert witnesses and other ethics hot topics including recent developments in disclosure requirements and civility.

Hosted by the Bankruptcy Litigation and Young and New Members Committees

Repayment of student loans is a serious problem for many individuals. This session will focus on both nonbankruptcy and bankruptcy ways of dealing with student loans. What nonbankruptcy options exist to deal with student loans? What are income-based repayment programs, and do they work? What other nonbankruptcy creative strategies can be employed? What does it take to discharge a student loan under § 523(a)(8)? Is the Brunner test the only option? What other legal standards may apply? What are the options in chapter 13? Do student loan claims count for purposes of eligibility debt limits? Can student loans be separately classified and paid differently than other unsecured claims? Should a chapter 13 debtor file a § 523 complaint and, if so, when? What are some possible legislative solutions to student loan problems?

An examination and debate of the case law, political and legislative developments that could impact the student loan crisis and whether under the current climate there is any chance of or need for change.

A look at the Supreme Court and bankruptcy law, with a focus on recent and pending cases.

This panel will feature a discussion among key players in the Takata Automotive case addressing its complexities, including significant cross-border issues and the world’s largest automobile recall, which involved tens of millions of vehicles worldwide.

Blockchain technology has the tech and business sectors abuzz. Legislators, regulators and the judiciary struggle to keep up with the breakneck pace of development. Much of the initial focus has been on Bitcoin, the virtual currency that was the first major blockchain-based application, but interest and activity by both industry and policymakers is quickly shifting toward broader uses of blockchains. A blockchain, also sometimes called a distributed ledger, is essentially an online database that, instead of being controlled by a central authority, is created, managed and used in a decentralized way by its users on a peer-to-peer network. The shared, transparent and unalterable nature of a blockchain creates the perfect environment for the transfer of assets (physical, informational or financial). A blockchain network eliminates the need for a central record system or intermediary to establish ownership and trust, allowing individuals with no previous relationship to exchange such assets in a secure manner. This technology is still in its infancy, but it is fast giving rise to “initial coin offerings” as a new form of raising capital, massive (and wildly speculative) investment in various virtual currencies, and other transformative technologies. Although blockchains’ possibilities are exciting, the uncertainty and instability surrounding many blockchain applications, certainly including cryptocurrencies, is likely to result in significant distressed scenarios requiring specialized knowledge of both this extraordinary technology and insolvency law.

This panel will discuss and analyze the New Model Chapter 13 Plan and other changes in the Bankruptcy Rules that became effective in December 2017, the process of implementation, and any issues that have arisen since the new Rules took effect.