No CLE

Join this superstar panel in exploring the very latest developments in consumer bankruptcy law.

You’ve filed the petition and schedules and attended the § 341 meeting. What happens next? This session will focus on the ongoing representation and responsibilities of a debtor’s attorney after filing a chapter 7 petition and completing the § 341 meeting to ensure that the debtor gets and keeps a discharge and any assets they are entitled to. What should a debtor’s attorney do if the asset values that the debtor lists on his or her schedules change after the petition is filed? What ongoing responsibilities does a debtor’s attorney have regarding reaffirmation agreements and assumption of leases by the debtor? What can a debtor’s attorney do to monitor and ensure the prompt administration of assets in the chapter 7 case by the trustee? Can the debtor’s attorney move for abandonment of assets that the trustee is not administering, and what are the legal standards for abandonment? How can a debtor’s attorney best counsel a chapter 7 debtor to cooperate with the trustee so as to avoid jeopardizing their discharge or, if a discharge has already been granted, to avoid creating a basis for revocation of discharge? What are the standards for revocation of discharge?

Even beginning creditors’ attorneys know that the automatic stay prevents them from enforcing their clients’ rights to their collateral. But what can they do in chapter 7 and 13 cases, and when should they do it? This session will focus on the basic legal issues facing secured creditors in these consumer cases and the development of effective and economical strategies for dealing with them. What are the legal standards to obtain relief from the automatic stay? What do the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and the local bankruptcy rules require as attachments? What must the motion allege, and who has the burden of proof if an objection is made? Do these standards differ in chapters 7 and 13? When is the right time to bring a motion to lift a stay in a chapter 7 or 13 case? Should you seek to have a chapter 7 debtor reaffirm your debt? If a chapter 7 debtor doesn’t reaffirm but just keeps making the payments, what should you tell your client to do? How does § 365(p) work, and do you need to have the court involved? Loan modifications are common in chapter 13, but is there such a thing as a loan modification in a chapter 7? Can the court reopen a case to approve a post-discharge reaffirmation or loan modification in chapter 7? Can a chapter 13 debtor force your client to take property they don’t want by surrendering the property or vesting it in your client?

While financial and economic issues generally dictate whether a restructuring is likely to be successful, the success of a restructuring often will be meaningfully impacted, either positively or negatively, by more intangible factors that are at play. This presentation will examine the ways in which restructuring professionals, rather than the company’s balance sheet and industry outlook, may materially affect the restructuring landscape, including how such professionals approach financial and operational distress, prepare the restructuring game plan, communicate with the client and its stakeholders, and generally manage the restructuring process. Restructuring professionals’ adherence to applicable ethical obligations and professionalism best practices are critical to this process. Learn the essential “dos” and “don’ts” and other “rules of the road” for professionals in restructurings.

This panel will discuss threshold considerations, risks and benefits of, and in-court and out-of-court strategies for entering into, an RSA from the perspectives of the debtor and the fulcrum creditor, as well as other key constituents. We will also survey outcomes in recent cases that were commenced with RSAs in place.

Be the first to understand what new Bankruptcy Rule 3015 means to you, if anything (Rule 3015 can be elected or not in a given district), and to fellow attorneys in nearby districts. Our panel of experts will discuss how certain districts are implementing this new rule.

This interactive nuts-and-bolts panel will discuss three phases of settlements in the context of a bankruptcy case: (1) negotiating a settlement, including evaluating the benefits of settlement versus litigation risk and expense, negotiating tactics and strategies, and the role of the mediator; (2) drafting term sheets and settlement agreements, an overview of the law on the enforceability of term sheets and settlement agreements (both pre- and post-court approval), and the components of the settlement agreement; and (3) consummating the settlement, with an emphasis on Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9019 standards, the necessary components of a motion to approve compromise, presentation to the bankruptcy court, the bankruptcy court’s role in evaluating the settlement and the court’s order approving the settlement, the nonbankruptcy aspects of a settlement, and post-settlement actions.