No CLE

BAPCPA established several hurdles that debtors have to overcome in order to obtain a discharge of a confirmed plan. Confirmation of the plan in many respects is only the beginning of the process. This panel, which includes two chapter 13 trustees and an experienced creditors’ counsel and is moderated by an experienced debtors’ counsel, will explore the issues that arise after confirmation, including the completion of required tasks for a debtor to obtain a discharge. Issues to be discussed include plan modification, requirements imposed upon lenders, and duties imposed upon debtors to obtain discharge.

This panel will discuss the latest cross-border insolvency decisions from U.S. and Caribbean courts.

Every reorganized debtor’s chapter 11 confirmation order has a § 1129(a)(11) finding that confirmation is not likely to be followed by the liquidation or further need of financial reorganization of the reorganized debtor. Nevertheless, it is common to see chapter 22s and chapter 33s in bankruptcy courts. This panel of leading financial advisors and industry experts are on the front lines of successful and not-so-successful restructurings. They will also discuss the myriad reasons that chapter 22s and chapter 33s occur and the lessons learned from those cases.

As the financial health of many of our municipalities continues to deteriorate, this very timely discussion, with experts experienced in the largest cases, will provide the pros and cons of a chapter 9 filing.

This session will cover a variety of topics related to litigating claims in bankruptcy. It will explore both strategic considerations behind and the mechanics of asserting and contesting claims. Starting with the necessity and wisdom, or lack thereof, of filing proofs of claim, the program will go on to discuss the need for and sufficiency of supporting documentation, the mechanics of objecting to claims, the initial and shifting burdens of proof when a claim is contested, and the best practices in litigating contested claims from both the claimant and the estate representatives’ perspectives. The program will also cover issues regarding limitations on a bankruptcy court’s authority to adjudicate claims, estimation of claims and/or temporary allowance of claims, and late-filed claims, including the overlay of other nonbankruptcy statutes on such claims, most notably the recent case law relating to the impact of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act on late or expired claims.

Are lenders finding strategies to avoid the Code’s landlord protections? This panel will explore whether a debtor’s obligation to timely perform is being honored, rejection/assumption rules modified in DIP orders, use of nunc pro tunc rejection to minimize claims, and other issues in today’s retail cases.

As the value of commercial and residential real property is often in flux, especially in light of the Great Recession of 2008, the rights and obligations of interested parties, as well as their incentives and motivations, can change. This panel will discuss the implications of changing valuations of residential real property in chapter 7 and 13 cases, as well as residential and commercial real property in chapter 11 cases.

Although a creditors’ committee represents the interests of all general unsecured creditors, committee members often have competing interests. This panel discussion will explore the types of conflicts and intercreditor issues that can arise, the impact of those issues on the ability of the committee to perform its duties, and how disputes among committee members are resolved.