No CLE

Jeffrey N. Pomerantz, Moderator ABI Vice President-Education Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP; Los Angeles Resolved: Curbing pension rights in a chapter 9 case is constitutional. Con: Babette A. Ceccotti Cohen, Weiss & Simon LLP; New York Resolved: Committee member fees are not payable as part of a Chapter 11 plan. Pro: Nan Roberts Eitel Executive Office for U.S. Trustees; Washington, D.C. Con: Dennis F. Dunne Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP; New York Resolved: A chapter 13 debtor may employ § 363 to effect a free-and-clear short sale of his/her principal residence notwithstanding § 1322(b)(2) and the secured creditor’s objection. Pro: Hon. Eugene R. Wedoff U.S. Bankruptcy Court (N.D. Ill.); Chicago Con: Hon. Mary Grace Diehl U.S. Bankruptcy Court (N.D. Ga.); Atlanta

Commission Recommendations on Resolving Court Splits: Coming Soon to a Judicial Opinion Near You ABI's Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11 identified more than 30 splits in case law on important issues. Such a split of authority results in delay, increased litigation costs and above all, uncertainty -- imposing a kind of "ambiguity tax" on the system, as one witness put it in testimony before the Commission. The recommendations contained in the Commission's final report, in many cases, can be implemented by judicial opinion at the bankruptcy court or court of appeals level, without need for action by Congress. This program featuring some of the most experienced and thoughtful judges on the bench today, will assess the Commission recommendations, and identify some that might be effected soon.

Courts and commentators have long agreed that the Trust Indenture Act (TIA) provides protection against majority amendment to certain core terms. Given recent aggressive maneuvers in mega-cases, the TIA has become a weapon of choice for bondholders to fight back. More pressing questions, however, concern the breadth of this protection in nonconsensual debt restructurings. Should the TIA protect the ability, and not merely the formal right, to receive payment in some circumstances? Is it limited to conduct that disenfranchises the minority, or does it have broader uses as a weapon against unilateral conduct by the issuer that hurts bondholders’ recovery?

The Final Report of the Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11 proposes the most comprehensive modernization of restructuring law in a generation, including several recommendations affecting valuation methods, use of experts and disclosures by the reorganizing debtor. Hear a panel of commissioners and the Commission's reporter discuss the proposals and their impact on professionals.

As a result of falling energy prices, experts expect bankruptcy filings in the energy sector to increase, especially those in the oil and gas industry. Bankruptcy cases involving energy companies raise unique issues due to the interplay among the Bankruptcy Code, federal and state laws, the regulatory structure governing the energy industry, and the political and practical realities of the industry’s significance on national, regional and local levels. This webinar will explore the unique challenges that can arise in a § 363 sale of the assets of a business involved in the energy industry, with a particular emphasis on oil and gas bankruptcies.

This ABI Live Webinar — New Developments in Student Loans: Need to Know — will focus on three areas: dischargeability litigation, treatment in Chapter 13 and the status of student loans as a national economic crisis. Presented by members of ABI’s Consumer Committee, the webinar will include perspectives from both the debtor and lender sides, offering practitioners valuable balanced insights that they can use in their daily practice.

Presented by ABI's Labor and Employment Committee, this webinar will address current employee- and labor-related issues in chapter 11 and out-of-court restructurings, including: (a) whether private-equity sponsors may be subject to pension fund withdrawal liability under ERISA in light of the First Circuit’s Sun Capital decision; (b) whether pension plan withdrawal liability is entitled to administrative claim status; and (c) the status of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s moratorium on 4062(e) enforcement. Attorneys and other restructuring professionals who deal with the PBGC will learn about current developments in this dynamic and changing area of law, which plays an important role in many reorganizations today.

The trial team in this session will explore strategies to quickly discover essential facts relating to substantive and procedural legal defenses by discussing the use of discovery, the proper use of and best practices for motions for summary judgment and developing the summary judgment record, and strategies for opposing summary judgment in a contested matter to which Part VII of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure apply. The context will be an objection to a proof of claim asserting legal defenses, including improper interest charges, based on a hypothetical case. The panelists will conduct several mock strategy sessions and a mock summary judgment hearing, and offer commentary from the trial team members.

G. Eric Brunstad, Jr. (Dechert) and Dylan Trache (Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP) will discuss the Supreme Court’s ASARCO opinion, the practical impact of the opinion on your practice, and developing case law and arguments to be made in defending your fees. Is there a "work-around" where the retention agreement legally permits professionals to be compensated for defending fee awards? ABI will seek 1.25 hours of general CLE credit in 60-minute-hour states and 1.5 hours of credit in 50-minute-hour states. CLE-Approved States: ABI’s live webinars and teleconferences ordinarily receive CLE credit in AL, CA, DE, GA, IL, MN, NE, NH, NJ, NY (approved jurisdiction policy), PA, TN and TX. ABI will obtain approval in additional states. Credit hours granted are subject to approval from each state, which may not be determined prior to the program.

This is the second of three webinars stemming from ABI's recently published book Fraud and Forensics: Piercing Through the Deception in a Commercial Fraud Case. Each webinar takes an in-depth look at areas of specialty, challenge and reward for forensic accountants and the professionals who work with them in commercial fraud cases. The third webinar will be: FRAUD AND FORENSICS: THE LAWYER AND FORENSIC ACCOUNTANT WORKING TOGETHER - JANUARY TBD This webinar will focus on the role of the forensic accountant as an expert in a commercial fraud case. Featuring two authors of the recently published book Fraud and Forensics: Piercing Through the Deception in a Commercial Fraud Case, the presentation will offer tips for both the forensic accountant and the lawyer for writing an effective expert report. Listen also to a retired bankruptcy judge explain what the trier of fact wants to hear in expert testimony and how to deliver persuasive testimony.