No CLE

Past Presidents’ Debate: Michael P. Richman Hunton & Williams LLP; New York Deborah D. Williamson Cox Smith Matthews Incorporated; San Antonio Resolved: Secured creditors should be required to fund the payment of all administrative claims and make a distribution to general unsecured creditors as a condition of cleansing substantially all of the debtors’ assets through a § 363 sale process. Judicial Debate: Hon. Kevin J. Carey U.S. Bankruptcy Court (D. Del.); Wilmington Hon. Frank J. Santoro U.S. Bankruptcy Court (E.D. Va.); Norfolk Resolved: A claim is not impaired for purposes of § 1129(a)(10) if the alteration of the rights in question arises solely from the debtor’s exercise of discretion, because § 1129(a)(10) recognizes impairment only to the extent that it is driven by economic need. Consumer Debate: John Rao National Consumer Law Center; Boston Brett Weiss Chung & Press, PC; Greenbelt, Md. Resolved: The Bankruptcy Rules and Forms should require that a national chapter 13 official plan form be used in all cases.

This is the second in a series of presentations geared toward understanding the deal-document side of a common transaction in a chapter 11 case. The panel will focus on DIP financing agreements, specifically what is behind the representations and warranties, covenants, default provisions and remedy provisions: Do differences exist if the DIP lender is the pre-petition lender rather than a new provider of funding? Are there deal-document differences if it is a syndicated lender group rather than a single lender? Just as important is what the panel will not focus on: This is not intended to be a discussion of § 364 and the means for obtaining approval of, or objecting to, a DIP financing motion. Rather, the presentation will be by those who understand and can explain the provisions of, the rationale behind, and the drafting and negotiation of the DIP financing agreement’s provisions.

This panel will explore the advantages and disadvantages of a 363 sale from the perspective of a purchaser, secured lender and company, addressing such issues as timing, costs, imposing sale milestones, releases and credit-bidding.

Section 363 sales are frequently invoked in an effort to render the debt side of a balance sheet irrelevant. Buyers and sellers generally spend much of their time negotiating pre-sale issues, such as bidding procedures, “break-up fees” and other bidding protections, perhaps relying on the “free and clear” language of § 363(f) to absolve the buyer of any liabilities associated with the assets. Buyers at § 363 sales typically assume that they take the assets free and clear of all liens and claims. Lending credence to the old adage “caveat emptor,” this program will focus on the issues that may prevent assets sold under § 363 from being cleansed of all liens, claims and interests, and will examine the limits of “free and clear” sales under § 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. The panel will identify those claims that may come back and haunt a buyer, no matter what a § 363 sale order provides, paying particular attention to cases where holders of claims that were unknown or perhaps unknowable at the time of a sale come in post-closing and successfully assert liability against a purchaser.

Chapter 13 practice is complicated, and the days when a debtor’s 13 plan was quickly confirmed are few and far between. In addition to proposing confirmable chapter 13 plans, debtors’ attorneys (and in some cases chapter 13 trustees) are litigating defective mortgage claims and contentious objections to confirmation. How can debtors’ counsel ensure that they are compensated for these complicated cases that not only sit on the bankruptcy court’s docket, but often end up on appeal? This panel will discuss the challenges and practicalities of compensating chapter 13 debtors’ counsel in this ever-evolving area of bankruptcy law.

This panel will present an in-depth discussion as to what rights and obligations a licensor and/or licensee has in a bankruptcy case. Section 365(c)(1), (g) and (n) will be highlighted, as well as the impact that the Sunbeam decision will have on the courts.

This panel will discuss the Supreme Court’s decision in Bellingham, the coming decision in Wellness, as well as other topical issues of interest.

Using Available Technologies in Bankruptcy Litigation — From the Basics to the Cutting Edge

- What Every Restructuring Professional Should Know about Financial Statements and Monthly Operating Reports - What Every Restructuring Professional Should Know about Using Financial Documents as Evidence - What Every Restructuring Professional Should Know about Hedge Funds