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Find out the latest happenings in all the Southern Districts. What can impact your practice? What should?

The panel will discuss the pitfalls that chapter 13 debtors encounter when dealing with claims that may or may not be dischargeable or have priority status.

Overview of the legal landscape for mediation; selecting the mediator (identifying the essential traits and differing styles of a mediator that are suitable for a particular controversy); potential attorney conflicts in mediation; preparing yourself and your client for the mediation; effective use of pre-mediation statements; good, bad and ugly strategies for opening statements; preparing for potential roadblocks in a mediation; effective bargaining strategies; utilizing the mediator to your best advantage; and documenting the settlement agreement.

This panel is designed to give practical advice, including checklists, to attorneys, lenders and other insolvency professionals dealing with a pre-petition receivership action in state or federal court, as well as the appointment of a chief restructuring officer (CRO) in a chapter 11 case, with an emphasis on hotels and multi-family/multi-use developments.

This panel will examine the risks associated with purchasing claims and debt positions for strategic purposes in bankruptcy cases. Issues to be discussed include whether a claim can be purchased free and clear of any defenses to the claim (KB Toys), designation of claims (DBSD), and other risks associated with the purchase of secured and unsecured claims.

Although many "experts" predicted that we would be out of the foreclosure crisis well before 2013, many are still dealing with the ramifications of the burst real estate bubble. This session will explore current issues regarding mortgage claims and real property issues in chapter 13 bankruptcy cases, including how the National Mortgage Settlement affects debtors, Bankruptcy Rules 3001 and 3002.1, and general chapter 13 confirmation and cramdown issues.

The panel will address, in an interactive format, the equitable decisions rendered by courts that may modify, diminish or impact secured claims or secured creditors’ pre-petition agreements. For example, the program will cover the limitations on the post-petition effects of a security interest based on the equities of the case, surcharge issues and § 363(k) cause to preclude credit-bidding, as well as other equitable theories.

This panel will discuss the creative ways that debtors, committees and settling parties are utilizing channeling injunctions, bar orders and settlements to curtail continued litigation to facilitate settlements in bankruptcy. In particular, the panelists will cover the applicable standards and the benefits that can be obtained for a bankruptcy estate and all settling parties.

As if the Bankruptcy Code doesn’t give us enough to ponder, bankruptcy practitioners must consider the impact of the U.S. Tax Code on the decision-making process. This session will address the Internal Revenue Code “section 1398 short year” election and separate entity rules, discharge of tax claims, cancellation of debt (COD) income, and tax issues arising from mortgage modification, foreclosure, and transfer or abandonment of property.

There are many changes occurring in consumer bankruptcy law. Find out the latest developments in your neighborhood and around the country.