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Consumer Track: Consumer Class Actions This panel will explore the potential benefits and pitfalls of class actions by debtors/trustees against creditors in chapter 13 cases, which are highlighted by two recent decisions of the Fifth Circuit.

Consumer Track: When Divorce and Bankruptcy Collide, Breaking Up Is Hard to Do The panel will explore the overlapping and sometimes conflicting state and federal objectives and law that can lead to unfair results when a bankruptcy proceeding intervenes in a divorce case.

Consumer Track: The Appellate Process This panel will explore recent issues in appellate practice that are of interest to both consumer and business practitioners, including the ability to bypass intermediary appellate courts and take appeals directly to the circuit courts.

Consumer Track: Individual Conundrum—Chapter 7, 11 or 13? Deciding on the appropriate chapter for an individual contemplating a bankruptcy filing can be daunting. This panel will explore the considerations that guide the practitioner in advising individual clients in making this decision.

Three years of disappointing recovery have come at the cost of unprecedented policy actions, both in monetary and fiscal policy. Bar a major failure in resolving the "fiscal cliff" negotiations, the economic outlook may improve in 2013, but questions remain about what the "exit" strategy will be. Are new financial imbalances building into the economy? Are low interest rates fostering an excessive accumulation of private and public debt? How vulnerable the financial system and the corporate sector are to a normalization in interest rates? Mr. Laurenti will discuss how to navigate the risks for the US economy, and the scenarios that most likely shape the bankruptcy and turnaround business in 2013 and 2014.

Our industry experts have hand selected three industries that have seen a slate of recent filings or regulatory upheaval – clean energy, protein/ poultry, and healthcare-- and will examine if we’ve hit bottom or merely the tip of the iceberg.

From the 1987 Finley Kumble collapse to the spectacular 2012 Dewey LeBoeuf implosion, law firm bankruptcies have produced remarkable forum shopping, creative legal theories, conflicting case law, and painful reckonings for partners and their new firms. Panelists will discuss the economics and consequences of firm collapses, case administration challenges, and resulting litigation frenzies.

The panelists will discuss pending Chapter 9 cases involving a number of California cities including Stockton, San Bernardino, and Mammoth Lakes, along with matters particular to municipalities in California including the requirements on AB 506 and its gate-keeper function, the structure and enforcement municipal bonds in California borne out of unique California constitutional requirements, the checkpoints that must be navigated for cities to gain access to the bankruptcy courts and the constitutional limits on the bankruptcy court’s jurisdiction under the 11th Amendment. The panel will also address issues that arise in Chapter 9 cases.

Litigation claims are often the most valuable estate assets especially in our growing trend toward liquidating cases. This panel will explore litigation trends, strategies and alternative theories of recovery reflective of the need to focus on litigation in the absence of traditional reorganization. Pick up some helpful trial tips and practice pointers ranging from identifying causes of action, choosing your jurisdiction, engaging professionals, preparing experts and readying yourself for trial.

This panel will explore recent developments in several Ninth Circuit Chapter 11 plan cases, from contested new value plans and interest rate valuations in the cramdown context, 1111(b) elections, designating votes, plan mootness and dealing with the reversal of plan confirmation orders, classification, and ways to maximize the value of the estate post confirmation.