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Rarely has a hashtag so completely captured the urgency and gravity of a major shift in national consciousness. This panel of experts will lead an interactive discussion on issues confronting the legal profession in the #MeToo world, examining legal, practical and ethical considerations through a series of vignettes. What should be done about the difficult client that represents a significant portion of firm revenue? What are best practices for lawyers in supervisory and managerial roles? What resources are available to attorneys who find themselves subjected to inappropriate or actionable conduct? How may explicit or implicit bias and harassment play out in the adversary system and in negotiations, litigation and the courtroom? Finally, what is the role of the judiciary in addressing these critical issues? The panel will tackle these questions head-on in a plenary ripped from today's headlines.

This panel will review the implications — both good and bad — of the new plan and Rule changes from the debtor, creditor and trustee perspective and discuss what is working, what is not, workarounds, and what further reform is needed.

Many of the challenges that exist in complex business cases are equally at play in small commercial cases. But whereas time and resources might be more abundant in the larger cases, small chapter 11 restructurings frequently demand a more organized — and affordable — process. In this session, the panelists will discuss strategies for efficient reorganizations in small commercial cases by examining different structures for maximizing success, including out-of-court restructuring alternatives, prearranged filings, disincorporation (the transfer of all assets to an individual owner, who then files) and mergers (the combining of entities to avoid multiple filings). The panel will also review Bankruptcy Code and local rules that can be utilized for a simpler, more efficient restructuring process.

Recent court decisions will impact future commercial restructuring. The panel will provide an overview of the four most pressing issues in commercial restructuring over the past year, including debt recharacterization, third party releases, cram down interest rates, and rights of dissenting bondholders in out of court workouts. In each instance, our expert panelists will provide an overview of the issue at hand, recent case law developments, and considerations of their impact on future restructurings.

This panel will consider how to plan for and resolve disputes in family businesses/closely held partnerships/limited liability companies when there is a deadlock or unplanned event. What happens when the business is in financial distress, senior management suddenly dies, or ownership/management are in disagreement on the next steps for the business? The panelists will debate from various perspectives how best to navigate the corporate form to keep a good business model as a going concern. Issues may arise when the company’s president dies/walks away without a succession plan. How can the company continue? What about where the entity is a single-purpose one and commencing bankruptcy requires unanimity — are there fiduciary duties to consider? Different factual scenarios will be explored from the perspective of both secured lenders and company counsel, ranging from governance issues to enforcement issues (e.g., no succession plan, deadlocks on voting, no life insurance on president, and lender’s collateral). The panel will focus on considerations on voting, transactional and other governance issues both in and out of court.

Is the legal profession’s vision for the law firm of the future already outdated? Can the law firm of today cope with the incredibly dynamic and changing competitive legal services environment, or will it go the way of the dinosaur? Greater and new competition in the forms of artificial intelligence, disruptive technology, the Big Four accounting firms, enlarged in-house legal staffs, and alternative legal service providers are eating law firms’ lunch. Clients are demanding service, efficiency and transparency in a way that puts tremendous pressure on the traditional law firm model. On top of that, the battle for the best talent is intensifying while the very nature of that talent is transforming as millennials start to dominate the talent pool. Our panel will discuss what a law firm must do to evolve and survive and how it potentially can thrive in a rapidly changing legal market.

This panel will address various ethical issues including conflicts, chapter 7 bundling and payment arrangements, and chapter 11 retention and fee applications. Learn how to identify potential conflicts, and discover strategies to deal with them. The panel will also discuss the negotiation of fee agreements before and the application for payment of fees during bankruptcy cases.