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This year the conference opens with ABI Talks, one of our highest-rated programs ever! Based on the incredibly popular “TED Talks” format, ABI Talks address diverse and interesting bankruptcy topics. If you consider yourself a bankruptcy guru, or just want to be one, you will not want to miss this featured session! DID THAT REALLY HAPPEN IN COURT TODAY? Judge Carey will take a reminiscent trip through a typical day in court by recounting the successful presentations and skill sets employed by lawyers that work really well for him, as well as the ones that don’t — all in an entertaining and informative way. #METOO: WHERE I’VE BEEN, AND WHERE BANKRUPTCY PROFESSIONALS ARE GOING Cathy Hershcopf graduated from law school in 1985 and entered into “big law” restructuring practice immediately — a world where women were rarely found. Her personal journey is one that will resonate, especially in today’s environment. Her impactful talk will also present, in an interactive format, several challenging fact scenarios from the legal workplace for the audience to consider. SOVEREIGN CITIZENS MOVEMENT (BEST MID-ATLANTIC BANKRUPTCY WORKSHOP PROGRAM) Tom Horan will introduce everyone to the beliefs of sovereign citizens — a loose collection of individuals who contend that the U.S. government is illegitimate and who seek to transform American society into one where government plays a minimal role. Find out what happens when their belief system collides with the Bankruptcy Code and the courts. A ROSE IS A ROSE IS A ROSE — OR IS IT? Is a deposit in a bank a transfer of the debtor’s assets? Ron Peterson will discuss this and more, as well as review appellate court decisions of the Fourth, Sixth, Seventh and Ninth Circuits. THE JAY ALIX/MCKINSEY DISPUTE: "SOUR GRAPES" TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT, OR THE NEW NORMAL? Tom Salerno will explore the dynamics of the extraordinary pending litigation involving retention disclosures between McKinsey & Co. and Jay Alix, and will discuss the potentially far-reaching legal, political and practical ramifications of that dispute for the restructuring community on all sides of the industry. Is this a tipping point for the bankruptcy world that will create a new industry order, or just a “sour grapes,” spurned advisor’s tempest in a teapot?

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act significantly changed many aspects of business taxation, especially for distressed companies. The way net operating losses work has fundamentally changed. The ability to deduct interest expense is now significantly limited and, as a result, distressed companies may have very different tax profiles than they previously have had. Changes to several rules impact the decision on whether to structure a reorganization as a tax-free transaction or a “Bruno’s” taxable transaction. The international tax regime has been fundamentally altered, both with respect to normal operations and with respect to long-standing issues regarding the appropriate scope of pledges and guarantees that can be provided in connection with DIP financing and cash collateral packages. All of these rules remain subject to an active and very much ongoing regulatory process that places a significant degree of uncertainty around tax outcomes. The panel will highlight and contextualize these key issues so that restructuring specialists can be aware of their potential impact.

Most health care businesses rely on Medicare, Medicaid and insurance company monies. As a result, understanding the reimbursement system is key to a business’s success or failure. Business leaders on the provider and managed-care side will discuss the rates and pressures on health care businesses, including in insurance company mergers/renegotiations of contracts, and the impact of hospital readmissions, fraud and ACOs. Other panelists will provide a detailed overview of the legal framework, structure and pitfalls of the reimbursement system, including regulatory dos and don’ts and how to keep the money flowing during a restructuring (whether in or outside of bankruptcy).

How do investors and lenders view the health care services industry? Investors will outline criteria for investing in deals, identify key trends and issues, and provide various return characteristics regarding their investments by type of investment. The lenders will outline their views of risk within the various sectors, outline their views of the current state of the market, provide general terms regarding their specific products, and provide a general overview of how their loans are performing. There also will be a focus on some of the more challenging sectors of the industry, particularly hospitals, senior housing and post-acute care. Finally, this panel will highlight the legal challenges in structuring a health care loan, how to attempt to isolate liabilities, and how to recover your money when you need to take legal action on account of defaults, including navigating complex regulations when dealing with patients, records and medical waste, as well as the complexities of a restructuring.

This panel of experts leave conference attendees with key takeaways that will help them know where to find their next opportunities. These experts highlight the financial and legal issues facing the distressed sectors of the industry that you need to know as you work through the restructuring issues facing these sectors.

With Amazon, Walmart and others entering the health care market and partnering with established players, there will be winners and losers as health care businesses navigate the changing delivery of care — from the minute clinics to telemedicine to concierge medicine to whatever might be coming next. This panel will provide an overview of the changes in the delivery of health care, including the legal implications of those changes such as privacy concerns, security breaches, antitrust implications and other legal challenges as the law tries to catch up with innovation.

CEOs share their insights on the challenges facing the industry, the new innovations that will transform the industry, and how health care policy is expected to change, when it will change, what needs to change, and how politics plays into all of this!

Join our panel in exploring the intersection of bankruptcy and IP. Panelists will discuss the rights of a licensee when a licensor files for bankruptcy, the rights of a licensor when a licensee files for bankruptcy, and how such rights can impact secured creditors. Discussions will include copyright licenses, patent licenses and trademark licenses, including the Tempnology case that was recently granted certiorari by the Supreme Court. Where are there areas of litigation that is most likely to arise in bankruptcy? What about sample language for license agreements? Or issues that can arise in the context of distressed M&A? Join us to find out!

This panel will discuss the role that alternative dispute resolution (ADR) can and does play in bankruptcy, starting with the tension between bankruptcy and ADR, as all ADR processes conflict with bankruptcy’s goal of centralizing estate administration into a single proceeding. In the U.S., this tension is most prevalent when a creditor seeks to enforce a pre-petition arbitration agreement. The panel will next examine the role that mediation plays in U.S. bankruptcy cases by examining the types of issues and disputes that are amenable to resolution via mediation. Finally, the panel will explore the power and potential of ADR in the cross-border arena, looking at models for how cross-border insolvency issues have been handled procedurally and identifying types of disputes that are well-suited to resolution via ADR.

Are you interested in hearing a succinct primer on bankruptcy law and some of the basic structures of this discipline? If so, this panel of bankruptcy professionals will deliver what you need and will whet your appetite to become a full-fledged bankruptcy practitioner. Overview - Bankruptcy in pictures: Types of Debt, Bankruptcy Terminology, Relief from Stay, Trustees, Discharge of Debts. 101: The Parties, The Code Organization, Goals, The Estate, Automatic Stay, Discharge. How A Case is Administered: Commencement, Protecting Your Judgment form discharge, 2004 Examination, Litigating in Bankruptcy Court: Matters at issue, Procedural Considerations, Authorities, and Adversary Proceedings. Hon. Jeffery P. Hopkins Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge, Southern District of OH, Cincinnati David Mawhinney Associate, K & L Gates, Boston Prof. Laura Napoli Coordes Associate Professor, AZ State University School of Law, Phoenix, AZ