Arizona State Approved Sessions

Negotiation and litigation regarding the allocation of value become more challenging when the debtor is part of an insolvent conglomerate. Parties must consider the allocation of value among subsidiaries and the presence of intercompany claims, guaranties and other complexities. This panel will discuss lessons learned and best practices for negotiating and litigating value allocation, focusing on recent bankruptcy cases and viewpoints from financial, legal and judicial perspectives.

Unprecedented levels of government stimulus, record levels of IPOs and an explosion of the SPAC market provided an abundance of liquidity to an already-buoyant market. These factors, combined with historically low interest rates, have fueled record levels of M&A and refinancing activity. This panel will examine the effects that this "easy money" has had on valuations throughout the pandemic, and compare these effects to companies' valuation outlooks for the remainder of calendar year 2022 and beyond.

This panel will examine current developments that may affect asset, enterprise and plan valuations. The panelists will discuss evolving market factors, the latest legal developments, and changing trends in valuation methodology.

This case-study-based discussion will focus on valuation for companies significantly impacted by COVID-19. The panelists will discuss recent cases where the market and business uncertainty caused by the pandemic led to unpredictable or unexpected valuation outcomes. Further consideration will be given as to how these outcomes might (or might not) be relevant going forward.

This panel will use a case-study approach and mock negotiations to work through restructuring options for a brand-new case study. The case focuses on issues related to the valuation, makewhole, shared-services agreement and governance issues of the company and its creditors.

Sponsored by ABI's Real Estate Committee The private and for-profit college, university and school sector continues to be challenged due to decreasing enrollment, cost structures and increased competition from community colleges, area technical schools and online offerings that students turned to during the pandemic. It is estimated that there are hundreds of these real estate-heavy institutions, which can have campuses with substantial improvements having been made, or they can operate solely in leased space. This program will focus on how the real estate footprint of these institutions can be utilized in connection with other turnaround strategies to achieve a turnaround or restructuring. The discussion will include public/private partnerships for parking, dormitories and more, sale-leasebacks and bridge financing, lease restructurings, monetizing surplus real estate, developing owned real estate, and marketing closed campuses for repurposing or redevelopment.

Hosted by the Mediation Committee Mediators are akin to psychologists, using skills of diplomacy and psychology to attempt to bring divergent people to a consensus. At ABI's 2022 Annual Spring Meeting, Dr. Bruce Rabin discussed how nearly two years of remote work has taken a psychological toll on people. From the standpoint of legal practice in general and mediation in particular, this has impacted everything from how we do business and how we relate to legal adversaries to how both mediators and mediation parties interact with each other and make decisions. As a follow-up to Dr. Rabin’s presentation, this webinar will discuss further the impacts, pros and cons, of remote mediation, which has forced mediators to adapt their skills to an environment where the parties never get in the same room. What difficulties does remote mediation present? What observations have been made on how remote mediation has affected the decision-making process? Does remote mediation pose unique challenges to obtaining a settlement? What has been made easier using remote technologies? This webinar will also report on the results of a survey the Mediation Committee conducted regarding members' thoughts and comments about remote mediation, and whether it is here to stay in some hybrid fashion.

Hosted by the Financial Advisors and Investment Banking Committee Subchapter V cases often involve troubled small businesses with limited financial means to hire a financial advisor. One unique feature about subchapter V cases is that a case trustee is appointed in every case, and some of these trustees are experienced bankruptcy professionals with backgrounds in accounting and finance. This panel is comprised of nonlawyer subchapter V trustees who regularly serve as financial advisors and accountants in chapter 11 matters. The panelists will share their perspectives on how they have used their financial and accounting experience to help subchapter V debtors successfully negotiate and confirm plans where feasibility and valuation issues have been raised.

Industry experts from the past four decades will walk attendees down insolvency memory lane.