Connecticut State Approved Sessions

Many consumer bankruptcy lawyers now find themselves filing chapter 11 petitions for individuals and small businesses, but chapter 11 cases are different than chapter 13 cases. This session will focus on the basics of filing and handling a chapter 11 case, including who is eligible to file a chapter 11 petition, the reasons to file chapter 11 rather than chapter 7 or 13, the ongoing reporting responsibilities of a debtor in possession, what goes into the preparation of a plan of reorganization and disclosure statement, how a chapter 11 plan differs from a chapter 13 plan, how the process of balloting on the plan of reorganization works, the requirements that must be met to confirm a plan of reorganization, and the time frames that govern the handling of chapter 11 cases.

This annual favorite will cover all recent bankruptcy law decisions and current consumer bankruptcy law issues, and is a must-attend for professionals to stay current on consumer bankruptcy law issues.

Learn from others’ mistakes and experiences. The panel will share tips and painful lessons on anticipating and avoiding ethical and legal problems in business restructuring cases.

This panel will consist of four short "moot court/pro-con" presentations on current chapter 11 issues, with the Judge to be a “hot bench” and also give his insights at the conclusion of each segment.

Panel will highlight practice risks that include debtor and creditor viewpoints. The topics will include: tracking and anticipating obvious and unknown deadlines, appreciating inherent conflicts that may pose ethical problems as well as critical path obstacles to hidden conflicts of interest, springing conflicts of interest, undisclosed client expectations creating dissatisfaction with the process and outcome, and underestimating expense and delay leading to crisis of payment and inability to effectuate strategy.

This panel will discuss lessons learned from leveraging technology in administering mega-, mid-size and small chapter 11 cases. The panelists will discuss and demonstrate the use of technology in administering chapter 11 cases, including submission of e-proofs of claim and e-ballots, electronic noticing and solicitation, case administration websites, and electronic claims reconciliation. The panel will also address how to improve the efficiency of using such technologies within the context of small or mid-size chapter 11 cases.

Demonstration on how to best use technology when presenting your case in Bankruptcy Court. This panel will include various “how to” demonstrations that include presenting exhibits, highlighting exhibits, etc. Plus, how to best use electronic links in briefs for case citation and other references.

The panel will discuss myriad issues (including ethical issues) that have arisen, and will likely arise in the future, as the current trend of third party litigation funding begins to be a more common funding vehicle in bankruptcy cases.

Judicial Debate Resolved: A debtor must obtain a judgment under chapter 5 of the Bankruptcy Code before it may invoke disallowance of a claim under section 502(d). Business Debate Resolved: Cure and reinstatement of a credit agreement under 1124(2) requires the payment of default interest. Consumer Debate Resolved: Flat fees that are earned upon receipt may not be recovered by chapter 7 trustee upon the rejection of the fee agreement.

This session will focus on debtors’ attorneys’ pre-bankruptcy advice and planning regarding the protection of a debtor’s assets, including maximizing exemptions without getting into trouble, analyzing and counseling the client on the vulnerability of transfers of property that the debtor already made to family members or trusts before seeking your counsel, permissible actions to mitigate liabilities on account of a debtor’s pre-petition transfers, what can legitimately and ethically be done to enable debtors to maximize their exemptions without jeopardizing their discharges, and the use of family trusts, self-settled trusts and the effect of the new Domestic Asset Protection Trust Act in Michigan.