Connecticut State Approved Sessions

The restaurant industry, particularly the fast food and fast casual sectors, is under pressure from rising food and labor costs, the changing dining habits of millennials, and decreased foot traffic at retail shopping centers. This panel will examine those trends and explore potential strategies to maximize enterprise value, both in and out of bankruptcy court.

The only D&O insurance policy issues that get much attention — in the restructuring world, at least — are (1) the insured-vs.-insured exclusion and (2) obtaining stay relief to access policy proceeds. The panel will tell the “rest of the story” by addressing important — but often overlooked — coverage issues and offering practical advice for purchasing D&O insurance policies (on behalf of distressed entities) and monetizing such policies (on behalf of fiduciaries).

Limited liability companies are outpacing corporations as the preferred business form, but they are a newly popular type of entity. This panel will track LLC law as it rapidly evolves to deal with the unique issues LLCs present. How does the Bankruptcy Code interact with state law in handling these issues, including member- and manager-managed LLCs, single-member LLCs, LLCs as assets of an estate, charging liens, restrictions on attachment or transfer of membership interests, and forced insolvencies? Please join us as we examine the clues to unravel the case of this curious entity.

This session will examine key chapter 11 plan and confirmation issues and considerations, including plan-support agreements, nonconsensual third-party plan releases, classification and voting, valuation and cramdown interest rates, and “gifting” in plans post-Jevic.

This panel will discuss current litigation/case law on discharge injunction violations and remedies, including sanctions.

This panel will focus on what the numbers mean, who cares about them and why they care — and why you should care, too.

Repayment of student loans is a serious problem for many individuals. This session will focus on both nonbankruptcy and bankruptcy ways of dealing with student loans. What nonbankruptcy options exist to deal with student loans? What are income-based repayment programs, and do they work? What other nonbankruptcy creative strategies can be employed? What does it take to discharge a student loan under § 523(a)(8)? Is the Brunner test the only option? What other legal standards may apply? What are the options in chapter 13? Do student loan claims count for purposes of eligibility debt limits? Can student loans be separately classified and paid differently than other unsecured claims? Should a chapter 13 debtor file a § 523 complaint and, if so, when? What are some possible legislative solutions to student loan problems?

When a client comes to you with a small business in trouble, do you fully understand the financial information they are sharing with you so that you can properly advise them? This session will discuss how to read and understand that financial information, covering such issues as the difference between a financial statement and a balance sheet, the difference between a financial statement that is audited and one that is reviewed or compiled by management, profit-and-loss statements and how does they differ from cash-flow statement, and the levels and types of financial information your client needs to assemble, and you need to understand, for your client to be successful in reorganizing.

This session will consider what an attorney can do after receiving an adverse decision from the bankruptcy court, including strategic considerations, as well as the nuts-and-bolts procedures in deciding whether to appeal and in prosecuting an appeal. What decisions are appealable as final orders? What decisions require permission to appeal on an interlocutory basis? What are the applicable Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure governing appeals, and what requirements do they impose? What is the standard of review for an appeal of an incorrect legal decision? What is the standard of review for an appeal of an incorrect factual finding? How and when can you obtain a stay of an adverse ruling pending the appeal? How do doctrines of jurisdiction, standing, mootness and ripeness apply to an appeal? What types of issues most frequently get appealed, and what rates of success are there?

The panelists will lead a discussion about the relationship between race and bankruptcy, including decisions on whether to file, under what chapter to file, and the impact of race on professionals and other actors in the bankruptcy system. This session will also address the research about biases and perceptions regarding race and bankruptcy and what can be done about them.