Georgia State Approved Sessions

The panel will discuss and contrast (and will invite the workshop attendees to discuss) the various options for ending chapter 11 cases after the debtor’s assets have been sold, including plans of liquidation, liquidation and litigation trusts, dismissals, structured dismissals and conversion. Issues will include things to consider when planning for the debtor’s wind-down staffing and budget. The panel will also discuss the rest of the story from the perspective of the § 363 purchaser, focusing on recent developments in successor liability.

As more states are adopting asset-protection trust statutes, more issues have been arising in bankruptcy when these trusts take center stage in a fraudulent transfer, substantial-abuse, alter-ego or objection-to-discharge battle. This panel will provide insight into the creation of asset-protection trusts, issues that arise when these trusts are challenged in bankruptcy, and practical tips for both creating asset-protection trusts that can withstand bankruptcy challenges and litigating these trusts in bankruptcy.

There are many changes occurring in consumer bankruptcy law. Find out the latest developments in your neighborhood and around the country.

This panel will discuss common issues that arise in a § 363 sale, including timing issues, typical marketing programs (or conversely, no-shop clauses), bid procedures, break-up fees and bid-protection provisions. The panel might also touch on critical-vendor provisions, employee incentive programs, claw-back and true-up provisions, and successor liability clauses, as well as the applicability of the various subsections in § 363(f).

This panel will discuss the complexities of recovering assets in China, Mexico and Canada, including attachment, perfection and priority issues that are unique in each jurisdiction, and the interplay of foreign registration systems and the Uniform Commercial Code. The panel discussion might include some of the complications involved in owning or being secured by foreign assets, including foreign exchange and other currency restrictions.

This panel will examine a multitude of issues involved in financing a chapter 11 exit, including the complications caused by a § 1111(b) election and plan treatment options. Feasibility issues, including balloon provisions and deed-in-lieu clauses, will also be discussed, as well as issues that arise when determining whether a plan is fair and equitable, including deferred payment clauses, interest rates, negative amortization, partial surrender of collateral, carve-outs and differing treatment of trade claims. Dirt-for-debt proposals might also be discussed, along with issues involving indubitable equivalence.

This panel will discuss applicable federal and state laws, case studies, transactions in regards to actual vs. constructive fraud, tests for constructive fraudulent transfers, and professional liability.

This panel will consider the myriad issues involving exemptions and property of the estate, including timing issues involving exemptions (In re Hageman, 388 B.R. 896 (Bankr. C.D. Ill. 2008)), dollar-value exemptions (In re Gebhart, 621 F.3d 1206 (9th Cir. 2010)), limitations on the extraterritorial effect of exemptions (In re Long, 470 B.R. 186 (Bankr. D. Kan. 2012)), non-spousal inherited IRAs (In re Clark, 714 F.3d 559 (7th Cir. 2013)), tax refunds, limited liability company membership interests and § 522(b)(3).

This panel will explain the practice of “unbundling,” along with the ethical and legal considerations involved, and will provide sample engagement letters where services are unbundled. The panel will discuss evolving case law on this issue wherein debtors and their attorneys attempt to use alternative agreements to limit the scope of their representation. ABI's Ethics Task Force Final Report might also be applied.