Idaho State Approved Sessions

This year’s hot topics will include two cases currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court: the Caulkett decision concerning lien-stripping on primary residences in chapter 7 cases, and the Harris case regarding distribution of funds held by a chapter 13 trustee upon conversion to chapter 7. The panel will discuss a new Ninth Circuit BAP decision, one of only two in the country, concerning the dischargeability of certain student debts to for-profit institutions, as well as an emerging trend of using the Eleventh Circuit Crawford decision and the FDCPA to challenge “stale” proofs of claim for student debt. The presentation will address lenders refusing to retake abandoned collateral, as well as conflicting results from disposable-income tests, and other issues that will be of interest to those representing parties in consumer cases.

This panel will address a variety of issues in chapter 11 cases, including cramdown interest rates, credit-bidding and equitable mootness, among other issues.

This panel will address various ethical and substantive issues that can arise when representing consumer debtors.

This panel will feature a roundtable discussion with bankruptcy judges from the Ninth Circuit and across the country. The judges will share their thoughts and perspectives, as well as take questions from the audience, on topics of current interest in both business and consumer cases.

This panel will address current ethical topics relating to attorney and client conduct in the context of out-of-court and bankruptcy restructurings.

The existence of multiple bondholders can impose uncertainty and gamesmanship in a contest for economic gain from distressed corporate situations. The paper that they hold rarely tells the whole story; bondholders may have competing investments, undisclosed hedges and varying purchase price discounts that make it impossible to determine their true position. This panel will explore issues related to bondholder-led restructurings and takeovers, including the operation of ad hoc committees, the role of indenture trustees, conflicts, disclosures, subordination and deal structures.

With low energy commodity prices the new reality, E&P companies are being forced to restructure their balance sheets — both in and out of court. This panel will discuss legal issues that are crucial to advising a client in E&P restructurings and how those issues may shape your strategy, including oil and gas leases as absolute conveyances and the protection of royalty-holders; ORRIs, NPIs and production payments; plugging and abandonment liability; M&M liens; borrowing bases under RBL credit facilities; and joint operating agreements.

This panel will discuss current issues in the stand-alone asset sale process and propose ways that this process can be improved to address the competing interests of the constituencies in a bankruptcy case.

This panel will address various pre-bankruptcy planning issues for counsel to consider in preparing corporate or individual debtors for a filing of a case under chapter 7 or 11. Featured will be a discussion on legal, ethical and practical considerations in connection with the initial interviews of potential debtors, preparation of the bankruptcy filing, and preparation of the debtor for what is to follow once a case is commenced.

Chaos erupts when a bankruptcy case collides with different spheres of the law. Bankruptcy lawyers continuously have to consider other legal areas in the course of their practice. Your clients routinely seek your guidance because of legal problems arising from other legal matters, ranging from divorce to real estate to commercial litigation. This presentation will assist you in rendering proper legal advice.