Illinois State Approved Sessions

This panel will discuss different tactics creditors use to pursue the collection of debt, how debtors can defend against collection efforts and pursue claims when a creditor has gone too far, how creditors can minimize their exposure to such claims, and the potential impacts of pre-petition proceedings on creditors and debtors when a debtor files a bankruptcy petition.

Joe Navarro will explore the applied use of nonverbal communication in business to better understand, manage or negotiate with others. Drawing on his decades of experience studying human behavior, Joe will highlight those key behaviors executives need to know to decode the world around them.

Your consumer client’s problems may go beyond traditional insolvency issues. This panel will discuss ethical and legal strategies to protect your client’s interests.

This panel will bring attendees up to speed on Zoom § 341s and best practices, as well as recent and important changes to chapter 13 administrative orders and forms, and will explore trends and tips for handling merchant cash advance (MCA) issues in consumer cases and mortgage-modification mediations. The panelists also will discuss income-driven repayment plans and highlight the DOJ's latest guidance on discharging student loans.

In this session, an FBI agent, a U.S. attorney, an Assistant U.S. Trustee and a bankruptcy trustee will discuss the who, what, when and why of bankruptcy crimes, including the relationship between a criminal prosecution and a contemporaneous bankruptcy case or cases involving the criminal defendants, either as principals of the debtor or the debtors themselves.

This interactive panel examines the myriad ways in which lawyers and other insolvency professionals are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) in their practices. The panelists consider the ethical implications of using (and not using) the advanced technologies now available to practitioners, and discuss how courts are responding to their use. Attendees also have the opportunity to engage with AI in real time during the session.

Receiverships under state law have become an increasingly popular and meaningful alternative to bankruptcy, specifically when there are events of fraud, misappropriations of assets and related regulatory-body involvement. This panel will examine the basics of such receiverships and, given the current state of federal law (which excludes cannabis-related businesses from bankruptcy), will use the cannabis industry as an example to discuss the details, benefits and potential pitfalls of state court receiverships for highly regulated businesses. The panelists also will explore the Uniform Commercial Real Estate Receivership Act.

Do bankruptcy courts have jurisdiction to enter nonconsensual releases under any circumstance? This panel will explore this question and more.