Pennsylvania State Approved Sessions

The Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin, along with Florida’s Middle District, have all set up successful mortgage-mediation programs. This panel will spill the details on how they did it, particularly the ways in which they used web-based portals for document exchanges. Also on tap: the role of mediators and the court’s role in overseeing order processes and timelines.

To ease the financial fallout from the pandemic, there could be increased congressional interest in consumer bankruptcy reform. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Jerrold Nadler already have proposed a complete overhaul of the consumer bankruptcy system and a new chapter 10 for all individual debtors. Several pending legislative proposals would make it easier to discharge student loans in bankruptcy. Profs. Robert Lawless and Adam Levitin will explain these proposals, the motivating factors behind them, and what else might be coming in the consumer bankruptcy world.

Bifurcated fee arrangements involve splitting the consumer chapter 7 engagement into pre-petition and post-petition fee arrangements that require little or no money down for the work required to finish the case. In several jurisdictions across the nation, however, bifurcated fee arrangements in chapter 7 cases are being challenged. This panel will review the complex issues related to these fee arrangements.

Do you know the answers to the hottest ethics issues of the day? Do the experts? Are there actually answers? Audience members will match wits with a panel of ethics experts to see who knows up-to-the-minute ethical issues best! In this fun interactive session, the audience and the experts will try to determine the best answers to cutting-edge ethics questions from the bankruptcy world and beyond. The hot topics and questions will be known only to our Masters of Ceremonies, Tom Horan and Michael P. Richman (who will roam the audience with microphones), and will not be known to our audience or expert panelists Prof. Nancy Rapoport and Claire Wu until they play the game. Come enjoy, participate and learn!

Most lawyers are schooled on how to litigate and fully understand how to prepare for the courtroom battleground. Mediation, however, is a flexible and relatively informal dispute-resolution process that has become almost a mandatory first step in many common bankruptcy disputes, like preference actions — and it can achieve significant cost-value results for clients. Yet many lawyers make the mistake of either treating mediation as a side show that requires little or no preparation, or using the same preparation methods they use for trial. This session will explore the keys to conducting a successful mediation, from deciding when mediation is appropriate through properly documenting the mediated resolution, with an emphasis on how to prepare both yourself and your client for mediation to maximize its value, regardless of whether an actual settlement is reached. The panelists will include attorneys and judges who often serve as mediators, giving attendees a unique view on the different skills, presentation methodologies and mindsets needed to prepare for mediation vs. litigation.

Amid criminal seizure and forfeiture actions imposed by the DOJ, SEC and other regulatory bodies, criminals often have no choice but to file for bankruptcy. This panel will explore financial crimes, including Ponzi and FCPA schemes, that have resulted in bankruptcy filings, and the conflict that ultimately arises between the bankruptcy estate and the federal government over criminals’ seized and forfeited assets. The panelists will also delve into asserting a legal interest in the assets, the look-back period, remedies to the bankruptcy estate and priority schemes.

Chapter 11 doesn’t work for every corporate liquidation. This panel of experts will discuss other ways a corporation can be liquidated, including out-of-court liquidations, receiverships, ABCs, the Delaware Dissolution Statute and chapter 7.

Hosted by the International, Legislation and Secured Credit Committees This panel will examine and discuss recent trends and issues in the chapter 11 reorganizations of airlines, including foreign-based airlines that have sought chapter 11 protection in the U.S., such as Avianca and LATAM. Additionally, the panelists will analyze governmental and legislative initiatives in the U.S. taken in response to COVID-19 that at the time staved off formal reorganization proceedings for U.S.-based airlines.

This panel of national consumer experts will provide you with the necessary tips for achieving great results in your consumer cases.

The Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 was heralded as one of the most important pieces of bankruptcy legislation passed since BAPCPA in 2005. Has the SBRA been widely and effectively used? What important current case law issues exist? Is the SBRA here to stay? Will the $7.5 million debt limit be a permanent change? The panelists will explore these questions and more.