Tennessee State Approved Sessions

This panel will offer a unique take on Chapter 11 issues. Join our panelists as they walk through hot topics and other thorny territory in the Chapter 11 landscape.

Unregulated and nontraditional capital providers are sources of end-to-end liquidity from origination through chapter 11 and from middle-market to mega cases. This panel will consider the motivations and aims of these market participants, and how they are likely to change the character of the next restructuring cycle.

The economic catastrophe created by the Coronavirus is unique. In the past, recessions have been prompted by sustained periods of high interest rates. This recession has been caused by a virus and it is hitting the United States and world economy already saddled with record levels of debt. Almost all businesses are dealing with the prospect of sudden ends to cash flow, yet a relatively new generation of companies, "zombies" who earn too little to make even interest payments on their debt are faced with the ultimate challenge. The level of debt in America's corporate sector amounts to 75% of the country's gross domestic product, breaking the previous record set in 2008. Debt burdens are precariously high in numerous industries that are now taking a direct hit from the Coronavirus. Join us for a fascinating fireside chat with Professor Troy McKenzie of New York University School of Law, Jamie Sprayregen or Kirkland & Ellis and Jennifer Hagle of Sidley. They will explore and discuss strategies to use in this unique time in economic history. Is the Bankruptcy Code useful, are there strategies outside the Code which are helpful and how can professionals work to benefit their clients in a world like we have never experienced?

This panel will explore some of the more difficult aspects of cases under subchapter V, including the considerations that debtors face when making the election to proceed under subchapter V and a discussion of the earliest decisions interpreting the new statute.

The NYIC sponsored this October 22, 2020, session as part of the Insolvency 2020 Summit. The panelists provide an overview of subchapter V and its key provisions, discussing the various perspectives in subchapter V, cash collateral and DIP financing in subchapter V, and general trends in subchapter V cases.

Ensuring Conflicts are Transparent in 2020 Hidden conflicts of interest in bankruptcy are a stain on the integrity of the bankruptcy system. What should be done to better police the clear standards of disinterestedness and sanction misconduct? Intersection of Bankruptcy and Social Issues Bankruptcy has been largely been viewed as a solution to solely economic and financial concerns. Historically, scholarship related to bankruptcy’s intersection with social issues has focused on the social problems that may result from bankruptcy or the social issues of which bankruptcy may be a symptom. Over the last several years, however, bankruptcy has been a common thread in some of the largest social movements of our generation. This discussion centers around the intersection of bankruptcy and some of today's social issues, including the “#MeToo” movement, the Catholic Church and Boy Scouts of America abuse scandals, and the racial justice demonstrations regarding housing and policing. The ways in which bankruptcy practitioners and the bench have been asked to craft solutions to address social ills will be explored within the framework of the Bankruptcy Code, as well as the ways in which bankruptcy will continue to play a part in addressing social issues. Lasting Impacts of COVID-19 on Law Firm Operations and Legal Service Delivery No business or industry has escaped the impacts of COVID-19. In this session, seasoned bankruptcy attorney and law firm Chairman Robert Sartin will discuss how the modern global pandemic has changed the future of law firm operations. He’ll also examine the challenges of leading in a fluid and unprecedented environment, and review what many firm leaders are predicting as the new landscape of practicing law and delivering legal services.

With courthouses shutting their doors due to COVID-19, trials across the country have been put in an indefinite holding pattern. Certain state and federal courts, bar organizations and private groups have begun pilot-testing courtroom innovations, procedural reforms and presentation technologies to convert jury and bench trials into an online format. This session will address the bench's and bar’s current conversation on if, how and when to conduct trials online. Particular emphasis will be paid to testimonial, documentary and legal decision-making issues germane to bankruptcy trials.

You learned about it in law school, but have never seen it since. In light of the COVID-19 effects on business operations, this panel will discuss the general applicability of force majeure provisions in contracts, how they excuse or suspend performance, and exceptions to a boilerplate contract provision that we rarely see enforced until recently. The panel will also discuss business interruption insurance in the context of the Pandemic.