Vermont State Approved Sessions

Domestic asset-protection trusts are now available in 20 states. This panel will introduce the concept of domestic asset-protection trusts and discuss their treatment in and out of bankruptcy.

This panel will address the latest legislative developments in consumer bankruptcy law, including the new DOJ guidance regarding the hardship discharge of student loans.

Technology can be looked at as a business-enabler. Attorneys who want to move from manual or paper processes to an automated, streamlined, more efficient or paperless practice have a variety of options available. The choices are seemingly endless, but which options are the right fit for your practice? This panel will discuss some of the productivity suites, PDF-production software, case-management systems and other programs that are available to modernize consumer practice. Since when it comes to technology one size doesn't fit all, the panelists will highlight some general considerations that are applicable to attorneys in solo practices and to those in larger firms.

Did you know that you are a superhero? Who else with the stroke of a pen can erase thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars worth of debt? Who else can take a struggling American citizen and put them upright with a fresh start, slay aggressive creditors and stop garnishments, demand the return of seized vehicles, and push back on the IRS? Lastly, what other area of law allows you to be a superhero of epic proportions? Not one, Captain America! So wrap yourself in the American flag and spend an hour changing your perspective to understand how the businesses who support you see what you do and why it matters. This panel will present a discussion of the perspectives and issues that stand in your way as successful business owners, the changes we can all make, and how you can adapt to struggle less and succeed more by ditching the models of the past and creating a more nimble one for the future in a post-COVID-19 legal landscape.

The use of artificial intelligence and machine learning is becoming increasingly prevalent in the practice of law. Lawyers are using AI to assist in a multitude of tasks, including document management and review, analytics, and legal research. This program will provide an overview of how AI is being used by lawyers today, the advantages and drawbacks in using AI, and the potential ways in which AI may be used now and in the future in bankruptcy practice.

Sponsored by ABI's Business Reorganization Committee Please join us for an overview and discussion of chapter 11 cases addressing the nature and treatment of oil and gas gathering agreements. Since the 2016 decision in Sabine Oil & Gas, courts have grappled with whether midstream contracts contain real property covenants that “run with the land” and whether chapter 11 debtors can reject contracts with their midstream providers. In the most recent decisions on this issue (Extraction and Southland), the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware found that the debtors’ gathering agreements did not satisfy the elements required to create such a real property covenant. This CLE will cover (i) foundational law and principles regarding contract rejection and covenants “running with the land”; (ii) an overview of seminal cases, including the most recent decisions in Extraction and Southland; and (iii) a discussion of potential implications of recent case law and guidance for parties navigating this issue.

On January 14, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of City of Chicago, Illinois v. Fulton that the mere retention of estate property after the filing of a bankruptcy petition does not violate 11 U.S.C. § 362(a)(3), which operates as a “stay” of “any act” to “exercise control” over the property of the estate. ABI Editor-at-Large Bill Rochelle will host a discussion with two leading bankruptcy academics who filed amicus briefs in the case, Profs. John Pottow of the University of Michigan Law School (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and Ralph Brubaker of the University of Illinois College of Law (Champaign, Ill.), to analyze the decision and its impact on future bankruptcy case law.

This panel will focus on Congress’s new foray into streamlining small business reorganizations under the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019, as amended by the CARES Act of 2020. The panelists will examine similarities and differences between subchapter V and traditional chapter 11 reorganization, debtor eligibility, and the role of the newly created position of subchapter V trustee. The panelists will then examine early decisions on these issues from bankruptcy courts around the country.