Vermont State Approved Sessions

The trial team in this session will explore strategies to quickly discover essential facts relating to substantive and procedural legal defenses by discussing the use of discovery, the proper use of and best practices for motions for summary judgment and developing the summary judgment record, and strategies for opposing summary judgment in a contested matter to which Part VII of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure apply. The context will be an objection to a proof of claim asserting legal defenses, including improper interest charges, based on a hypothetical case. The panelists will conduct several mock strategy sessions and a mock summary judgment hearing, and offer commentary from the trial team members.

The assets of professional services firms ride the proverbial elevator every day. What happens when they stop riding? This session will address the insolvency of professional service firms, including the causes of professional service firm insolvencies, the status of partner capital, and the risks to the professionals who once rode the elevators, including potential preference and fraudulent transfer liability. This program will also review recent cases relating to the “unfinished business” doctrine in the context of law firm insolvencies. Finally, the program will examine challenges in effecting a distressed merger of professional services firms.

This program will address the ethical challenges to practitioners when dealing with difficult clients, ranging from the bully client to a client with a questionable background or a client that is being less than truthful. In a tough legal market when work is needed, client selection sometimes gets overlooked. This program will address what to do with a difficult client once engaged — and when it’s time to part company and how to do so. Finally, the program will also cover the ethical boundaries that sometimes get blurred by overzealous clients.

The determination of the amount of a secured creditor’s claim and related issues often have a significant impact on both junior creditor recoveries and the likelihood of a successful reorganization. Such cases as Gencarelli, School Specialty, Momentive Performance Materials and MPM Silicones regarding “make whole” or “yield maintenance” provisions, as well as cases like SW Boston relating to the calculation of oversecured or undersecured status, have led to further uncertainty in this area. These provisions are under increasing attack as debtors attempt to refinance high-yield debt in today’s lower-interest-rate environment. Finally, the recent decisions in Fisker Automotive Holdings, Free Lance-Star Publishing and RML Development have raised uncertainty in the area of credit-bidding.

No business chapter 11 case gets resolved without some determination of value. This panel of valuation experts and lawyers will discuss complex commercial valuation issues, including: (1) the multiple approaches to value (i.e., discounted cash flow, comparable company) and how to reconcile those values; (2) how the purpose of valuation affects the selection of the valuation methodology; (3) the most common places to probe when challenging a valuation; and (4) standard of value (fair market value, investment value or something else) and premise of value (going concern vs. liquidation), and the implications on the valuation assignment. The panel will also discuss recent case law addressing valuation contests during the life of a case, including the timing of valuations and the impact of the differing values on secured parties’ rights in chapter 11 cases.