West Virginia State Approved Sessions

Advising and interacting with clients remotely, with a strong reliance on electronic rather than in-person communications, is the reality for most bankruptcy professionals in a post-pandemic world. This session will focus on the resulting ethical issues facing consumer practitioners, including issues regarding the verification of debtor identity, authority issues regarding the use of client signatures, protection of confidential client information, conduct during telephonic (or video) § 341 meetings, and ethical obligations in the face of data breaches. The panelists will use hypothetical scenarios to demonstrate the ways in which these ethical issues often arise, and will discuss best practices to handle these issues, as well as highlight potential access-to-justice problems that clients can face.

Hosted by ABI's Bankruptcy Litigation Committee The panelists will discuss the pros and cons of seeking the appointment of a Chapter 11 trustee, effective strategies to prosecute and defend motions to appoint a trustee, and the current state of the case law surrounding such motions.

This panel will discuss the various issues surrounding merchant cash advance (MCA) lenders from the perspectives of MCA lenders, debtors, the bench, and other secured creditors whose interests may be affected by MCA lenders.

Subchapter V opinions of first impression are being entered around the country every year. This panel will discuss the most recent subchapter V opinions and analyze how bankruptcy practitioners and courts are creatively filling subchapter V's statutory gaps.

This panel will present views from the perspectives of management, debtor’s counsel and creditors' committee’s counsel on hot-button and common issues in public company bankruptcies. These large and interesting cases are not filed every day, but their frequency has been on the rise because of the role of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). The panelists will discuss the nuances of what makes public company bankruptcies different.

This panel will delve into everything you ever wanted to know about the intersection of construction law and bankruptcy.

Hosted by ABI's Real Estate Committee Commercial real estate continues to be the sector to watch for restructuring professionals, as decreasing property values and increasing interest rates will be colliding with $1.5 trillion of debt maturities over the next four years. This informative program will provide a clear and comprehensive understanding of where the market stands and may be going as we head into the last four months of the year. Where are we in the current economic cycle? How have higher interest rates impacted the commercial real estate market this year, and what will the ramifications be next year? What can asset-class-level fundamentals tell us about commercial real estate trends in 2024? Xander Snyder, senior commercial real estate economist at First American Financial Corporation, will be providing his valuable input on the above questions and more. His research focuses on economic trends impacting commercial real estate, such as demographics, fundraising, investments and commercial lending. He also monitors, analyzes and reports on economic data and surveys related to commercial real estate, and develops models and forecasts to better understand the forces that influence commercial real estate markets."