Wisconsin State Approved Sessions

This panel will provide an overview and discussion of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and return-to-office issues, and what impacts they may have on the commercial real estate industry. The panelists will discuss market data and trends, as well as relevant case law on the valuation of commercial real estate in the context of bankruptcy cases. The panel also will review hypothetical scenarios to emphasize key issues that affect the valuation of commercial real estate in a disrupted and uncertain marketplace.

This panel of health care experts will explain some of the unique features of health care cases in general by comparing notes on current operational challenges and pre-bankruptcy considerations, discussing the pros and cons of receiverships vs. chapter 11, covering specific health care-relevant provisions in the Code, and discussing sale considerations in health care cases.

This panel will focus on current developments and trends relating to the emerging industry of cryptocurrency. The panelists will assess recent insolvencies and bankruptcy cases, and provide practitioners with tips to help navigate this evolving market. Discussion will center on such issues as whether and when digital assets may be estate assets, discovery tools and crypto-tracing, and valuation concerns.

This panel will provide an overview and discussion on the most recent bankruptcy decisions and changes to official guidelines and legislation impacting bankruptcy practice today. The case law discussion will cover the most recent bankruptcy opinions from the Supreme Court and Circuit Courts of Appeals as well as Bankruptcy and District Court opinions of note. The panel will provide thorough summaries of these cases and changes to other bankruptcy-specific rules, laws, and regulations as well as discuss the larger implications of these new precedents and changes on current practice and future bankruptcy trends.

Advances in technology are changing how law is practiced. Online research databases, digital contracts, expert systems and document automation all help make lawyers’ routine tasks easier and more efficient. All lawyers must make informed decisions about what technology tools to acquire, develop or leverage. While lawyers’ use of technology is not an end unto itself, it is providing a catalyst for the transformation of the legal profession. Moreover, in a world of rapidly advancing technologies, data breaches and increasingly sophisticated uses of artificial intelligence, lawyers are now ethically required to understand the benefits and risks of technology. Intractable barriers to access to justice also remain a perennial concern. This panel discusses new developments in legal technology and ethics, and explores the ways in which technology can scale the provision of legal assistance, as well as examines how new developments in attorney regulation have expanded the definition of who can “practice law.” It also considers, despite people’s strong preference for maintaining the status quo, how understanding and adopting technology tools will optimize lawyers’ abilities to provide services to clients more effectively and efficiently.

This session will provide a checklist of the topics to address with the management of a failing business in that first meeting with the client.

Resolved: Bankruptcy courts do not have the authority to approve nonconsensual releases of direct claimsheld by third parties against nondebtors as part of a chapter 11 plan or reorganization. Pro: Hon. Eugene R.Wedoff (ret.); Con: Marshall S. Huebner Resolved: Trustee requests of debtors for documents andinformation beyond that already required by the Code and Rules should not be routinely undertaken, butinstead should be limited to inquiries suggested by issues arising in specific cases. Pro: Tiffany L. Carroll;Con: Gary R. Stickell Resolved: The Seventh Circuit was wrong in Sheehan v. Breccia Unlimited Co. (In reSheehan), 21-2946 (7th Cir. Sept. 9, 2022), when it barred U.S. bankruptcy courts from stopping foreigncreditors from taking action against a debtor’s assets abroad when the U.S. court has no general or specificpersonal jurisdiction over the creditors. Pro: Hon. Christopher S. Sontchi (ret.); Con: Hon. David R. Jones.

This panel will be conducted in the format of the TV show “Crossfire” and will address three “hot” or “interesting” bankruptcy issues that are not being addressed in the other sessions. At the conclusion of each discussion, attendees will have an opportunity to vote on how they believe the issue should be resolved.

This panel will discuss some of the more interesting aspects of the asset-recovery process as it relates tolocating foreign assets (i.e., Russian yachts). The panelists also will focus on post-COVID-19 issues, includingsituations where banks were not monitoring collateral as closely as they should have been and are nowhaving trouble locating said assets and selling them, particularly in international cases where the bankruptcyis abroad but the parties are seeking recognition in the U.S.