Alternative Dispute Resolution

Panelists from around the Central States region will discuss the current status of receiverships in their states, with a specific focus on cannabis cases.

The panelists and the audience will discuss the fundamentals of mediation and risk assessment, focusing on key skills that can increase the effectiveness of their mediations. This session will cover best practices for mediators to maximize their chances for successful mediations, common pitfalls in assessing your client’s risk and how to overcome them, and the importance of confidentiality in mediation.

This panel will explore the various roles of neutrals in bankruptcy, including applicable provisions of the Bankruptcy Code and Rules, as well as the limitations on the use of neutrals in bankruptcy. Examples of neutral roles in bankruptcy include mediators, fee examiners, subchapter V trustees, and mass tort personal-injury plan administrators. Limitations on the use of neutrals in bankruptcy can be found in Bankruptcy Rule 9031, and there is growing support to modify the rule to eliminate this limitation.

Bankruptcy judges will discuss the most talked-about current events and controversial opinions in the insolvency world with ABI Editor-at-Large Bill Rochelle.

This panel will discuss mediation in mass-tort/multiparty cases such as Puerto Rico, Purdue, Boy Scouts andthe various religious institutions that have filed for bankruptcy. The panelists will highlight mediating tortclaims that have emotional and non-monetary components, such as sexual abuse; issues regardingnondebtor-related entity property and contributions; and liquidation concerns in a religious institutionbankruptcy.

This panel will cover assessing and negotiating a fee structure, how to prepare for the mediation, guiding participants toward making mediation statements useful, and tips for breaking the impasse.

This panel will discuss mediation as a pathway to case-resolution; mediation advantages and pitfalls; mediation privilege and disclosure; who should be invited to a mediation; and whether a sitting judge, former judge or trained mediator is the best person to lead a mediation. They will also share lessons learned from previous mediations in large cases.

Based on his distinguished 45-year career dealing with stress and human health, Dr. Bruce Rabin will present a timely program identifying the mental and physical effects of stress, and will introduce skills that can be used to minimize those effects. He will explore the concepts of isolation, changes in behavior and health due to the pandemic, and how negotiation strategies for in-person or remote mediations, client relations and decision-making are affected by stress.

Bankruptcy Judges Elizabeth Brown and Michael Romero will discuss the year’s widest splits and most controversial opinions with ABI Editor-at-Large Bill Rochelle.