Alternative Dispute Resolution

Resolved: The absolute priority rule should be eliminated in multi-debtor cases. Speakers: Pro: Hon. James M. Peck (ret.) Morrison & Foerster LLP; New York Con:Hon. Mary F. Walrath U.S. Bankruptcy Court (D. Del.); Wilmington Resolved: The provisions in 11 U.S.C. § 363 prime and take precedence over the rights that 11 U.S.C. § 365(h) grants to lessees, so accordingly trustees/debtors in possession can sell real estate free and clear of any lease rights a tenant might have in the sold real estate. Speakers: Pro: Carren B. Shulman Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP; New York Con: Paul S. Singerman Berger Singerman, LLP; Miami Resolved: Creating mandatory claim mediation in mega-cases for all creditors should not be permitted as an unnecessary and inappropriate cost on smaller creditors. Speakers: Pro: Brian L. Shaw Shaw Fishman Glantz & Towbin LLC; Chicago Con: Jay M. Goffman Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; New York

Commercial Fraud/Mediation Committees: This mock mediation of commercial fraud litigation will utilize the talents of several of the leading mediation experts in the country. This program will demonstrate best practices in representing parties in mediation, as well as highlight key practice pointers for all involved in an effective mediation process.

This panel will look at several bankruptcy mortgage mediation programs around the country, and will discuss what parties need to do in order to make mortgage mediations successful in consumer bankruptcy cases.

Use of judges as mediators; when is the right time to mediate?; when will discovery or a ruling on a key issue facilitate mediation?; who should attend?; what information should be exchanged and what should be confidential to the mediator?; possible case study of ResCap mediation or other example

Inaugural organizational meeting for this new ABI committee focusing on mediation and other ADR methods applied in the bankruptcy process, including conflict-resolution skills development, overcoming impasses, multiparty mediations, confidentiality and more. The committee will consider Model Rules for courts on the use of mediation, mediator qualifications and compensation.

Overview of the legal landscape for mediation; selecting the mediator (identifying the essential traits and differing styles of a mediator that are suitable for a particular controversy); potential attorney conflicts in mediation; preparing yourself and your client for the mediation; effective use of pre-mediation statements; good, bad and ugly strategies for opening statements; preparing for potential roadblocks in a mediation; effective bargaining strategies; utilizing the mediator to your best advantage; and documenting the settlement agreement.

“Getting to Yes” in the language of the Fisher and Ury book, has become part of the common lexicon. This program will focus on negotiation techniques in the context of a bankruptcy. After an analysis of negotiation techniques applicable to the world of insolvency, experienced practitioners will relay war stories and examples of tactics that have worked, and those that have not.

This panel will focus on the irrational biases for decision-making in bankruptcy. The essence of bankruptcy is deciding how to divide the debtor's metaphorical shrinking economic pie among qualified creditors. At its optimum, bankruptcy decision-making is efficient and rational. However, at other times even the most skilled bankruptcy practitioners are stymied by the inability of bankruptcy participants to make seemingly rational business decisions. Why can't everyone be rational? Decision-making is not a rational process. Behavioral economic scholars such as Daniel Ariely and Daniel Kahneman explain that we all have psychological biases that interfere with our ability to make objectively rational decisions. Bankruptcy practitioners who understand these biases learn strategies to influence them and thus enhance optimal bankruptcy decisionmaking.