Bankruptcy Litigation

This panel will address some hotly contested issues in the context of a bankruptcy case, including fraud and fiduciary duty litigation. Judge Santoro will also share his views on when parties should seek guidance from the court to resolve certain disputes, including when counsel should request in-chamber conferences. Finally, the panelists will also provide some “best practice” tips for when you find yourself embroiled in contentious litigation.

This panel will discuss recent developments in bankruptcy court class actions, including class proofs of claim, class settlements embedded in chapter 11 plans, arbitration and class action waivers, and jurisdictional issues affecting a bankruptcy court’s authority to preside over putative nationwide class actions by debtors for discharge violations and other similar claims.

The panelists will provide a § 546(e) safe harbors update, including how state law preemption will be applied post-Merit; jurisdictional issues in Relativity; the debt-recharacterization circuit split and Supreme Court withdrawal of cert in PEM v. Levin; the application of avoidance powers extraterritorially (Ampal-American, Emerald, Madoff), fraudulent-transfer circuit splits and other related matters (Physiotherapy, Tribune, Madoff, Merritt Management, Petters, SemCrude, Fragin); and the current state of the equitable mootness doctrine, including recent criticisms, especially from the Third Circuit (e.g., In re Philadelphia Newspapers, In re SemCrude L.P., In re One2One Communications LLC), and their applications (e.g., In re City of Detroit).

The panelists will provide a § 546(e) safe harbors update, including how state law preemption will be applied post-Merit; jurisdictional issues in Relativity; the debt-recharacterization circuit split and Supreme Court withdrawal of cert in PEM v. Levin; the application of avoidance powers extraterritorially (Ampal-American, Emerald, Madoff), fraudulent-transfer circuit splits and other related matters (Physiotherapy, Tribune, Madoff, Merritt Management, Petters, SemCrude, Fragin); and the current state of the equitable mootness doctrine, including recent criticisms, especially from the Third Circuit (e.g., In re Philadelphia Newspapers, In re SemCrude L.P., In re One2One Communications LLC), and their applications (e.g., In re City of Detroit).

This session offers a valuable-yet-fun look at §523 through a mock adversary trial. Conducted by some of the most experienced bankruptcy litigators in the country, this event will most definitely help sharpen your trial skills.

Join leading bankruptcy scholars Professor Ronald J. Mann (Columbia), Professor Margaret Howard (Washington & Lee) and Professor Ralph Brubaker (University of Illinois) as they discuss Professor Mann's recent book, Bankruptcy and the U.S. Supreme Court. The presentation will not only focus on the most important bankruptcy decisions by the Supreme Court but also on the decision-making process that the Justices undertake to reach their conclusions. This session should not be missed!