Claims

This panel will feature discussion, comments and thoughts on the proposed national uniform chapter 13 plan. Participate in an in-depth discussion on the changes coming to your chapter 13 practice.

Business Debate Resolved: Success fees for financial advisors should be eliminated. (Sides to be chosen by a coin toss at the beginning of the session.) Candace C. Carlyon Shea & Carlyon Ltd.; Las Vegas Frank A. Merola Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP; Los Angeles Judicial Debate Resolved: Claims benefiting from third-party guaranties may be separately classified. Pro: Hon. Barry Russell U.S. Bankruptcy Court (C.D. Calif.); Los Angeles Con: Hon. Eileen W. Hollowell U.S. Bankruptcy Court (D. Ariz.); Tucson Consumer Debate Resolved: Section 523(a)(8) limiting discharge of student loans should be eliminated. Pro: Kasey Cameron Nye Mesch, Clark & Rothschild, PC; Tucson, Ariz. Con: Madeleine C. Wanslee Gust Rosenfeld, PLC; Phoenix

Find out the latest happenings in all the Southern Districts. What can impact your practice? What should?

This panel will examine the risks associated with purchasing claims and debt positions for strategic purposes in bankruptcy cases. Issues to be discussed include whether a claim can be purchased free and clear of any defenses to the claim (KB Toys), designation of claims (DBSD), and other risks associated with the purchase of secured and unsecured claims.

This panel will discuss the creative ways that debtors, committees and settling parties are utilizing channeling injunctions, bar orders and settlements to curtail continued litigation to facilitate settlements in bankruptcy. In particular, the panelists will cover the applicable standards and the benefits that can be obtained for a bankruptcy estate and all settling parties.

This program will focus on the legal and business challenges that faced counsel to a debtor, secured lenders and franchisor in a hotly litigated, modest-sized Chapter 11 in Massachusetts involving a two-tiered ownership of six Planet Fitness franchisees. Filed in 2010 and ending with a confirmed plan in 2012, the case involved shifting allegiances, successive plans, alternative considerations of an asset sale vs a change in equity ownership depending on litigation with the franchisor, and a plethora of challenging issues, including (i) the contested settlement of litigation challenges to one secured creditor, (ii) the potential cram-down of a second secured creditor, (iii) the treatment of leases intended as security, (iv) disputed feasibility, (v) the ability to assume (and assign) the franchise agreements, (vi) whether the franchisor’s right of first refusal was enforceable, (vii) whether de-branding is a real alternative to a continuation of the franchise, (viii) whether the franchisor’s rights were waived during the case, and (ix) claims estimation. See In re Chicago Investments, LLC, 470 B.R. 32 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2012).

Utilizing a case study, ABI's panel of experts will explore issues surrounding a lender's decision on whether or not to make an election under § 1111(b), plan feasibility, and voting. The panel will also walk attendees through the necessary mathematical analysis used to analyze these issues.

Claims Resolution Rules 3001 & 3002.2, claim amendments, lien-stripping and mortgages.

17th Annual Great Debates Past Presidents’ Debate Resolved: The Bankruptcy Code should be revised to eliminate a debtor in possession's and trustee's ability to recover preferential transfers. Judicial Debate Resolved: A claim against the debtor’s estate, transferred to a third party, should be treated the same as if in the hands of the original holder. Consumer Debate Resolved: An attorney in a consumer case should be able to limit the scope of her employment.