Executory Contracts/Leases

This panel will explore strategies and pitfalls in distressed lease and asset sales, both in and out of court. Panelists will address key issues in negotiating lease workouts and structuring asset sales, highlighting how tactics shift depending on asset class. Discussion will cover recent trends, including repeat bankruptcies and the rise of lease-only and stand-alone asset sales, with practical insights for stakeholders navigating today’s restructuring challenges.Learning Objectives:Attendees will learn to:Draft and negotiate lease workout agreements and structure asset sales in both in-court and out-of-court distressed scenarios.Distinguish between tactical approaches for different asset classes and identify common pitfalls in distressed lease and asset sale transactions.Analyze emerging trends, including repeat bankruptcy filings, lease-only sales, and stand-alone asset dispositions, to develop effective stakeholder strategies.

In 2024 alone, more than 517,000 bankruptcy cases were filed in the U.S., and bankruptcy judges issued an estimated 521 reported decisions, plus another 1,241 unreported decisions. How many of those cases and issues are you familiar with? You might know what the Supreme Court did in Purdue Pharma, what the Third Circuit did in Boy Scouts, what the Fourth Circuit did in Bestwall, and what bankruptcy courts are doing in cases like Red River Talc, Celsius and FTX, but do you know the latest trends in equitable tolling, chapter 5 avoidance claims and conversion rights? Bill Rochelle and this panel of esteemed bankruptcy judges will be holding a lively discussion of a few critical-but-under-the-radar decisions that you should be reading about but likely are not. You won’t want to miss this educational and eye-opening conversation!

In today’s volatile commercial real estate market, the intersection of lease law and bankruptcy is more complex than ever. This panel dives into the real-world challenges landlords and tenants face when bankruptcy hits, using recent high-profile cases — including WeWork and a wave of "Chapter 22" retail filings — to examine the growing tensions among market realities, restructuring costs and the Bankruptcy Code.

This session will go beyond the black-letter law of § 365 with a "landlord mafia boss" to discuss practical and timely topics concerning how to best serve your client in post-petition lease negotiations during a post-petition § 363(b) sale process. This panelists will discuss cutting-edge issues and real-life experiences associated with real property and personal property leases from some of the most significant cases over the past several years, including Yellow, Red Lobster, GNC and Big Lots. Attendees can expect to be able to implement these lease strategies in cases of all sizes on behalf of debtors, landlords and other interested third parties.

This session will cover recent Supreme Court and Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Circuit cases that you need to know about.

Join ABI Editor-at-Large Bill Rochelle for this fun and informative session as he and six judges address recent Second Circuit cases, and predict how the circuit will rule on tough questions on the way up. An attendee favorite!

Join Bill Rochelle as he provides us with the highlights we need to know about emerging cases from the Supreme Court, Tenth Circuit and more!

Attendees will work through case problems in small judge-led groups.

Join ABI Editor-at-Large Bill Rochelle for this fun and informative session as he and several bankruptcy judges discuss circuit splits and hot topics on important bankruptcy issues. An attendee favorite!