Fraud

TestIndependent board directors play a vital and increasingly important role in restructurings. Acting as an independent director has great rewards, but it also has risks in today’s restructuring environment. This panel will analyze and discuss a variety of issues related to corporate governance in restructurings and liquidations, including (a) the recruitment, appointment, role and duties of independent directors, (b) how to establish an independent board of directors, (c) the role of lawyers and financial professionals in advising a board of directors and independent directors, and (d) D&O claims, insurance and potential risks to independent directors.

In the 2022 and 2023 Supreme Court terms, there have been three or four bankruptcy cases on the docket in each term, as opposed to the more normal one case every year or even every other year. Cases have included both very significant issues that may have far-ranging effects, as in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P. (whether the Bankruptcy Code authorizes a court to approve, as part of a plan of reorganization under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, a release that extinguishes claims held by nondebtors against nondebtor third parties without the claimants’ consent), and more discrete issues that could have limited impact, as in Office of the U.S. Trustee v. John Q. Hammons Fall 2006, LLC (whether to require the U.S. Trustee to issue refunds for the extra fees paid by debtors in certain districts to address the lack of uniformity identified in Siegel v. Fitzgerald). This panel will discuss these Supreme Court cases from the last two terms.

Beyond a general overview of the fraudulent transfer elements under state law and the Bankruptcy Code, this panel will dissect recent fraud-related litigation topics and share personal experiences in representing and adjudicating such matters. Understanding who may be the subject of a fraudulent claim in bankruptcy, when a fraudulent transfer claim may arise, the ever-developing defenses to fraud, and the consequences for not complying with fraud-related discovery are just some of the issues that will be addressed in this panel. As more cases are filed because of, or in order to pursue, fraud claims, the panelists will provide their perspectives and highlight considerations of which all professionals should be aware.

Ponzi and other fraudulent schemes continue to proliferate. Many of these schemes, event if primarily targeted at Americans, operate using offshore entities in the Caribbean. As a result, resolving such schemes typically involves domestic receiverships or bankruptcy coupled with offshore liquidation proceedings. The victims’ recoveries may vary widely depending on whether the distribution of the scheme’s remaining assets is determined by U.S. bankruptcy law, U.S. common law or foreign law. This panel will explore the various ways in which U.S. and foreign laws implicate victims’ recoveries, as well as potential changes to those laws.

This session will focus on various aspects of bringing and litigating multi-count causes of action springing from fraud, and how to uncover hidden assets in the context of fraud-based avoidance actions.

In this session, an FBI agent, a U.S. attorney, an Assistant U.S. Trustee and a bankruptcy trustee will discuss the who, what, when and why of bankruptcy crimes, including the relationship between a criminal prosecution and a contemporaneous bankruptcy case or cases involving the criminal defendants, either as principals of the debtor or the debtors themselves.

This panel will explore recent trends in commercial fraud and the resulting bankruptcies, examine the role of technology in those cases, and consider how these cases will evolve in the future.

This panel will provide an interactive presentation focused on litigating fraud in consumer cases under §§ 523 and 727. The panelists will focus on collateral estoppel issues, procedural considerations, tips for discovery and the development of relevant evidence, and will provide practical advice about handling these cases before the courts.

Do you ever wonder what a particular Supreme Court decision means for you and your practice? This panel will discuss the Supreme Court’s general approach to deciding cases, including bankruptcy cases, and what those decisions mean for the bankruptcy and larger legal community. The panelists will use decisions from last term (as well as those to be argued this term) to help attendees better understand the decisions, how they might influence lower court decisions, and what it all means for those subjected to their decisions.