Labor/Employment

This session will examine three issues: (1) the role of management in § 363 sales (how to make sure that management plays the role of neutral stakeholder throughout the plan and/or § 363 process; what actions management might tend to take when it favors a particular bidder in the process; what happens when management wants to participate in the § 363 process); (2) managing management’s interests, including participation in the bankruptcy process (how to address management’s sometimes parochial concerns and keep them from adversely impacting the bankruptcy; the interplay between management’s desires and the desires of the fulcrum class as new owners post-restructuring; issues around management compensation (e.g., employment contracts, incentive plans, severance policies), including the assumption or rejection of existing contracts, plans or policies and/or the implementation of new ones and U.S. Trustee objections; who represents management and when management should look to cut its own deal); and (3) labor issues (issues around benefit plans; whether § 1113 is the only way to eliminate a successor clause (A&P); whether § 1113 is an option if the collective bargaining agreement expires or is expired (Hostess, Trump, Journal Register); whether the union has a claim for damages if rejection relief under § 1113 is granted).

Rarely has a hashtag so completely captured the urgency and gravity of a major shift in national consciousness. This panel of experts will lead an interactive discussion on issues confronting the legal profession in the #MeToo world, examining legal, practical and ethical considerations through a series of vignettes. What should be done about the difficult client that represents a significant portion of firm revenue? What are best practices for lawyers in supervisory and managerial roles? What resources are available to attorneys who find themselves subjected to inappropriate or actionable conduct? How may explicit or implicit bias and harassment play out in the adversary system and in negotiations, litigation and the courtroom? Finally, what is the role of the judiciary in addressing these critical issues? The panel will tackle these questions head-on in a plenary ripped from today's headlines.

In March 2017, the Supreme Court issued its decision Czyzewski v. Jevic Holding Corporation. The Jevic case has been regarded as the most important Supreme Court case impacting chapter 11 practice in the last decade. This panel of experts will be discussing the impact and implications that the Jevic decision will have on business bankruptcies for years to come.

This panel features leading professionals in the chapter 11 practice area who were directly involved in the Jevic chapter 11 case, as well as a distinguished retired bankruptcy judge. This session will cover the underlying Jevic chapter 11 case, the Supreme Court’s opinion in Jevic and its impact on chapter 11 practice, and strategic alternatives in light of the decision.

This panel will explore the myriad issues that arise in chapter 7 and 11 cases when the debtor is the sponsor of an employee retirement benefit plan, including 401(k) plans and pension plans.

Presented by the Bankruptcy Taxation and Labor & Employment Committees

This session will focus on a very hot topic in consumer bankruptcy cases: debts owed by a debtor for overpayment of unemployment compensation. Learn about the automated process used by the State of Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency. What can be discharged under § 523(a)(2)(A) and (a)(7)? What are the nondischargeability differences between chapters 7 and 13? Are the Agency’s procedures for contesting a determination of overpayments sufficient to create a collateral estoppel argument in a later bankruptcy case? The panelists will educate the attendees both about the process used to obtain unemployment benefits and the potential issues that the payment of unemployment benefits can cause in a later bankruptcy case.

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act can have a substantial impact on the administration and reorganization of a chapter 11 debtor. This panel of chapter 11 and WARN Act experts will discuss the impact that the WARN Act has in a chapter 11 bankruptcy case.

This panel will cover recent developments in business bankruptcy cases at the bankruptcy and appellate levels.

Labor Issues in 363 Sales: Things You Need to Know