Practice and Procedure

Chapter 7 Breakout Speakers: Chapter 7 Trustee: Joseph A. Baldi, Moderator Baldi Berg & Wallace, Ltd.; Chicago U.S. Trustee’s Office: Jeffrey S. Snell Office of the U.S. Trustee; Chicago Client Advocate: Barbara L. Yong Golan & Christie, LLP; Chicago Chapter 13 Breakout Speakers: Client Advocate: Nathan E. Curtis, Moderator Geraci Law L.L.C.; Chicago U.S. Trustee’s Office: M. Gretchen Silver Office of the U.S. Trustee; Chicago Chapter 13 Trustee: Glenn B. Stearns Chapter 13 Trustee; Lisle, Ill. Creditor Breakout Speakers: Berton J. Maley, Moderator Codilis & Associates, P.C.; Burr Ridge, Ill. Amy A. Aronson Aronson & Walsh, PC; Vernon Hills, Ill. Cari A. Kauffman Manley Deas Kochalski, LLC; Chicago

This panel is for participants who are either solo or small-firm practitioners and will include such topics as paperless offices, trust funds and accounting, managing workflow, and the implications on the office in the event of a natural disaster.

A panel of younger lawyers and financial professionals will talk about the issues and challenges of working for senior lawyers and will suggest ways to improve the working relationships between senior and junior lawyers.

This panel will provide helpful guidelines for creating clear client expectations, adequately defining work scope and managing fees when engaging FAs and expert witnesses. We have all had cases where clients were unhappy because work product didn’t meet expectations or fees were significantly higher than expected. This panel will help the practitioner learn how to use financial professionals more effectively to decrease the risk of having an unhappy client.

This panel of Midwestern judges will discuss some of the common mistakes that they are seeing in consumer cases, and how those mistakes can be avoided.

This panel will present the current trends in the industry, where the work is and isn’t, and where it may be in the future.

This panel will discuss what business development and office-management techniques have worked for them — with the understanding that everyone does things a little differently.

What happens when there is a failure of disclosure in consumer cases? This panel will cover current disclosure requirements, client intake tips regarding disclosure, and the ramifications of failing to disclose (i.e., denial of discharge, bad-faith dismissal, judicial estoppel, criminal prosecution, etc.).

On the Internet, no one knows you’re an attorney (unless you have a website, blog, LinkedIn profile, Twitter account and/or other social media outlet). This panel will discuss the use of the Internet and social media in your practice.

Proper representation requires that the lawyer consider from the onset of the relationship a variety of practical and ethical concerns. This panel discussion will focus on such issues as whether bankruptcy is the best alternative and which form of bankruptcy is the appropriate one, as well as certain pre-bankruptcy considerations and ensuring that the representation does not run awry of certain ethical considerations and canons.