Ethics

This panel will cover disclosure obligations, disinterestedness standards and avoiding disgorgement.

This presentation will discuss ethical issues relating to representing debtors who have engaged in “aggressive” asset protection/exemption planning, the problem with using involuntary bankruptcies to resolve corporate disputes, issues on representing involuntary debtors, and what to do about clients who lie under oath or knowingly fail to turn over discovery.

This panel will cover the critical relationship between professional responsibility and rules of discovery. The panel will discuss the pitfalls and common mistakes that attorneys make with digital discovery and electronic evidence.

This panel will discuss the routine (and not-so-routine) issues that consumer bankruptcy practitioners face.

Discussion of EPF bankruptcy process issues. What are the duties of directors and their professionals in complex multi-debtor cases? More generally, when is it necessary to obtain a conflict waiver? Current vs. recent vs. former clients; directly adverse vs. positionally adverse; relatedness to a prior matter; use of confidential information; review of disinterestedness standards under Bankruptcy Code § 101(14) and related disclosure requirements; ABI Report on Standards of Professional Courtesy and Conduct.

Conflicting ethics and professionalism under different jurisdictions; required disclosures; duties to the various courts; duties to your client; different fiduciary duties; the ethics of insolvency planning and COMI-shifting.

Any reform of current chapter 11 practice must account for the prevailing criticism that fees and costs are too high, and do it in a way that focuses on aligning incentives with case efficiency. This panel of Commissioners will discuss recommended reforms that provide for more effective oversight, as well as alternative fee structures consistent with professionals’ ethical obligations under the Code of Professional Responsibility.

Trustee Selection in Commercial Bankruptcy Cases: Who Wins the Battle to Control the Estate?

This panel will discuss how law firms can use turnaround techniques to maximize the value of their services for themselves and their clients.