Professional Compensation/Fees

This panel, featuring a bankruptcy judge, a practicing debtor’s attorney and a trial attorney with the Office of the U.S. Trustee, will discuss the latest cases involving nontraditional methods of getting paid as a consumer chapter 7 debtor’s lawyer, including Code, Rule and local rule requirements; the applicable Rules of Professional Conduct and potential ethical ramifications; and what you need to know to avoid potential sanctions, disgorgement, penalties and discipline.

Sponsored by Riordan, Fincher & Mayo, P.A. Following the Money: Tracing Financial Transactions in Popular Phone Apps Rachel L. Foley Foley Law, PC | Independence, Mo. An Analytical Review of Reversals/Affirmance Rates Between BAPs and District Courts Jacklyn M. Branby Snell & Wilmer L.L.P. | Phoenix The Unconstitutionality of Chapter 11 UST Fee vs. Non-UST Fee Districts Nicholas J. Zluticky Stinson LLP | Kansas City, Mo. SBRA and Chapter 12 Definitions for Qualifying Debtors Mark A. Craige Crowe & Dunlevy | Tulsa, Okla.

This panel will provide insolvency professionals with practical business-development tips from numerous perspectives.

This panel will look at ethical issues that arise in the context of bankruptcy proceedings, including protecting common interest privilege and retaining and compensating professionals. Panelists will discuss recent cases and share best practices.

Recent large bankruptcies like NRA, Boy Scouts of America, Roman Catholic Archdiocese, Purdue Pharma and J&J have invigorated debate over the longstanding issues of venue and bad faith in bankruptcy. This panel will explore matters surrounding venue and bad-faith filings, related ethics considerations, and the newest wave of reform initiatives.

This panel will present a series of short TED talks and debates on issues arising with respect to attorneys’ fees.

This panel will be conducted in the format of the TV show “Crossfire” and will address three “hot” or “interesting” bankruptcy issues that are not being addressed in the other sessions. At the conclusion of each discussion, attendees will have an opportunity to vote on how they believe the issue should be resolved.

Getting paid in a world populated by bankrupt debtors is a tricky dance, but there are ways to make it happen. What you learn in this session is sure to be music (and money) to your ears! This panel will address chapter 7 fee bifurcation, effective chapter 13 fee applications and step-up plans, as well as practice-management profitability strategies, budgeting, billing and retirement.

Ranking on Google is perhaps the most important thing you can do to market your law firm. In this presentation, we’ll dig into how PPC (Google paid ads) complement your SEO (search engine optimization), social media and email marketing; how connecting your paid ads to your Google My Business (GMB) listing helps get your practice in front of more prospective clients; how search terms in paid ads are an invaluable source of information on consumer behavior and intent; and how geo-scheduling ads down to the zip code and overlaying such demographics as age, income and audience can help make sure your ads reach the right people. This session will also explain the intricacies of Google Ads rebranding from AdWords, including YouTube and more than 2 million websites in the Google Display Network.

For many distressed businesses, factoring loans — where third-party companies provide advances on invoices due — can be lifelines. This session will discuss this trending topic, as well as the dischargeability of nonpriority taxes for late-filed tax returns, and cryptocurrency.