Municipal Bankruptcy

The panel will discuss how Puerto Rico can implement economic growth and fiscal stability measures and right-size its debt obligations, and the legal, political and financial tools that can be used to achieve an optimal outcome for Puerto Rico and its people, businesses and creditors.

The stakeholders in the Puerto Rico debt crisis – the bondholders, the pension creditors, the residents and the politicians - can learn much from the Detroit bankruptcy case. Based on his judicial experience with the Detroit bankruptcy case and his recent work with Puerto Rico, Judge Rhodes will address those lessons and the shared sacrifices that will be required from everyone to give the island a fresh start.

The Tenth Amendment has been construed to require that a municipality in bankruptcy must maintain control over its assets and revenues, but the Bankruptcy Code requires that the municipality establish that its plan of adjustment is in the best interests of creditors and is feasible. This program will address that conflict and a range of other issues relating to valuation that arise in municipal restructuring cases, including valuing assets such as tax revenues streams, as well as such obligations as bond, pension and health care.

This panel will discuss current hot topics in bankruptcy cases, including bankruptcy law developments in entertainment cases, nonprofit education cases, municipalities and other chapter 9 cases, and many more.

The panel will discuss Puerto Rico’s present economic condition/situation, the sequence of events that have led to PR’s present economic crisis, what should/can be done to restructure PR’s debt, whether chapter 9 is an appropriate tool to restructure PR’s debt or a solution to its economic condition, and the legal issues that PR is likely to confront in light of its economic crisis.

This panel will present a roundtable discussion.

NO CLE Credit Available - Free Session. Join in a dialogue led by former ABI Presidents: Richardo I. Kilpatrick Kilpatrick & Associates, PC; Auburn Hills, Mich. Melissa Kibler Knoll Mesirow Financial Consulting, LLC; Chicago Michael P. Richman Hunton & Williams LLP; New York

This panel of Chapter 9 specialists will discuss the Chapter 9 bankruptcy process including eligibility under Chapter 9, the authority of the bankruptcy court, powers of the municipal debtor, the role of creditors, the automatic stay, issues peculiar to certain types of Chapter 9 debtors such as hospitals and cities and the recent developments in chapter 9.

Jeffrey N. Pomerantz, Moderator ABI Vice President-Education Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP; Los Angeles Resolved: Curbing pension rights in a chapter 9 case is constitutional. Con: Babette A. Ceccotti Cohen, Weiss & Simon LLP; New York Resolved: Committee member fees are not payable as part of a Chapter 11 plan. Pro: Nan Roberts Eitel Executive Office for U.S. Trustees; Washington, D.C. Con: Dennis F. Dunne Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP; New York Resolved: A chapter 13 debtor may employ § 363 to effect a free-and-clear short sale of his/her principal residence notwithstanding § 1322(b)(2) and the secured creditor’s objection. Pro: Hon. Eugene R. Wedoff U.S. Bankruptcy Court (N.D. Ill.); Chicago Con: Hon. Mary Grace Diehl U.S. Bankruptcy Court (N.D. Ga.); Atlanta

Labor & Employment/Financial Advisors & Investment Banking/Legislation Committees: This panel will address public pension law, including their financial magnitude, and will focus on a number of timely current issues ranging from constitutional matters to state authorization, § 903 and 904 concerns, and relevant legislation. The panelists will draw upon their recent experiences, particularly from municipal bankruptcy cases, to highlight key themes and provide relevant insights.