Consumer

Balloon payments, assets acquired post-petition, student loan classifications and discharged debts related to criminal activity: Can these issues be navigated without throwing a debtor’s plan upside down? Catch up on strategic tips and considerations that will help you get your debtor to the other side of a chapter 13.

Poker players look for tells. Polygraphs measure physiological indicators. Movies suggest that there is some magic to looking somebody in the eye. In court, though, judges and lawyers are left to their own devices to determine whether a witness is lying. A clinical psychologist and a former attorney general of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will join experienced trial lawyers and judges to discuss lying and the limits of detecting lying, including verbal and nonverbal cues that aid in assessing the credibility of statements.

Does an approved fee application shelter counsel from malpractice claims brought by the client? If it does, how do you advise your client about how the application and its approval affects a client’s future claim against you? Does asking for it to be paid pit you against your client and create an unavoidable conflict of interest? Get the tools to navigate these murky ethical considerations.

Do some provisions of the Bankruptcy Code seem so out of date and maddening that you want to call your congressional representatives? Our panel of “sharks” will evaluate pitches for legislation to remedy nagging issues in the Code, including implementing restrictions on the appointment of creditors’ committees in chapter 11 cases, tax exemptions for asset sales under § 363, increasing statutory compensation for trustees, the creation of bankruptcy appellate panels in every circuit, and the elimination of debt limits for chapter 13. Come see whether any ideas make the cut!

This panel will survey how districts around the region are addressing the implementation of the National Form Plan and/or the adoption of an Opt-Out Plan, and will discuss procedures for approving the opt-out plan, new rules, potential challenges and software issues.

This session discusses to whom a debtor surrenders his residence, and whether a surrender prohibits the debtor from opposing a state court foreclosure action. The recent case of In re Failia (11th Cir.) sheds light on these questions.

This panel will discuss issues inherent when a client files multiple bankruptcies, including dismissal, discharge, automatic stay, lien-stripping, chapter 20, married debtors, co-debtors and more.

This panel will discuss how young professionals can grow their practices, maintain contacts, improve their reputations and bring in business.

This session will discuss motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment, plus discovery and evidentiary motions, and tips on how to use motions practice to your advantage in adversary proceedings and contested matters.