2017 Annual Spring Meeting

Hosted by the Business Reorganization and Unsecured Trade Creditors Committees This session will focus on recent case law developments in the area of executory contracts. The panelists will discuss issues concerning gathering agreements and the Sabine Oil decision, collective bargaining agreements, telecommunication agreements and more.

Join this leading panel of experts as they discuss the most recent important consumer bankruptcy decisions.

Bringing together the perspectives of debtors, creditors and judges, this panel will survey the universe of nondischargeability causes of action, the realistic costs of pursuing and defending these actions, effective discovery and trial strategies, the impact of issue and claim preclusion based on pre-petition judgments, the anatomy of nondischargeability settlement agreements, the challenges of collection, and the prospects for recovery of attorneys’ fees.

This panel will focus on the uses and limits of Bankruptcy Rule 2004 discovery, including e-discovery pointers, the impact of the latest amendments, jurisdictional and scope (“fishing expedition”) limits on discovery, keeping results confidential, using Rule 2004 examination transcripts in later proceedings, and various “nuts and bolts” practice points. The discussion will be based on a fact pattern presenting these various issues.

From your first contact with your client until the entry of a discharge order and the closing of the case, risks for consumer malpractice claims abound. This panel will focus on minimizing those risks, including properly engaging the client, effectively gathering the information necessary to adequately comply with the myriad requirements and disclosures necessary to successfully commence and conclude a consumer bankruptcy case, and guarding against other hazards that could create problems for your client and for you.

This panel will discuss threshold considerations, risks and benefits of, and in-court and out-of-court strategies for entering into, an RSA from the perspectives of the debtor and the fulcrum creditor, as well as other key constituents. We will also survey outcomes in recent cases that were commenced with RSAs in place.

Hosted by the International and Mediation Committees This panel will discuss the evolution of mediation in cross-border insolvencies and how it is utilized today. It will also provide insight into how cross-border mediations differ from U.S.-centric mediations, when cross-border mediations are most (and least) effective, and how mediators and professionals can best prepare themselves and others for successful cross-border mediations.

Hosted by the Legislation and Bankruptcy Taxation Committees. This session will address various tax implications that need to be considered by bankruptcy practitioners in connection with § 363 sales, including cancellation of indebtedness income, net operating losses and tax-free/deferred “G Reorganization” transactions. The panel will also discuss a timetable of decision points as to when tax-related issues need to be considered by practitioners in order to avoid unanticipated adverse tax consequences

The panelists will touch on recent cases and offer their prognostications as to the future of the equitable mootness doctrine.

Caesars has been one of the largest and most contentious cases in recent years. Hear how the parties involved addressed the most difficult issues in the case and how a resolution was finally reached.