2019

This panel will address the psychology, mindfulness and strategies for dealing with tough clients and tough ethical issues.

They just keep filing! This panel will discuss strategies and issues for dealing with the struggling health care industry.

Resolved: Use of the phrase "with respect to the debtor" in 11 U.S.C. § 362(c)(3) makes this provision applicable to termination of the automatic stay only as it relates to actions against the debtor and property of the debtor; this provision does not terminate the stay as to actions against property of the estate. Resolved: Restrictions on a debtor’s authority to file bankruptcy should be enforced.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act significantly changed many aspects of business taxation, especially for distressed companies. The way net operating losses work has fundamentally changed. The ability to deduct interest expense is now significantly limited and, as a result, distressed companies may have very different tax profiles than they previously have had. Changes to several rules impact the decision on whether to structure a reorganization as a tax-free transaction or a “Bruno’s” taxable transaction. The international tax regime has been fundamentally altered, both with respect to normal operations and with respect to long-standing issues regarding the appropriate scope of pledges and guarantees that can be provided in connection with DIP financing and cash collateral packages. All of these rules remain subject to an active and very much ongoing regulatory process that places a significant degree of uncertainty around tax outcomes. The panel will highlight and contextualize these key issues so that restructuring specialists can be aware of their potential impact.

This panel will delve into the roles of chapter 7 trustees and debtor’s counsel in complex cases, including (1) due diligence, planning and preparation for chapter 7 cases; (2) trustees' perspectives (when to start digging); (3) dealing with business ownership interests in individual cases; (4) risks to individual principals when entities file bankruptcy; and (5) getting paid in complex cases.

Witness: The Honorable Practice of Bankruptcy

This panel will address issues related to (1) whether a blanket lienholder has a lien on the going concern or goodwill of a debtor under Article 9 of the UCC and how this complicated issue works out in the context of a chapter 11 case, (2) navigating §552 in regards to the post-petition effect of a pre-petition security interests, and (3) reclamation claims under §503(b)(9), including disputes between inventory lienholders and reclamation claimholders, and questions of when receipt of goods occurs, whether goods delivered to a debtor’s customer qualify for reclamation, and whether utility services are considered “goods” under §503(b)(9).

Please also see Part 1 at https://cle.abi.org/product/consumer-workshop-i-my-cousin-vinny-evidence-and-trial-skills