2020 Virtual Winter Leadership Conference

Presented by the Real Estate and Unsecured Trade Creditors Committees This panel will explore the myriad legal conundrums landlords have been facing in bankruptcy cases across the country since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. Discussion points will include landlord rights to assumption/rejection and timing, the ability of debtors to defer rent payments to landlords for lengthy periods of time, and the impact of force majeure clauses in these disputes.

This panel will discuss whether liens are available on unencumbered assets like avoidance actions, credit bidding issues, equitable subordination/ recharacterization concerns, committee challenges to liens and bidding procedures.

Presented by the Mediation and International Committees Through a mock mediation, this panel of experienced judges and cross-border mediators and practitioners will illustrate the pitfalls and benefits of using mediation to resolve cross-border insolvency disputes.

Witness testimony at trial and in depositions is critical to winning. This panel of restructuring/insolvency litigators and expert witnesses will discuss how you prepare your fact and expert witnesses, including how to respond to direct examination, how to respond to personal attacks and lies, how to deal with an aggressive lawyer, how to prep a fact witness versus an expert witness, and how an expert witness should prep an attorney.

Presented by the Young and New Members & Ethics and Professional Compensation Committees You work hard for the money, so let’s make sure you get it. This panel will discuss ethical considerations governing that all-important process: getting retained and paid by the bankruptcy estate. Aside from covering the basics of retention for young and new professionals, the panelists will address some of the myriad ethical issues governing retention and compensation that can arise, including connection disclosures, concurrent representations of insiders and expense reimbursement. The session will also discuss recent decisions that could fundamentally affect how professionals are retained — including the use of the so-called “Jay Alix Protocol” and whether nunc pro tunc is still viable.

Presented by the Commercial and Regulatory Law & Financial Advisors and Investment Bankers Committees This panel will present a primer on the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, focusing on the typical capital structures of pharmaceutical/development companies versus in-pipeline companies. The panelists will examine the factors leading to the recent surge in pharmaceutical bankruptcy cases and their outcomes/resolutions, as well as § 363 sales of pharmaceutical companies’ assets and restructurings. Opiate bankruptcy cases such as Purdue and Mallinckrodt will be highlighted, as will ancillary issues that arise in pharmaceutical bankruptcy cases, such as product recalls, regulatory issues (such as with the FDA) and IP licensing issues.

What are the hottest topics in bankruptcy law? This panel of experts, moderated by ABI Editor-at-Large Bill Rochelle, will discuss and analyze current business and consumer bankruptcy law cases.