2021

Arguably no other industry has been impacted by the pandemic as much as the hospitality and leisure space. Hotels and conference centers face historic vacancy rates while AirBNB’s IPO raises $86 Billion. This panel discusses the unique challenges facing hotel and hospitality owners, operators, investors and brands seeking to ride out the current storm.

A look at the economic impact of COVID and the road ahead, including which industries will continue to struggle and may be casualties, which seem immune to the pandemic’s effects, and which were initially sick but appear to be on the road to recovery.

You’re leaving your firm, but what do you need to know before you go? This panel will discuss what to do and what not to do to make sure you meet your ethical obligations to your clients and your old firm, while avoiding problems for you and your new firm.

This panel takes a look at PPP forgiveness issues, the PPP’s effects on M&A transactions and bankruptcy cases, and what comes next.

States across the country have enacted so-called “reviver” statutes, allowing otherwise time-barred claims for childhood sexual abuse to proceed. History has shown that bankruptcy filings by targeted institutions are a natural byproduct of reviver statutes and laws tolling the applicable statutes of limitations for sexual abuse claims. Indeed, an increasing number of bankruptcies have been filed in the wake of reviver statutes and new waves of sexual abuse claims. This panel will discuss issues that arise at the crossroads of sexual abuse claims and chapter 11, including the tension caused by using a financial reorganization tool to resolve highly emotional personal-injury claims, the stresses that cases of this ilk place on the Bankruptcy Code (including the uniqueness of claims bar dates in cases of this sort, nonprofit debtors and the absolute priority rule, and the propriety of third-party releases), and the use of mediation to globally resolve these cases.

Since the enactment of the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (H.R. 3311, “SBRA”), which took effect on Feb. 19, 2020, bankruptcy courts and practitioners have had opportunities to address a number of novel issues, interpreting and applying what are essentially brand-new Bankruptcy Code statutes. In this panel, we will discuss some of the key SBRA areas that bankruptcy courts across the U.S. are addressing, as well as the novel issues that practitioners are navigating.

The panelists will discuss the recent reemergence of SPACs and will elaborate on the public policy and restructuring implications associated with them. This discussion of creative financing structures will focus on financing in a distressed environment, including three mini-case studies and emerging issues in litigation financing.

This panel will discuss the various standing doctrines that apply in federal and bankruptcy courts, including constitutional (Article III) standing, prudential standing, statutory standing (“party-in-interest” status) and derivative standing, and will cover issues that arise both in chapter 11 cases and the consumer arena.

Retail was in the midst of a fundamental shift before the pandemic.  COVID-19 forced retailers to innovate or closes their doors forever.  This panel will discuss bankruptcy case and code developments during the pandemic, but we will also discuss the extent to which we believe the pandemic accelerated retail trends that were already underway or whether the changes reflect true evolution in the retail space.  This panel will ask the audience to share what they are seeing in retail near home, with a hope of gathering a current perspective on retail innovation and survival. 

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