2021 Winter Leadership Conference

Bifurcated fee arrangements involve splitting the consumer chapter 7 engagement into pre-petition and post-petition fee arrangements that require little or no money down for the work required to finish the case. In several jurisdictions across the nation, however, bifurcated fee arrangements in chapter 7 cases are being challenged. This panel will review the complex issues related to these fee arrangements.

Do you know the answers to the hottest ethics issues of the day? Do the experts? Are there actually answers? Audience members will match wits with a panel of ethics experts to see who knows up-to-the-minute ethical issues best! In this fun interactive session, the audience and the experts will try to determine the best answers to cutting-edge ethics questions from the bankruptcy world and beyond. The hot topics and questions will be known only to our Masters of Ceremonies, Tom Horan and Michael P. Richman (who will roam the audience with microphones), and will not be known to our audience or expert panelists Prof. Nancy Rapoport and Claire Wu until they play the game. Come enjoy, participate and learn!

Most lawyers are schooled on how to litigate and fully understand how to prepare for the courtroom battleground. Mediation, however, is a flexible and relatively informal dispute-resolution process that has become almost a mandatory first step in many common bankruptcy disputes, like preference actions — and it can achieve significant cost-value results for clients. Yet many lawyers make the mistake of either treating mediation as a side show that requires little or no preparation, or using the same preparation methods they use for trial. This session will explore the keys to conducting a successful mediation, from deciding when mediation is appropriate through properly documenting the mediated resolution, with an emphasis on how to prepare both yourself and your client for mediation to maximize its value, regardless of whether an actual settlement is reached. The panelists will include attorneys and judges who often serve as mediators, giving attendees a unique view on the different skills, presentation methodologies and mindsets needed to prepare for mediation vs. litigation.

Hosted by the Commercial & Regulatory Law and Unsecured Trade Creditors Committees This panel will explore issues that are driving value in health care bankruptcies, particularly issues of import to unsecured creditors. Included in the discussion will be the priority and impact of Medicaid provider fees, difficulties in valuing health care receivables and the resulting effects on claim status and cost of financing, the landscape of chapter 9 as a vehicle for the restructuring of a public health care debtor, and the treatment and saleability of provider agreements.

This panel of experts will discuss the basic terminology of blockchain and cryptocurrency; how various agencies of the U.S. government treat cryptocurrency, in particular the Internal Revenue Service, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission; and bankruptcy/restructuring issues related to blockchain and cryptocurrency.

Join ABI Editor-at-Large Bill Rochelle as he hosts a panel of bankruptcy judges to discuss circuit splits on important bankruptcy issues. Back again from the Annual Spring Meeting, this attendee-favorite panel will be presented in a fun game show format, where judges will vote to resolve the issues before they reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

Hosted by the Asset Sales and Financial Advisor Committees This panel, comprised of an attorney, an investment banker and a financial advisor, will discuss how to choose the best way to effectuate a sale, such as § 363, Article 9 or assignments for the benefit of creditors. The panelists will devise three scenarios and debate which method they believe is the best, and why.

The day-to-day life of restructuring professionals has changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lots of us learned that we can effectively complete our most challenging work from our home offices. This panel of CEOs, COOs and managing partners of firms with significant restructuring practices will discuss what has worked and what hasn’t worked during the pandemic, along with current trends and future issues.

This panel of national consumer experts will provide you with the necessary tips for achieving great results in your consumer cases.

Chapter 11 doesn’t work for every corporate liquidation. This panel of experts will discuss other ways a corporation can be liquidated, including out-of-court liquidations, receiverships, ABCs, the Delaware Dissolution Statute and chapter 7.