2022

Hosted by the Mediation Committee Mediators are akin to psychologists, using skills of diplomacy and psychology to attempt to bring divergent people to a consensus. At ABI's 2022 Annual Spring Meeting, Dr. Bruce Rabin discussed how nearly two years of remote work has taken a psychological toll on people. From the standpoint of legal practice in general and mediation in particular, this has impacted everything from how we do business and how we relate to legal adversaries to how both mediators and mediation parties interact with each other and make decisions. As a follow-up to Dr. Rabin’s presentation, this webinar will discuss further the impacts, pros and cons, of remote mediation, which has forced mediators to adapt their skills to an environment where the parties never get in the same room. What difficulties does remote mediation present? What observations have been made on how remote mediation has affected the decision-making process? Does remote mediation pose unique challenges to obtaining a settlement? What has been made easier using remote technologies? This webinar will also report on the results of a survey the Mediation Committee conducted regarding members' thoughts and comments about remote mediation, and whether it is here to stay in some hybrid fashion.

Hosted by the Financial Advisors and Investment Banking Committee Subchapter V cases often involve troubled small businesses with limited financial means to hire a financial advisor. One unique feature about subchapter V cases is that a case trustee is appointed in every case, and some of these trustees are experienced bankruptcy professionals with backgrounds in accounting and finance. This panel is comprised of nonlawyer subchapter V trustees who regularly serve as financial advisors and accountants in chapter 11 matters. The panelists will share their perspectives on how they have used their financial and accounting experience to help subchapter V debtors successfully negotiate and confirm plans where feasibility and valuation issues have been raised.

Industry experts from the past four decades will walk attendees down insolvency memory lane.

Over the past decade, companies burdened with significant asbestos and other tort liability have utilized the so-called “Texas Two-Step” strategy to separate those tort liabilities from core assets and resolve them through the chapter 11 bankruptcy process. This session will cover isolating liabilities to preserve ongoing value with mass torts and corporate side changes, and subsequent bankruptcy issues, including venue, ongoing operations, valuations and third-party releases.

This panel will focus on covering lenders’ perspectives on chapter 11 strategy and options, such as note sales, out-of-court restructurings or formal bankruptcy sales, and will discuss lenders’ and borrowers’ perspectives on regulatory challenges and procedural issues, such as anti-trust and environmental concerns, that are sometimes raised during a bankruptcy case, as well as issues with § 363 sales, DIP milestones and restructuring support agreements.

This panel of subchapter V experts will discuss the multitude of issues that have developed since the enactment of the statute, and how practitioners can best deal with these issues.

This session will cover the use of independent special committees/directors and will include a discussion on what independence entails, including extended family relationships/financial referral relationships, even if they are not formalized.

This panel will discuss why the monetization of intellectual property (IP) has become a key strategic tool in restructuring, bankruptcy and acquisitions, and how the importance of monetization has evolved over decades. The panelists include experts in innovation, the role IP plays in bankruptcy and restructuring, how cross-border situations impact the monetization of IP, post-acquisition integration of the IP “footprint,” and other key topics of interest.

Join ABI's Diversity Working Group to hear from experts on the current trends related to gender identity and pronoun usage, workplace liability issues and more.

What privileges and confidentiality can be asserted in bankruptcy litigation (e.g., attorney/client, common interest, mediation, etc.), and how do you invoke and preserve these various privileges/confidentialities? This session will identify these issues and address the ethical and legal implications if they they aren’t properly preserved.