2024

This panel will present a lively debate addressing current trends in DIP financing. Who are (and are not) DIP lenders these days? What opportunities and challenges arising from the amortization of Main Street lending programs should practitioners be aware of? How is DIP financing being used to buttress liability-management transactions? How big should a DIP loan be, and what issues arise in corporate governance when a company seeks a DIP? When do DIP protections go too far?

This panel will explore an as-yet-untested question: Can a domestic debtor use the law of another country to effect the restructuring of all or some of its debt, then commence a chapter 15 case and bind U.S. creditors to the terms of that foreign restructuring? Some think that this scenario is inevitable. The panelists will discuss how U.S. and foreign insolvency laws may be utilized by U.S. debtors, and the potential incentives, benefits and risks associated with this type of restructuring.

This session will focus on various aspects of bringing and litigating multi-count causes of action springing from fraud, and how to uncover hidden assets in the context of fraud-based avoidance actions.

Forever Chemicals: PFAS chemicals have been dubbed “forever chemcials” because they are extrermely presistent, lasting thousands of years. Many have been linked to long-term health problems, thus generating trillions of dollars in potential liabilities — and bankruptcy filings. Chapter 7 Clawbacks in Fraud Cases: Hear the latest on chapter 7 trustees’ ability to use clawbacks in fraud cases. Distressed Investing Update: Learn about the latest trends in distressed investing — what the latest opportunities are, and what factors should you be paying attention to. The Changing Landscape of Chapter 11: Find out about the newest trends in restructuring and chapter 11 filings, and what new tools parties-in-interest and the courts are turning to in in-court and out-of-court restructurings.

This panel will discuss a selection of cases that raise current substantive bankruptcy issues and litigation challenges, including how to convince a bankruptcy court to extend the automatic stay (or issue an injunction) to protect debtor-related (but nondebtor) entities from tort or other litigation that could interfere with the plan process (e.g., Robertshaw (S.D. Tex. 2024); Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Center (S.D.N.Y. 2023)); how best to present valuation evidence for unusual, complex and illiquid assets, including mortgage-backed securities, derivatives and crypto assets; and how to deal with evidentiary issues — particularly relating to damages — arising in “liability management” litigation. The panelists will conclude with a rapid-fire presentation of successful bankruptcy litigation tips.

This panel will discuss the wide-ranging changes to the Bankruptcy Code resulting from the 2005 amendments, and how they do and do not continue to affect bankruptcy practice today.

This panel will cover such topics as exculpation/opt-in, opt-out, as well as U.S. Trustee views on programmatic positions vs. litigating a case. The panelists will cover topics relating to fees, such as the role of a fee examiner, and nonestate professional fee requests. Attendees also will learn about the importance of sealing personally identifiable information — and how to do so.

This panel will address recent trends in private credit restructuring.

This panel will discuss and explore the legal bases and practical implications of enforcing a judgment in the context of a bankruptcy case and utilizing state law procedures and remedies. In the context of a bankruptcy case, the panelists will explore issues related to judgments that are nondischargeable or may be nondischargeable, relief from the automatic stay, foreign judgments and their interplay with chapter 15 proceedings, and judgments against nondebtor subsidiaries where assets of the debtor entities might be implicated. Outside of bankruptcy, the panelists will focus on the judgment enforcement mechanisms and tools that exist under New York law, as well as domesticating a foreign or federal court judgment from another state for enforcement in New York.

This panel will look at ethical considerations for lawyers and judges that arise in the context of bankruptcy proceedings, including the public interests at stake in large chapter 11 cases. This panel also will evaluate the ethical issues involved in the use of artificial intelligence and mass torts in bankruptcy, and will discuss recent cases and share best practices.