Free Sessions (no CLE)

This panel will discuss various considerations for practitioners in regards to interest rates and inflation, and their effects on valuation in bankruptcy proceedings.

This panel will address issues related to corporate governance in distressed situations and considerations regarding independent directors.

This panel will provide an update on cryptocurrency’s adoption and integration into the global financial system. The panelists will share practical approaches for bankruptcy practitioners to identify, take possession of and manage cryptocurrency in bankruptcy cases.

This panel will discuss case law related to subchapter V and § 523 nondischargeability, and how to navigate uncertainties in such cases.

Presented in the style of the ever-popular TED Talks, this year’s ABI Talks will focus on four hot topics: the state of the bankruptcy judiciary, Cinemark, civil contempt issues and venue reform.

On direct appeal, the Third Circuit on Jan. 30 reversed the bankruptcy court and directed the dismissal of the petition that had been filed by LTL Management LLC, the subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson created to file in chapter 11 to deal with talc and asbestos claims arising from the sale of Johnson’s Baby Powder. Although Circuit Judge Thomas Ambro pointedly declined to rule on whether LTL improperly used chapter 11 as a “litigation tactic,” what are the legal steps J&J can take to settle roughly 40,000 cancer lawsuits concerning its talc-based products? A panel of top academics will examine the decision and the issues surrounding J&J's case, and will discuss what could happen with the case moving forward.

Did you know that you are a superhero? Who else with the stroke of a pen can erase thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars worth of debt? Who else can take a struggling American citizen and put them upright with a fresh start, slay aggressive creditors and stop garnishments, demand the return of seized vehicles, and push back on the IRS? Lastly, what other area of law allows you to be a superhero of epic proportions? Not one, Captain America! So wrap yourself in the American flag and spend an hour changing your perspective to understand how the businesses who support you see what you do and why it matters. This panel will present a discussion of the perspectives and issues that stand in your way as successful business owners, the changes we can all make, and how you can adapt to struggle less and succeed more by ditching the models of the past and creating a more nimble one for the future in a post-COVID-19 legal landscape.

Technology can be looked at as a business-enabler. Attorneys who want to move from manual or paper processes to an automated, streamlined, more efficient or paperless practice have a variety of options available. The choices are seemingly endless, but which options are the right fit for your practice? This panel will discuss some of the productivity suites, PDF-production software, case-management systems and other programs that are available to modernize consumer practice. Since when it comes to technology one size doesn't fit all, the panelists will highlight some general considerations that are applicable to attorneys in solo practices and to those in larger firms.