2017

This panel will present a detailed look at filing foreclosures, state law defenses and post-judgment foreclosure matters, and when to file bankruptcy in the process.

Join Hon. Eugene R. Wedoff (ret.), ABI President and member of the ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy, for a discussion of the Commission’s recommendations for improving the consumer bankruptcy system within the existing structure. Attendees will have the opportunity to offer ideas and feedback on key issues, in advance of the Commission’s December 2018 release of its recommendations. To learn more about the ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy, visit consumercommission.abi.org.

While financial and economic issues generally dictate whether a restructuring is likely to be successful, the success of a restructuring often will be meaningfully impacted, either positively or negatively, by more intangible factors that are at play. This presentation will examine the ways in which restructuring professionals, rather than the company’s balance sheet and industry outlook, may materially affect the restructuring landscape, including how such professionals approach financial and operational distress, prepare the restructuring game plan, communicate with the client and its stakeholders, and generally manage the restructuring process. Restructuring professionals’ adherence to applicable ethical obligations and professionalism best practices are critical to this process. Learn the essential “dos” and “don’ts” and other “rules of the road” for professionals in restructurings.

This expert panel will discuss different approaches to business development, including lawyer advertising, law firm websites, social media, beauty contests and wining and dining, and factors that may influence the effectiveness of various approaches. Examples will be used to illustrate business-development methods and explain how the Model Rules of Professional Conduct apply to the methods being discussed.

This panel discusses attorney’s duty to uphold the law and how bankruptcy counsel must avoid “crossing the line” while representing his client, the result being not just civil, but criminal, liability.

Judges throughout the Mid-Atlantic region will square off to debate hot topics in insolvency.

This panel will review constitutional issues under § 1115 and the appointment of chapter 11 trustees, as well as debate whether conversion from chapter 7 to chapter 11 violates the 13th Amendment.

This panel will review some of the unique aspects of municipal bankruptcy cases, including the use of mediators, the role of a creditors’ committee and how committee professionals can be compensated, the involvement of state and federal laws and precedent for municipal bankruptcies, and the uncharted territory of Puerto Rico’s insolvency, as well as the potential impact on financially troubled states.

This panel will analyze the impact of recent decisions on investment strategy, including the use of restructuring support agreements and federal and state law remedies, as well as the litigation risk of recoveries absent a bankruptcy filing; the acceleration of debt maturities and redemption/“make whole” premiums; and the scope of § 546(e) “safe harbor” provisions.

This panel will discuss means of improving the chapter 13 process, including how to reduce abuses and thereby accelerate chapter 13 cases, as well as the new Rule amendments going into effect Dec. 1, 2017, and will contrast plans under chapters 11 and 13.