2019

This panel will explore the efforts being taken to use blocking provisions in corporate and company organizational documents to limit the possibility of a bankruptcy filing, and will discuss the importance of independent board members in various transactions throughout the duration of a chapter 11 case and financial distress.

Real Estate is red-hot right now — which means it’s an attractant for both the savvy investor and the fraudster. Don’t miss getting the inside scoop on the law and insights from other perspectives concerning the latest schemes and themes in real estate fraud and bankruptcy. A panel of experts with varying professional backgrounds will discuss the various forms of fraudulent schemes involving real estate pre- and post-bankruptcy, how to sniff out irregularities using various accounting and forensic tools, what to do once you realize your client has a problem (whether debtor or creditor), and how to safeguard your clients and cases from future problems.

This panel will focus on drafting skills for bankruptcy and restructuring attorneys. It is intended to provide a practical “how to” discussion and analysis of negotiating and drafting chapter 11 sale documents and pleadings, including asset-purchase agreements, bid-procedure motions and orders, sale motions and orders, and related documents. The session will also provide form documents and discuss heavily negotiated or scrutinized provisions.

This panel will discuss the value and involvement of financial advisors and investment bankers in successful § 363 sales, as well as strategies for working with financial advisors and investment bankers to navigate negotiations of § 363 sale terms, maximizing recoveries, and handling ethical issues that may arise in § 363 sales.

Everyone likes to see lawyers get paid! This panel will address the differing approaches for attorney fees in chapter 13 cases across the country and discuss the allowance of debtor and creditor fees while examining and discussing the ABI Consumer Commission’s recommendation on fees in chapter 13 cases generally.

Neither the Bankruptcy Code nor the Bankruptcy Code’s legislative history contains an exception to the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). As a result, bankruptcy courts grappling with whether to enforce an arbitration clause in bankruptcy have focused on whether there is an inherent conflict between the Bankruptcy Code and enforcement of arbitration pursuant to the FAA. The determination that arbitration is required could be the death knell for bankruptcy debtors. This panel will explore, in instances where arbitration is required, how to avoid jeopardizing the central objectives of the Bankruptcy Code that enable debtors to obtain a fresh start, as well as how to ensure uniformity of results to avoid what could be “wildly inconsistent” outcomes in arbitration that impact debtors on an individual and case-by-case basis.

There have been significant challenges to the roles that counsel to debtors and creditors have played in chapter 13 cases since the enactment of BAPCPA, with little recognition that the success in completing a case through discharge is directly proportional to the efforts of the professionals involved in the proceeding, often in the face of contending with very difficult clients and circumstances. Many programs focus on the poor behaviors of counsel in an effort to provide examples or what “not to do.” This interactive ethics panel will require the panelists to take on role-reversals and encourage audience participation and debate about what can be done to support experienced professionals, and to avoid the continued diminution of the practice by having parties take on the challenges of the “other side.”

The purchaser has bought all the assets, and management has a new boss. Who is left to clean up, and what are the tax, governance, potential claims against management and D&O implications that need to be addressed should the case convert? This session will address these issues and more.

This session will be an interactive program that will inform participants and provide guidance concerning fundamental issues and best practices surrounding professional responsibility and ethical conduct. Part trivia, part panel presentation, the session will engage participants to self-select “answers” from several Jeopardy categories focused on issues of interest, then provide the corresponding “questions” (prizes will be awarded). For each answer/question, our panel will provide analysis and commentary. Plus, you get ethics credit just for showing up!

Earlier this year, a chapter 11 case was filed and a plan confirmed in 19 hours. A one-day prepack offers several advantages to creditors and debtors alike. What cases are a good fit for a lightning-speed chapter 11, and what due process concerns must be satisfied?