2022

With the new realities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, insolvency and restructuring professionals are being tested to find solutions amid the rising challenges of today’s business environment. The ABI New York City Bankruptcy Conference, one of ABI’s largest and most prestigious events — and one of the most significant gatherings of insolvency and restructuring professionals in the New York metro area — is the place to hear from the best and learn practical techniques and tips for meeting the challenges of today’s insolvency landscape. Participating in this advanced-level educational forum, designed especially for experienced insolvency professionals, will provide you with invaluable opportunities to connect with the industry’s leading experts. Its expanded workshop format — each of the six concurrent breakout sessions will be presented twice with different panelists, offering attendees expanded points of view on the same topics — allows for spirited exchanges between panelists and attendees, and lets you customize your learning experience. Sample up to four concurrent sessions, or dig deeper into two concentrated subjects!

This panel will discuss improper purposes and the use of chapter 11 (NRA and Stream TV Networks, Inc.), analyze chapter 11 issues in liquidating cases, and cover what attorneys and other professionals need to know when preparing chapter 11 liquidation plans.

This panel will address issues related to corporate governance in distressed situations. The discussion will include the interplay between corporate governance and sponsor action, considerations regarding independent directors, and the ongoing debate on the role of employee compensation plans in bankruptcy.

As bankruptcy became a reality for many companies during the pandemic, valuation became a key question. In September 2020, Bloomberg commented, “Pinning a dollar value on a bankrupt enterprise is hard in the best of times. During a pandemic, it’s an invitation for a fight.” This session will discuss approaches to valuation in periods of volatility and business disruption, and how courts have dealt with the ensuing disputes.

This panel will discuss mediation as a pathway to case-resolution; mediation advantages and pitfalls; mediation privilege and disclosure; who should be invited to a mediation; and whether a sitting judge, former judge or trained mediator is the best person to lead a mediation. They will also share lessons learned from previous mediations in large cases.

Hosted by ABI's Unsecured Trade Creditors Committee This program will be structured as a case study and will delve into the prosecution and defense sides of a recently settled preference case in which the presenters were involved. The parties will engage in a free-flowing discussion of their respective positions folllwing a brief discussion of the underlying bankruptcy cases. In addition to various aspects of the subsequent new value (paid/unpaid, treatment of § 503(b)(9) and critical-vendor payments, etc.) and ordinary-course-of-business defenses (subjective and objective, including purported payment pressure and a bifurcated set of payment terms, etc.) that are at issue in the vast majority of preference cases, the presenters will also discuss less frequently raised defenses/issues, including, but not limited to, the critical vendor defense, and the impact of (1) pre- and post-petition recoupment/setoff rights on a defendant’s § 502(h) claim, and (2) a material unpaid post-administrative claim on the parties’ settlement strategy and related positions.

Last year, two very different cases achieved substantial returns to equityholders: Hertz and Garrett Motion. This panel will review how Hertz and Garrett Motion were able to achieve this result, including the circumstances that brought these companies to chapter 11 and the value-maximization strategies employed, the auction processes in each case, and how future tort claims were valued. The panel will also hold a broader discussion regarding the financial advisor’s role in the chapter 11 process from inception to exit.

This panel will discuss recurring issues related to mass tort cases, including the automatic stay, third-party releases (Sun Edision, Midway Gold, Purdue), venue-selection and estimation. The panelists will also offer an analysis of such key recurring issues as the use and propriety of bankruptcy for solvent debtors, and bankruptcy abuse vs. bankruptcy planning.