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Take a look forward as this panel predicts where the Code will be in the next 40 years. Will venue be mandated or constricted? How will student loans be handled? What technologies will be in the courtrooms of the future? Does current case law foreshadow what is to come? How will the international insolvency landscape change? Will there even be a need for bankruptcy?

Our panel of chapter 7 trustees and consumer practitioners will discuss how to analyze corporate-entity assets, sales of real estate and other advanced issues.

Taking in the perspectives of the debtor and secured lenders, including the appropriateness to decline to support a filing in a jurisdiction that one believes is “unfavorable” in terms of permitted financing terms and covenants, how does a practitioner decide where to file? What goes into the decision? Why are the Sixth Circuit courts not as popular for selection? When should a venue be challenged?

The judges will discuss ethical issues involved with the representation of parties in bankruptcy proceedings. Topics for discussion include pre-filing obligations (e.g., investigation of assets, conflicts, employment and fee-sharing agreements), duties upon filing the case (e.g., disclosures, fee applications, § 341 meetings, adversary proceedings), and ongoing and other obligations (e.g., fee disgorgement, duties throughout a chapter 13 proceeding, sanctions). The discussion will consider federal bankruptcy statutes, federal and state rules of procedure, and state rules for attorney conduct.

Speakers, including members of the ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy, will analyze the focus of and suggestions by the Commission on the reduction of barriers to entry into chapter 13, enhancing the fresh start and making chapter 13 work for all stakeholders.

Take it to the limits in this commercial bankruptcy session while examining whether lenders should push for deal terms that are not contemplated by, nor consistent with, local rules or practice concerning financing orders. In an “emergency” filing that is followed by an immediate asset sale, why aren’t directors and officers exposed for undue delay, and what happens to that claim?

Our expert faculty will review the groundbreaking final report of the ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy and the findings of its Subcommittee on Case Administration and the Estate.

Join experts from the Sixth Circuit and across the country as they debate which bankruptcy decision has been the most important since the U.S. Bankruptcy Code was adopted.