Consumer Bankruptcy

Don’t miss these roundtables on today’s provocative issues, led by the judges of the Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop.

This panel will dive into all things claim-related by tapping into the perspectives of a Chapter 13 trustee, a creditor’s rights attorney, a debtor’s attorney, and a bankruptcy judge. When should I file a claim? Is there a downside to filing a claim? What should I attach to a proof of claim? What if I miss the bar date? Is my lien perfected? How can I retain my lien? When can my lien be stripped? Will I receive interest on my claim? When can I get stay relief? Please join us to discuss these issues and more on the claim frontier.

This panel will address critical questions when determining whether and when to convert a case from one chapter to the other, including: When is the most strategic time to convert? When is conversion required? When and why do trustees and creditors move to convert? What can a debtor do to avoid conversion?

Advising and interacting with clients remotely, with a strong reliance on electronic rather than in-person communications, is the reality for most bankruptcy professionals in a post-pandemic world. This session will focus on the resulting ethical issues facing consumer practitioners, including issues regarding the verification of debtor identity, authority issues regarding the use of client signatures, protection of confidential client information, conduct during telephonic (or video) § 341 meetings, and ethical obligations in the face of data breaches. The panelists will use hypothetical scenarios to demonstrate the ways in which these ethical issues often arise, and will discuss best practices to handle these issues, as well as highlight potential access-to-justice problems that clients can face.

This session considers developments in recent case law, including fraudulent transfers in the context of tax lien foreclosures and aggressive pre-bankruptcy planning, alternative noticing, fee issues involving bifurcation and disgorgement, and dischargeability issues. The panelists will provide their perspectives and analyses from the bench, bar and trustee system regarding these latest updates.

In this session, financial professionals will discuss understanding the client's current financial situation, tax implications of attorney decisions, and how to build projections and budgets.