2015 Annual Spring Meeting, 2015

This panel will discuss how lawyers and FAs can work together in creating clear client expectations by defining for the client both the lawyer’s and FA’s work scope. Additionally discussed will be the fee structure involved in the retention of FAs both as company advisors and expert witnesses. Finally, this panel will explain in detail what can be done to make our mutual clients happy with both the lawyers and FAs in the obtained results.

Jeffrey N. Pomerantz, Moderator
ABI Vice President-Education
Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP; Los Angeles

Resolved: Curbing pension rights in a chapter 9 case is constitutional.
Con: Babette A. Ceccotti
Cohen, Weiss & Simon LLP; New York

Resolved: Committee member fees are not payable as part of a Chapter 11 plan.
Pro: Nan Roberts Eitel
Executive Office for U.S. Trustees; Washington, D.C.
Con: Dennis F. Dunne
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP; New York

Recent decades have seen substantial expansion in exemptions from the Bankruptcy Code’s provisions with respect to repurchase agreements, or “repos.” These agreements, which are equivalent to very-short-term (often one-day) secured loans, are exempt from such core bankruptcy provisions as the automatic stay, the avoidability of fraudulent transfers and the avoidability of preferences.

Any reform of current chapter 11 practice must account for the prevailing criticism that fees and costs are too high, and do it in a way that focuses on aligning incentives with case efficiency. This panel of Commissioners will discuss recommended reforms that provide for more effective oversight, as well as alternative fee structures consistent with professionals’ ethical obligations under the Code of Professional Responsibility.