2015 Annual Spring Meeting, 2013

Consumer Track: The Appellate Process

This panel will explore recent issues in appellate practice that are of interest to both consumer and business practitioners, including the ability to bypass intermediary appellate courts and take appeals directly to the circuit courts.

17th Annual Great Debates

Past Presidents’ Debate
Resolved: The Bankruptcy Code should be revised to eliminate a debtor in possession's and trustee's ability to recover preferential transfers.

Judicial Debate
Resolved: A claim against the debtor’s estate, transferred to a third party, should be treated the same as if in the hands of the original holder.

Consumer Debate
Resolved: An attorney in a consumer case should be able to limit the scope of her employment.

Chapter 11 Track: Creditors’ Committees and the Role of Indenture Trustees and Related Issues

This panel will focus on the unique issues facing the indenture trustee when it elects to serve on a creditors’ committee, including how to balance potentially conflicting fiduciary duties, how to get paid, how to navigate through the plan-negotiation process and other similar types of issues.

This panel will focus on the irrational biases for decision-making in bankruptcy. The essence of bankruptcy is deciding how to divide the debtor's metaphorical shrinking economic pie among qualified creditors. At its optimum, bankruptcy decision-making is efficient and rational. However, at other times even the most skilled bankruptcy practitioners are stymied by the inability of bankruptcy participants to make seemingly rational business decisions. Why can't everyone be rational? Decision-making is not a rational process.

Financial Advisors Track: The Ethical Compass: Multiple Ethical Schemes Applicable to Financial Advisors

This panel will focus on the variety of rules, statutes and codes that govern the conduct of financial advisors, including the Bankruptcy Code and Rules, TMA and AIRA Codes of Ethics, Licensure rules (e.g., for CPAs), state law governing trustee roles, etc.