2016 Southeast Bankruptcy Conference, 2016

In his popular poem, All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten, writer Robert Fulghum proclaimed: “Most of what I really need To know about how to live And what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten.” Attorneys and others in the legal profession are often required to address challenging questions about ethics and unprofessional behavior. When faced with these issues, would you make the “right” call? You be the judge with interactive voting when faced with real issues from actual scenarios attorneys have had to address.

This panel will explore options for dealing with the difficult situations experienced by consumer debtors who on the surface fail to qualify for relief under chapter 7, have too much debt for relief under chapter 13 jurisdictional limits, and are unable to satisfy the absolute priority rule to qualify for an individual chapter 11 case.

This panel of experienced lawyers will discuss policy issues underlying student debt, current cases, fraud issues in workouts, and possible solutions to this important issue facing our nation.

Director and officer (D&O) insurance policies typically cover certain claims against the D&Os by third parties (often shareholders) and claims by a trustee in bankruptcy. The policies also cover certain claims against the debtor company. This panel will discuss the different coverages, the types of claims that may be pursued against officers and directors by shareholders, creditors and a bankruptcy trustee, defenses often asserted to the claims, and potential policy exclusions that may affect coverage.

This panel explore what rights/causes of actions a debtor may reserve in plan confirmation and the binding effect of confirmation, and whether, in light of Harris v. Viegelahn, a means may still exist to avoid refunding undistributed funds to a debtor following the conversion of a chapter 13 to a chapter 7 case, as well as what should happen to undistributed funds upon case dismissal. The session will conclude with a discussion on the limitations on the equitable powers of bankruptcy courts following Law v. Siegel.