| WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2023 | ||
| Time | Program | |
| 1:30-2:30 p.m. | ABA Program: Pro Bono: What's Your Bankruptcy Pro Bono Origin Story? This panel will hear from pro bono heroes and she-roes, including judges, Supreme Court advocates, and others about how they got started in bankruptcy pro bono work, what they have learned from their pro bono matters, and how it has made them more effective in their work for other clients. Speakers will also offer practical tips about how (and why) to get started - whatever your stage in practice - in pro bono representation. | Moderator: Hon. Elizabeth Stong (EDNY) Speakers: Hon. Eugene Wedoff (NDIL) (Ret.) Hon. Grace Robson (MDFL) Andrew Kissner, Morrison Foerster (New York) Nadia Saleem, DLA Piper (Los Angeles) Mallory Satre, Snell & Wilmer (Seattle) |
| THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2023 | ||
| Time | Program | Speakers |
| 8:45-10:00 a.m. | Who Wants to be a Millionaire?: NCBJ/ABA Special Edition Join the NCBJ and ABA as we look at the Supreme Court’s approach to bankruptcy law during Chief Justice Roberts’ eighteen terms at the helm, as well as other interesting and current bankruptcy issues, in a fun, interactive game-show inspired program. Three bankruptcy judges will compete and answer questions about, among other things, the makeup of the Supreme Court, trends, key Supreme Court bankruptcy decisions, and bankruptcy rules. Similar to the game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?,” the program will allow contestants to use lifelines for assistance, including 50:50, Ask the Audience, and Ask the Judge. After each question, our resident expert Richard Levin will explain and discuss the correct answer. Adine S. Momoh, Assistant United States Attorney, United States Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota, will host. | Host: Adine S. Momoh, Asst. U.S. Attorney (Minneapolis) Expert: Richard Levin, Jenner & Block (New York) Contestants: Hon. Kesha L. Tanabe (DMN) Hon. Christopher M. Alston (WDWA) Hon. Scott C. Clarkson (CDCA) “Phone a Judge”: Hon. Brenda T. Rhoades (EDTX) Hon. Eugene R. Wedoff (NDIL) (Ret.) Hon. Stacey G. C. Jernigan (NDTX) |
| 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. | ABA Program: Bankruptcy and Crypto Assets – Is This the End? Recovering Value for Creditors With the recent failures in the cryptocurrency markets, the panel will look at what this means for entities and individuals holding (or hiding) digital assets in bankruptcy. The panel will focus on how stakeholders, including creditors, committees, and trustees, can recover value given the state of the market and technological obstacles to identifying the situs and ownership of crypto assets and recovering them for the benefit of creditors. | Moderator: Aubrey Thomas, Asst. U.S. Attorney (San Antonio) Speakers: Hon. Martin Glenn (SDNY) Michael Cianfrani, Coinbase, Inc. (San Francisco) Geoff Winkler, American Fiduciary Services LLC (Portland, OR) David Castleman, Otterbourg PC (New York) Darren Azman, McDermott Will & Emery (New York) |
| 1:00-3:00 p.m. | ABA Luncheon Program: Unreasonable Restraints: Considering Contractual Restrictions on Bankruptcy Relief This program will consider recent cases addressing the enforceability of provisions in corporate governance documents and finance agreements restricting a debtor’s ability to file for bankruptcy or propose a plan of reorganization. | Speakers: Danielle Rushing Behrends, Dykema (San Antonio) Hon. Michael Parker (WDTX) Joshua John Lewis, PNC Bank (Atlanta) Nicole L. Greenblatt, Kirkland & Ellis LLP (New York) David M. Hillman, Proskauer Rose LLP (New York) |
| 1:00-3:00 p.m. | CLLA Luncheon Keynote: Admiral Bobby R. Inman’s View of the World and International Crises Facing the Country Admiral Inman will provide his view of the world, recent international developments, and crises facing the country. In addition to his service for the United States Navy, Admiral Inman also served as the Director of the National Security Agency and Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and will provide his unique perspectives from a lifetime of service in several high-ranking positions within the United States government and military. |
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| 3:30-5:00 p.m. | CLLA Frank Koger Memorial Education Program: Who Killed the Company? Tips and Trends in Claims and Defenses This program will focus on litigation tips and trends when a company dissolves or transfers assets without paying its creditors. What claims can be asserted by the bankruptcy estate as a plaintiff? What defenses can be raised by defendants in those actions? What are the practical and strategic considerations for both plaintiffs and defendants? This panel will discuss D&O claims, professional liability, and issues such as the in pari delicto defense, forum non conveniens, insurance coverage, and the insured vs. insured exclusion. | Moderator: Hon. Marvin Isgur (SDTX) Panelists: Leyza Blanco, Sequor Law (Miami) Marc E. Hirschfield, Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld (New York) Eric D. Madden, Reid Collins & Tsai (Dallas) |
| 3:45-4:45 p.m. | ABA Program: Stories of Afghan Women Judges – The Perils, the Escape, and the Future This program will feature extraordinary stories from Afghan women judges forced to flee when the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021. Facing threats to their personal safety, immediate loss of their jobs, and draconian measures by the Taliban against women, these Afghan women judges escaped with the assistance and support of the international legal community. Now, joined by judges who have served as their mentors in the United States, these brave and resilient women have agreed to share their experiences. | Moderator: Hon. Janet Bostwick (DMA) |
| FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023 | ||
| 7:30-8:45 a.m. | AIRA Breakfast: Valuation Conundrums – Finance as the Handmaiden of the Court and not its Jailer Experts may aid a trier of fact in measuring fair market value, fair value, investment value, or some other measure of value; however, courts make determinations with regard to a legal standard, not a financial standard. The learning objective of this program is to identify various assumptions and inputs to classic valuation approaches and methods that have been rightly contested or unnecessarily confused in the cross-over between employing common valuation standards using traditional and well-accepted techniques and fashioning equitable relief demanded by bankruptcy law. | Moderator: Stephen Darr, Huron Consulting (Boston) Speakers: Professor Jack F. Williams, Georgia State University College of Law (Atlanta) David Bart, Tilly US LLP (Chicago) |
| 10:30-11:30 a.m. | The NCBJ and the International Insolvency Institute Present “We’re Not in Kansas Anymore”: U.S. and Foreign Companies in U.S. and Foreign Bankruptcies You’re invited to a fireside chat on key issues that have arisen in recent cross-border cases and ways to address constraints of the applications of foreign law in the context of chapter 11. Our expert panel will also discuss how chapter 15 cases and application of foreign law may be used to obtain relief that is unavailable in chapter 11 cases in the context of, for example, third-party releases. In addition, panelists will talk about the Judicial Insolvency Network, whose guidelines have been adopted by jurisdictions in the U.S., such as the S.D.N.Y., S.D. Fla., D.Del. and S.D. Tex., as well as several foreign courts, and issues related to limits on extraterritorial jurisdiction. | Judges: Hon. Robert Drain (SDNY) (Ret.), Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (New York) Hon. Daniel Carnio Costa (Sao Paulo State Court of Justice) Professionals: Prof. Jay L. Westbrook (University of Texas) Lisa Laukitis, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (New York) |
| 10:30-11:30 a.m. | ABI Program: What is Good Faith? A discussion of the courts’ interpretations of good faith and its potentially differing meanings under different Bankruptcy Code sections, including how to demonstrate financial distress in light of the Third Circuit’s ruling in LTL. | Moderator: William (“Bill”) J. Rochelle III, American Bankruptcy Institute Speakers: Eric L. Johnson, Spencer Fane LLP (Kansas City) Laura Davis Jones, Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones (Wilmington) H. Joseph Acosta, Dorsey & Whitney LLP (Dallas) |
| 10:30-11:30 a.m. | ABA Program: Bankruptcy Committees: It’s All About the Bottom Line. Or Is it? Modern thinking about corporate responsibility embraces the concept that there are a lot of stakeholders besides creditors and shareholders. How does this translate to bankruptcy cases? Is there a role for CSR and ESG in bankruptcy? Is there a role for an out-of-the-money Committee? Join our panel of experts in taking on the circumstances when committee can, and whether it should, consider non-economic concerns. | Speakers: Prof. Christopher Hampson, University of Florida (Gainesville) Hamid R. Rafatjoo, Raines Feldman Littrell LLP (Los Angeles) Hon. Grace E. Robson (MDFL) Danielle Reyes, Goodwin Proctor LLP (Washington) |
| 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. | ABI Program: Various Paths to Redress in Bankruptcy Discussion of motions to reconsider, appeals, petitions for en banc review in appellate decisions, motions to reopen closed cases, etc. | Moderator: Hon. Michael B. Kaplan (DNJ) Speakers: Erica S. Weisgerber, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP (New York) G. Eric Brunstad, Jr., Dechert, LLP (New Haven, CT) Lindsay Zahradka Milne, Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson, P.A. (Portland, ME) |
