The NCBJ Annual meeting is the preeminent educational conference for restructuring professionals. The educational opportunities for professionals looking to hear about the most complex and challenging chapter 11 cases and issues abound in Austin. Here are just some of the key programs you will not want to miss:
Liability Management or Opportunity Run Amok: Debt Restructuring Transactions 2.0
This session, moderated by Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein (DE), will analyze the growth in liability management exercises. It will feature a discussion among attorneys David Nemecek from Kirkland & Ellis, Deborah Williamson from Dykema Gossett, and Stephen Ford from David Polk & Wardwell, regarding recent trends and hot topics in these transactions (such as “lender-on-lender violence”).
Emerging Issues in Complex Chapter 11 Cases: An Exchange of Ideas
Three judges from the busiest courts in the country (Hons. Philip Bentley (SDNY), Chris Lopez (SDTX) and Karen Owens (DE) plus a leading academic (Prof. Ralph Brubaker, Univ of Illinois) will discuss trends in large case filings. The judges will examine the differences among their districts and highlight the rules and practices that are working in complex chapter 11 cases. The panel will also discuss third- party releases and other current issues in mass torts cases, as well as debtor-in-possession financing motions and orders, especially those with non-standard provisions.
The Mystery of Official Committee Formation and its Unique Governance Issues
This program will feature a high-level discussion of creditors’ committee issues including formation and appointment, removal, reconstitution of committee composition and unique governance issues. The program will be moderated by Hon. Denise Barnett (WDTN) and feature attorneys James Stang, Pachulski, Stang Zeihl & Jones, Michael St Patrick Baxter, Covington & Burling and assistant U.S. Trustee, Millie Sall from Houston.
Cryptocurrency and the Code
Join Bankruptcy Judge John T. Dorsey (DE) (the judge presiding over the FTX bankruptcy case) and professionals involved in other large and complex cryptocurrency cases as they discuss key questions that have emerged as crypto companies navigate through the chapter 11 process. Panelists will discuss whether crypto is property of the estate, if customer claims should be dollarized as of the petition date, how the current regulatory environment impacts exit strategies and other issues unique to cryptocurrency. Bryce A. Suzuki, Snell & Wilmer (Phoenix), Ross M. Kwasteniet, Kirkland & Ellis (Chicago) and Brian Tichenor, Moelis & Company (New York) round out this amazing panel.
That’s What Boards Are For: Corporate Governance Issues in Chapter 11
Vice Chancellor Lori Will (DE Court of Chancery) and Bankruptcy Judge and former Delaware practitioner Thomas M. Horan, will be joined by Robert Feinstein, Pachulski, Stang, Ziehl & Jones, a seasoned chapter 11 attorney and Sherman K. Edmiston, III of HI CapM Advisors, a professional with extensive independent director experience, in a discussion of, among other issues, corporate governance before and during bankruptcy, the pre-petition appointment of independent directors, management compensation decisions, and the investigation of claims against insiders.
The Next Generation of Bankruptcy Cases: The Times They Are a-Changin’!
This plenary program, moderated by Bankruptcy Judge Craig Goldblatt (DE), features leaders discussing what the next generation of bankruptcy cases will look like, considering the types of Bankruptcy relief available, against the evolving implications of governance roles and financing sources. Attorneys Susheel Kirpalani, Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, Candace Arthur, Weil Gotshal & Manges; and Mo Kebeh, Darin Gill, will participate in this thought-provoking discussion.