Contact: John Hartgen
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(703) 739-0800
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href='mailto:jhartgen@abiworld.org'>
color='#0000ff' size='3'>jhartgen@abiworld.org
LEGISLATIVE
SYMPOSIUM TO EXAMINE THE FUTURE OF U.S. CORPORATE
RESTRUCTURING
size='3'>September 14, 2009, Alexandria,
Va.- As a new breed of corporate restructuring
cases continues to take shape, the American Bankruptcy Institute is
sponsoring a legislative symposium titled “Chapter 11 at the
Crossroads: Does Reorganization Need Reform?” The free event,
funded by the ABI Anthony H.N. Schnelling Endowment Fund, will take
place on Nov. 16-17 at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington,
D.C., and will bring together some of the most prominent commercial
bankruptcy practitioners, judges and scholars to examine whether the
Bankruptcy Code needs to be reformed in order to adapt to the evolving
nature of chapter 11 corporate restructurings. The luncheon keynote will
be delivered by Harvey
Miller of Weil Gotshal & Manges (New
York), the lead attorney involved in the restructurings of General
Motors and Lehman Brothers.
To view the full program
schedule and speaker list, please click on the link below.
Link:
href='http://www.abiworld.org/LEG09/schedule.html'>
size='3'>http://www.abiworld.org/LEG09/schedule.html
Background
Current corporate
restructurings are not only bigger but faster-moving, with a growing
trend toward sales over traditional reorganization, and with
governmental stakeholders dominating the process in ways perhaps not
contemplated by the Code's architects or even insolvency case law
history.
- Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings
rose by 91 percent in the 12-month period ending June 30,
2009. - More than 150 public companies
filed during the first eight months of 2009 - a pace not observed since
2002. - A record 25 cases filed this
year have assets of more than $2 billion, and many are substantially
larger.
Can the current law keep pace
with today's volatile global economic climate? Is it time for Congress
to revisit not only the 2005 amendments, but engage in a systematic
modernization of chapter 11? Are the present crisis-driven cases
changing the law de facto, even without Congress' participation or
assent?
The Symposium will address
these questions and additional issues related to the challenges facing
the chapter 11 process. ABI hopes that the permanent record of the
Symposium will materially assist Congress in its understanding of the
current restructuring environment and lead toward a stronger and more
adaptable Bankruptcy Code.
Members of the press that would
like to attend the symposium should contact ABI Public Affairs Manager
John Hartgen at 703-894-5935 or via e-mail at
href='mailto:jhartgen@abiworld.org'>
color='#0000ff' size='3'>jhartgen@abiworld.org
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>.
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ABI is the largest
multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and
education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to
provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy
issues. The ABI membership includes more than 12,300 attorneys,
accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround
specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for
the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on
ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information,
visit
size='3'>http://www.abiworld.org/events.
The Anthony H.N. Schnelling Endowment Fund was created in 1989 to
provide resources for insolvency research and education.