Contact: John Hartgen
703-894-5935
ABI’S 28TH ANNUAL SPRING MEETING
TO FOCUS ON THE GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE TO THE ECONOMIC
CRISIS
January 25, 2010 Alexandria, Va. -- The American Bankruptcy
Institute's (ABI) 28th Annual Spring Meeting is set to take place April
29-May 2, 2010, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in
Washington, D.C. ABI’s largest conference features a number of
educational programs to address a wide array of timely insolvency
issues, and will offer 16.25 hours of CLE credit, including 3 hours of
ethics. The stand-alone Nuts & Bolts for Young and New Practitioners
program on April 29 is eligible for up to 8.0 hours of CLE and 9.5 hours
of CPE, including 1 hour of ethics.
Much of the programming
will focus on the government’s response to the economic crisis and
the bankruptcy issues that will be prominent on
Capitol Hill heading into the 2010 elections.
Sessions will examine such legislative proposals as the
“resolution authority” proposed in the financial regulatory
overhaul package, allowing bankruptcy judges to modify primary residence
mortgages of chapter 13 debtors, and even the creation of a new
bankruptcy chapter “too big to fail”
firms.
The conference educational program sessions begin with ABI's
Fourteenth Annual Great Debates, moderated by ABI's Vice President of
Education James
T. Markus of Markus Williams Young & Zimmerman LLC
(Denver). In the first debate, “Too Big to Fail – Federal
Resolution Authority should replace bankruptcy for failing businesses
that pose ‘systemic risk,’” Prof.
size='3'>Adam
Levitin of Georgetown University Law School (Washington,
D.C.) will debate ABI Resident Scholar Prof.
size='3'>Juliet
Moringiello of Widener University School of Law School
(Harrisburg, Pa
size='3'>.).
In Debate No. 2, “Congress should eliminate the special BAPCPA
protections for lessors and providers of goods,”
size='3'>Lawrence C.
Gottlieb of Cooley Godward Kronish LLP (New York) will
debate
size='3'>Bruce S. Nathan of Lowenstein Sandler (New
York).
Debate No. 3, “In calculating a debtor’s ‘projected
disposable income,’ the court may consider the debtor’s
prospective income or expenses,” will feature Bankruptcy Judge
Eugene R.
Wedoff (N.D. Ill.; Chicago) debating Bankruptcy Judge
Pamela
Pepper (D. Wis.; Milwaukee).
Expert panels have been organized into concurrent sessions, allowing
conference attendees to choose the ones that most interest them.
Speakers include bankruptcy judges, accountants, attorneys, turnaround
managers, law professors, trustees and others. Some of the featured
panel sessions at the Annual Spring meeting include:
- The Legislative Agenda: Current Legislation Affecting the Bankruptcy
Process
- Bankruptcy Transformed: Are Reorganizations a Thing of the Past?
- Prearranged Bankruptcy Plans, Class-Skipping, Creditor
Classification and Other Plan Confirmation Issues
- Cutting-Edge Issues in Bankruptcy Litigation
- Municipalities in Trouble: Chapter 9 Cases
- Asset Sales after GM, Chrysler and Clear Channel
- The Future of the Dinosaur Media: Will They Soon Be Extinct?
- The Retail Slump: Is There Any Hope for a Successful Retail
Reorganization Anymore?
- Labor Issues
In addition, ABI’s 22 committees will present educational
programs on topics ranging from the new realities of asset sales to the
financial impact of the health care crisis.
There will also be a Judicial Roundtable on the final day of the
conference on May 2, titled “The Do’s and Don’t of
Advocacy.” To view the full list of sessions and speakers,
please click
here.
Fox News business commentator Stuart Varney will be the keynote
speaker on Friday, April 30. Since joining the Fox News business team in
January 2004, Varney has contributed to the network's weekday and
weekend business programming, including: 'Your World with Neil Cavuto,'
'Bulls & Bears,' 'Cavuto on Business' and 'Cashin' In.' He
previously worked for CNN and CNBC.
Also featured will be comedian Kathleen Madigan, who will address the
Saturday, May 1, luncheon sponsored by the International Women’s
Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC). An American Comedy
Award winner, Madigan’s accessible and unpretentious style has
earned her a devoted and growing following, and she is considered one of
America’s funniest comics.
The conference also features a final night concert with KC and the
Sunshine Band.
Press interested in attending the conference should contact John
Hartgen at jhartgen@abiworld.org. For more
information about ABI’s 28th Annual Spring Meeting, please visit
www.abiworld.org/ASM10.
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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
12,400 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
face='Times New Roman'>www.abiworld.org. For additional
conference information, visit
href='http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html'>
color='#0000ff'>http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html.