Fueled by a very active membership, the Unsecured Trade Creditors Committee (UTC) was busy once again in 2015. Among other things, the UTC hosted multiple committee-wide conference calls on wide-ranging topics of interest to its members, published a quarterly newsletter containing articles on hot legal issues, organized panels at the two national ABI conferences, and wrote or edited multiple ABI publications. The UTC was a multichannel distributor of knowledge and information to our members, and provided great networking and leadership opportunities.
In 2015, we continued what has now become one of the most important and well-received benefits of membership on our committee: bimonthly committee-wide conference calls on relevant topics. We covered several issues of importance to unsecured trade creditors, including (1) tricks of the trade in dealing with executory contracts, (2) a debate on the need for bankruptcy venue reform and (3) the treatment of make-whole provisions in chapter 11 cases. We also put together an ABI-wide webinar entitled, “Does It Pay to Be a Bankruptcy Attorney Anymore?,” which discussed the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Baker Botts v. ASARCO and, more specifically, whether there is a work-around for the Court’s holding in that case that estate professionals are not entitled to payment by the estate for fees incurred in defending their fee applications. The UTC is actively seeking ideas and discussion leaders for future webinars and committee-wide calls. If you would like to suggest a topic or lead a call, please contact either of the UTC co-chairs, Paul R. Hage or Brent Weisenberg.
Our newsletter articles covered a wide array of topics, including bankruptcy preference and fraudulent transfer issues, successor liability in § 363 sales, the unforeseeable circumstances exception to the WARN Act, make-whole provisions, structured dismissals of bankruptcy cases, and professional fee issues arising in chapter 11 cases. The UTC newsletter is published quarterly, and we are always looking for articles for our upcoming newsletters. If you are interested in writing an article, or have any ideas or suggestions for newsletter articles, please contact our newsletter editors, Jennifer M. McLemore and Susan Trent.
At the 2015 Annual Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C., the UTC paired with the Commercial Fraud Committee to present a lively and entertaining panel entitled, “Advanced Defenses to Avoidance Actions: Understanding Them Can Make All the Difference.” Likewise, at the 2015 Winter Leadership Conference in Phoenix, the UTC paired with the Young and New Members Committee to present a panel entitled, “A Road to Recovery: How to Navigate the Twists and Turns of Insider Litigation.” Both presentations were very well received. The committee is always looking for topics for upcoming national meetings. If you have ideas, please contact Mark Felger, the committee’s education director.
Finally, the UTC has worked to write or update multiple books to be published by ABI. First, the UTC’s co-chairs, Paul R. Hage and Brent Weisenberg, teamed up with Brian Resnick to write Credit Bidding in Bankruptcy Sales: A Guide for Lenders, Creditors and Distressed Debt Investors, which was published by ABI in June. This book provides a comprehensive overview of issues related to credit bidding in § 363 sales. Additionally, in September ABI published the sixth edition of the UTC’s popular Creditors’ Committee Manual, which was updated by Joseph S.U. Bodoff. This manual provides guidance on the role, function and responsibilities of unsecured creditors’ committees and committee members. Finally, the UTC is currently hard at work on a new publication to be published early next year, which will provide an in-depth analysis of issues related to, or faced by, unsecured creditors’ committees.
Many thanks go to all UTC members for their continued interest and enthusiastic participation in the Unsecured Trade Creditors Committee in 2015. We look forward to sharing exciting issues, programs and articles with you in 2016.