The Bankruptcy Litigation Committee had a tremendous 2015! We strived to continue to provide our members with enlightening and useful substantive information, while also offering enjoyable and valuable social and networking opportunities.
During 2015, our committee offered a wide variety of opportunities for ABI members to learn about timely and interesting issues facing professionals in the bankruptcy arena. The committee strives to use a variety of formats to provide opportunities to our membership – conference panels, webinars, newsletters, books, conference calls, listserve contributions and networking events.
At the Annual Spring Meeting, our committee paired with the Ethics & Professional Compensation Committee to explore trustee selection in the context of commercial cases with a panel presentation entitled, “Trustee Selection in Commercial Bankruptcy Cases: Who Wins the Battle to Control the Estate?”
For the recent Winter Leadership Conference, we joined with the Labor & Employment Committee for a panel discussion entitled “Distress & Labor in the Courtroom: Pensions and CBA Rejections.”
In June we hosted a webinar on preference actions. We more webinars scheduled for early 2016 - one on 503(b)(9) claims, and another regarding changes to the UFTA. Look out for your invitations to join us!
We will have issued three topically-focused newsletters (Law Firm Bankruptcies, IP in Bankruptcy, and the Recharacterization of Debt and Equity) by the end of this year and a fourth without a specific topic.
Our committee this year continued our committee-wide conference calls that followed our newsletters. The conference call provided the newsletter authors the opportunity to expand upon their articles and to demonstrate a sophisticated understanding and appreciation of the topic. Further, it provides access to the authors for our committee membership, allowing them to ask additional questions, provide comment and share their experience and expertise about the topic.
The Bankruptcy Litigation Committee is certainly not all work and no play! In 2015, it again organized meetings and social events at national and regional ABI conferences, in order to bolster membership, encourage members to become active in the committee and provide valuable networking opportunities.
In addition to continuing to offer quality educational and networking opportunities and publishing our issue-focused newsletters, ABI Task Force on Litigation Trusts, as part of the Bankruptcy Litigation Committee, published its Practitioner’s Guide To Liquidation & Litigation Trusts, in 2015. The Task Force received significant contributions from its members. Further, the committee is in the process of drafting a book on the valuation and legal considerations of IP in Bankruptcy. We are hopeful to have this published in early 2016.
The work of our committee is only possible because of our committee’s active and committed board and membership. We want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your contributions and support! If you are a current member of the Bankruptcy Litigation Committee, we hope you continue your involvement with our committee. If you are not yet a member of our committee, we hope you will join us for 2016!