Elizabeth Gunn and Margaret A. Burks serve as Co-Chairs of the ABI Consumer Committee. We have an active and lively committee with monthly conference calls to keep events rolling along.
ABI’s first “Consumer Connect” was held on December 2, 2016, in conjunction with the 2016 Winter Leadership Conference. This one day, consumer only program was offered to consumer practitioners at a reduced rate making the quality programming of a national conference available at a fraction of the usual cost.
In addition, the Consumer Committee has a number of sub-committees that are vital to the success of the committee throughout the year. Information about our sub-committees and emails of our committee leadership are listed below.
Jon Lieberman serves as our Membership Relations Director. As part of the Subcommittee’s efforts to promote the Consumer Committee during Consumer Connect at the 2016 Winter Leadership Conference, Jon planned a Consumer Committee reception to be held the evening of December 2, 2016 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. This reception offered consumer practitioners a chance to network and get to know each other better.
During the past year, in an effort to promote membership in and the work of the Consumer Bankruptcy Committee, Jon Lieberman has been in contact with numerous Seminar Chairs and Advisory Boards of the many ABI seminars including but not limited to the following: the 10th Annual Credit & Bankruptcy Symposium held in Mashantucket, Connecticut; the 18th Annual New York City Bankruptcy Conference; the 23rd Annual Central States Bankruptcy Workshop held in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin; the 11th Annual Northeast Consumer Forum held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire; the 23rd Annual Northeast Bankruptcy Conference held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire; the 21st Annual Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop held in Amelia Island, Florida; the 12th Annual Mid-Atlantic Bankruptcy Workshop held in Cambridge, Maryland; the 2016 Midwest Regional Bankruptcy Seminar held in Cincinnati, Ohio; the Hon. Eugene R. Wedoff Seventh Circuit Consumer Bankruptcy Conference; and, the Hon. Steven W. Rhodes Detroit Consumer Bankruptcy Conference.
Ariane Holtschlag serves as our Education Director. For the 2016 Winter Leadership Conference the consumer committee presented a solo committee session at Consumer Connect with the theme of valuation in a variety of consumer contexts: exemptions, including an update as to the post-Law v. Siegel fallout, valuing property of the estate in unusual circumstances such as in converted cases and valuing unusual assets such as LLCs.
At the 2016 Annual Spring Meeting, Ariane organized a unique presentation with the Health Care committee covering the impact of health care bankruptcies and the growing trend of regionalized health systems rather than local providers and its impact on consumers as well as the impact of the cost of health care and the results of recent health care legislation on consumers. The project proved prescient as recent news has reported even further increases under that legislation.
Cecilia Lee is our Newsletter Editor. The Consumer Newsletter has articles on a variety of topics, including changes in the official forms and developing case law. Sub-committee chair Cecilia Lee was be a panel speaker and moderator of the Consumer Committee’s presentation at the 2016 Winter Leadership Conference.
If you missed an edition, please let us know. The great news is, we are always accepting original articles for the committee newsletter. If you are interested in writing an article on a particular issue you find to be of regional or national interest, please e-mail Cecilia.
David Cox, our Communications Manager, heads up our Listserve, which is always active. While David periodically posts cases or issues of interest, we encourage everyone to make use of the Listserve. Issues have ranged from a discussion about new forms last December to can one file a Chapter 13 when a Chapter 11 is still pending? The Listserve is also an excellent source for referrals when you need out of state counsel.
In addition to their work on the Collier Consumer Bankruptcy Case Update you receive weekly via e-mail (more information below), our Special Projects Leaders, Elizabeth Stephens and Richard Cole, have hosted two webinars this year — one on CFPB involvement in bankruptcy issues, and the other on changes to the schedules that came into effect on December 1, 2015. Both webinars were a great success. In the meantime, Elizabeth and Richard are preparing additional webinars for next year.
The Consumer Committee is presenting a webinar on January 17, 2017 on the new Official Form 113 (“OFP”) and the conforming amendments to the bankruptcy rules. The panel will include Judges and a Chapter 13 Trustee. Topics include: Overview of OFP; Changes to Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, Rules 2002, 3002, 3007, 3012, 3015, 4003, 5009, 7001, 9009; Plan opt out Rule 3015.1; Proofs of Claim and due process considerations. The webinar is free to attend - click here to register!
The Collier Case law review is issued weekly and is a great tool to keep Consumer Attorneys up to date. (This tool alone is “worth the price of admission.”)
We always need new members. So how do you get involved? To join, simply go to the ABI website Committees tab toward the bottom of your profile page. Then click the edit button to select from the list of committees and save your choices. Jon Lieberman, our Membership Relations Director, will be in touch.
Please contact Marge Burks or Elizabeth Gunn if you have questions or would like to get more involved.