ABI’s Legislation Committee had a very active year in 2020. We tracked legislation and provided guidance for ABI members, presented a very well-attended webinar about chapter 12, published numerous newsletters, and hosted a well-regarded panel at the Winter Leadership Conference and a virtual happy hour for membership engagement. Information about our 2020 activities is outlined below. We believe 2021 will also have robust legislative activity, and we look forward to continuing to provide guidance and other valuable content to members.
Ferve Khan
Beth Stephens
Committee Co-Chairs
Special Projects/Legislation Tracking
We have been tracking several pieces of legislation this year, including the CARES Act and the HEALS Act, and the recent bill to alter trustee fees. We have been providing newsletter articles and listserv postings on these topics, for the benefit of ABI members.
In addition, Beth Stephens prepared an ABI Journal article on the three pieces of new legislation in the HEALS Act in October 2020. This was also the topic for the ABI Happy Hour (discussed below).
Webinars
On May 20, 2020, we hosted the “Update Your Chapter 12 Skills” webinar, which featured Bankruptcy Judge Robert L. Jones (N.D. Tex.), Joseph A. Peiffer of AG & Business Legal Strategies (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) and Chapter 13 Trustee Ronda J. Winnecour (Pittsburgh). It was very well attended. View Online.
Winter Leadership Conference
For the 2020 Winter Leadership Conference, we paired with the Consumer Committee to discuss the ABI Consumer Commission Final Report’s Top 10 Wishlist. The panel discussed the top 10 items that came out of the Commission’s Final Report, released in April 2010. Speakers were David Cox of Cox Law Group in Lynchburg, Va.; Bankruptcy Judge Daniel P. Collins of the District of Arizona in Phoenix; Adam Herring of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.; and Ted King of Frost Brown Todd in Cincinnati. We received positive feedback from the attendees on the quality of the program. View Online.
Newsletter
In May 2020, we published a newsletter focused on the Small Business Reorganization Act (SBRA). Authors Linda Knight and Thomas Forrester of Gullet, Sanford, Robinson & Martin, PLLC in Nashville, Tenn., drafted a summary of the legislation. Author Amanda Hunt of the Chapter 13 Trustee’s Office in Las Vegas prepared an article on the effect of the CARES Act on the SBRA.
In August 2020, we circulated to our listserv and newsletter an article prepared by committee member John Flanagan, a law student at the University of Illinois College of Law, who summarized the HEALS Act.
In October 2020, we published a joint newsletter with the International Committee focusing on the UNCITRAL draft convention for a simplified insolvency regime. Author Donald Wyatt of Wyatt PLLC in The Woodlands, Texas, prepared a broad summary of the convention, while author Prof. Marcello Gaboardi of the Bocconi University Law School in Milan, Italy, focused on the stay provisions of the convention.
ABI Happy Hour
On Nov. 18, 2020, the committee hosted an ABI Virtual Happy Hour. Members of the committee spoke about the committee’s projects and legislative developments. The Happy Hour was well-attended, and we received positive feedback from attendees, including someone who joined the committee after attending! Register for future happy hours.