ABI’s Legislation Committee had an active year in 2021. We tracked legislation and provided guidance for ABI members, published two newsletters, and hosted engaging panels at the Annual Spring Meeting and Winter Leadership Conference. We also have planned a webinar on the SBRA, and held a virtual happy hour at WLC for membership engagement.
We believe 2022 will also have robust legislative activity, and we look forward to continuing to provide guidance and other valuable content to members. Please see below for more information about our activities in 2021.
Best,
Ferve Khan and Geoffrey Peters, Committee Co-Chairs
Legislation Tracking
We have been tracking several pieces of legislation this year, with a focus on the following bills:
- The Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act of 2021: On the committee’s behalf, Member Relations Director Jill Dalrymple prepared an analysis of this bill and circulated for committee review. Our analysis was published in the Legislative Update column of the ABI Journal.
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The Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act: On the committee’s behalf, Communications Director Stacey Salters prepared an article providing a comprehensive summary of this bill, which was published in the July 2021 Legislative Update column of the ABI Journal. The article substantively analyzed the Act and examined reforms of debt-collection practices for nonjudicial foreclosures, private student loans and servicemembers.
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Student Loan Legislation: We have been monitoring various bills introduced concerning the discharge of student loans and circulating within the committee for comment.
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Consumer bankruptcy reform bills, including the Non-Debtor Release Bill, the Stop Wall Street Looting Bill, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s proposed wholesale reform to chapters 7 and 13: We have been monitoring such bills in connection with the Consumer Bankruptcy Committee for possible discussion on a future panel or webinar.
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Venue reform bill: We have circulated a summary of the recent iteration of the venue reform bill for committee comment.
Special Projects
We are overseeing the preparation of the second edition of the Problems in the Code ebook, which explores areas in the Code that could benefit from legislative review. The book will use articles that are prepared for the “Problems in the Code” column of the ABI Journal, but not yet published. Howard Brod Brownstein, column editor and Education Director of the committee, is managing this project.
Webinars
We are planning a webinar in the winter on the “Small Business Reorganization Lending Gap,” which will explore the challenges lenders and debtors face in obtaining lending in an SBRA case. Don Wyatt will be the moderator, and there are two other proposed speakers in the lending industries that have confirmed their participation.
We are also planning a webinar exploring problems in the Code following publication of the updated Problems in the Code ebook.
Annual Spring Meeting
For the 2021 Annual Spring Meeting, we paired with the Consumer Bankruptcy Committee to compare ABI’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy Final Report with Sen. Warren’s Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act. The panelists were:
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Hon. Rebecca Connelly, Chief Judge, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia
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Henry Hildebrand, Chapter 13 Trustee, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
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Ariane Holtschlag, Partner, The Law Office of William J. Factor, Ltd., Chicago
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Marcy Ford, Managing Partner, Trott Law, P.C., Farmington Hills, Mich.
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Chris Hawkins, Partner, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, LLP, Birmingham, Ala. (Moderator)
We received positive feedback from the attendees on the quality of the program.
For the 2021 Winter Leadership Conference, we paired with the Secured Credit and International Committees to organize a panel exploring topics in the distressed airline industry. The panelists were:
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Hon. Kevin Carey (ret.), Hogan Lovells US LLP, Philadelphia
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Hon. Martin Glenn, U.S. Bankruptcy Court (S.D.N.Y.)
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Cecily Dumas, BakerHostetler, San Francisco
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Kyle Ortiz, Togut, Segal & Segal LLP, New York
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Evan Fleck, Milbank LLP, New York
Newsletter
In March 2021, we published a newsletter spotlighting two key pieces of legislation introduced at the end of 2020: the Consolidated Appropriations Act and the Bankruptcy Administration Improvement Act. The newsletter featured articles by Btzalel Hirschhorn, Shiryak, Bowman, Anderson, Gill, & Kadochnikov, LLP and Jill Dalrymple, Reno & Cavanaugh.
In August 2021, we published a newsletter focusing on the effects of recent COVID-19-related legislation on distressed family farms. Author JT Korkow, AG Economist prepared an analysis of the legislation, the Paycheck Protection Program for Farmers and Ranchers. To put the bill in context, authors Rebecca Garcia, Chapter 12 and 13 Trustee, and Mark Harring, Chapter 12 and 13 Trustee, prepared a primer on chapter 12, including a summary of the recent legislation.
Listserv Engagement
As discussed, we have been actively posting on the listserv, outlining various new legislation as it is proposed. We have received some discussion on the listserv as a result, which we believe shows that members have been updated by and engaged in these posts.