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The Supreme Court's June 2024 decision in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum Company held that insurers qualified as "parties in interest" under Section 1109(b), entitling those insurers to object to a plan of reorganization. This landmark decision is likely to have far-ranging effects in the reorganization world and affect debtors and creditors committees alike. The ABI should host a panel examining the expected extent and impact of those effects, including that:
- debtors and creditors should prepare for the fact that insurance carriers will start getting a seat at the negotiating table;
- the insurance industry may view Truck as not merely granting a seat at the table, but also as an invitation to test the boundaries of its newly granted position;
- Truck presents an existential threat to the already-risky tack of chapter 11 plans' limiting director and officer liability to only insurance proceeds;
- insurance carriers will likely leverage Truck to urge courts in jurisdictions that deem insurance proceeds to be property of the estate to reexamine the status quo; and
- insurance carriers will begin to horse-trade for concessions in connection with first-day motions and debtors' purchasing tail coverage and run-off policies post-petition.

Nardello & Co. is the only Band 1 ranked investigations firm in the United States, whose experts have worked on some of the highest profile and most complex bankruptcy cases of the past decade. This includes recovering assets on behalf of investors following the collapse of FTX and assisting Sandy Hook families as creditors in the bankruptcy of InfoWars creator Alex Jones. The purpose of the session would be to discuss how investigative firms can serve a unique role bankruptcies and insolvencies. Specific topic areas would be uncovering fraud and malfeasance that have collapsed companies, tracing and recovering assets, digital investigations and cryptocurrency tracing, supporting litigation to clawback funds and performing due diligence on bidders of debtor assets to make sure that they have the necessarily wherewithal and don’t present compliance issues. The panelists will share novel and practical perspectives on how to approach these issues, drawing on Nardello & Co.’s investigative expertise in recent insolvency matters and global presence. Participants will learn when and how to utilize investigative firms to assist their clients, whether they are corporate debtors or creditors committees. Nardello & Co. would bring in Lawyers who worked on these cases or similar, to speak on panel, if desired.

There are three Bankruptcy Judges that moved up to be Circuit Court Judges. Judge Ambro was a hit at ASM and has indicated he would love to speak more at ABI events. Having a discussions with the all 3 Circuit Court judges that started as Bankruptcy Judges (understanding that Judge Ambro was only a bankruptcy lawyer, not a Judge), would be very interesting. Hear their different perspectives of appeals, how they view SCOTUS decisions on bankruptcy issues, and how their fellow Circuit Court Judges rely on them on bankruptcy appeals.

Describing the nature of the loans, how they are marketed and the scope of their usage in the marketplace. Addressing legal strategies on how to debtor's and other creditors can use the bankruptcy process to curb the abuses of these lenders.

Because bankruptcy attorneys are being asked to find non-bankruptcy solutions more and more, to avoid the expense of full-blown bankruptcy, I would love to develop competencies in areas just adjacent to our normal practice area.

Article 9 sales are one area that are so close. I would love to know more.

We use lots of court approved “form” orders in the Central District of California. But here is a wide variance of opinion among the judges and the attorneys about the proper form of custom orders.

As a side note, many folks still stick “findings of fact and conclusions of law” into orders. That’s a bad habit.

If you need some help, I could put together a program with three judges. Maybe the Hon. Dan Collins, a judge from the Central District of California (maybe Hon. S. Bluebond, Hon. S. Klein, or the Hon. V. Zurzolo), and a judge to be named later. Judge Zurzolo is not often on panels, but he has strong opinions about procedure. I have done panels will all of the named judges.

Blocking and tackling, but well suited to the winter leadership format.

Many creditors are not filing claims by the claims bar date. This puts debtors in a tough situation especially if the claim filed late (or not filed at all) is for a secured claim such as a house or car. Some courts are reluctant to allow a late filed claim citing limitations of rule 9006. So what can a debtor or creditor do to get a late filed claim (or no filed claim) paid?

I think to flush this out, I need to speak with someone so explain the angle. The bankruptcy rules have just been restyled and the history and process are very interesting. Also it could be discussed how rulemaking works and how to submit your suggestions for rule changes and the time line etc. It could also be discussed what is currently in the pipeline and maybe even do some polling. I am currently on the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules and some interesting things are going on.

Mindfulness and stress-reduction
The power of positivity and mental fitness
Understanding, reducing, and managing bias
Effectively managing change and uncertainty
Keys to strengthen your emotional intelligence
Conflict management in the workplace and beyond
Performance management conversations and feedback
Facilitating meaningful conversations on sensitive topics
Understanding and strengthening strategic thinking skills
Appreciating differences – building a neuro-inclusive workplace
Understanding and handling self-doubt and imposter phenomenon

This session will focus on key issues in a health care restructuring or bankruptcy from a creditor's point of view. It will address issues pertaining to both secured and unsecured creditors. Possible topics include: (1) understanding ways health care businesses are financed (receivables financing, municipal bond financing); (2) bankruptcy alternatives (receiverships, ABC, workouts); (3) DIP financing for health care businesses; (4) anticipating regulatory review; (5) issues concerning health care 363 sales; (6) issues facing committees in health care bankruptcy cases; and more.