This session provides a practical roadmap for preparing and trying issues in consumer bankruptcy cases, with a particular focus on common consumer trial issues such as asset valuation and exemption disputes. Judicial and practitioner perspectives guide attendees through the critical stages of trial readiness, including pretrial preparation, discovery strategy, subpoena practice, evidentiary considerations and effective trial presentation. In addition, the session addresses the financial considerations facing consumer practitioners, including strategies for structuring fees, obtaining court approval, and effectively getting paid for litigating consumer matters. The session emphasizes practical tips, best practices and common pitfalls encountered in consumer trials.
This panel provides attendees with strategies to handle complex issues that can arise in consumer cases — sometimes common, sometimes not. Topics covered include UCC-1 fixture filings, multi-filers, extensions or imposition of the automatic stay, and when a debtor should consider filing a subchapter V petition. The panelists also discuss recent trends in consumer cases.
In consumer chapter 13 practice, successful plans are rarely accidental. This panel reframes the most common causes of plan failure into practical strategies for success, focusing on how attorneys can proactively navigate confirmation, compliance and completion. Designed for consumer attorneys, the program addresses the issues that most often derail plans, and how to avoid them.
Hosted by the Consumer Bankruptcy and Secured Credit CommitteesThis panel explores common (and uncommon) examples of UCC liens in consumer cases. The panelists discuss goods covered by Article 9, perfection issues, valuations and chapter 7 redemption issues, and highlight key cases that are shaping the UCC landscape.
In 2024 alone, more than 517,000 bankruptcy cases were filed in the U.S., and bankruptcy judges issued an estimated 521 reported decisions, plus another 1,241 unreported decisions. How many of those cases and issues are you familiar with? You might know what the Supreme Court did in Purdue Pharma, what the Third Circuit did in Boy Scouts, what the Fourth Circuit did in Bestwall, and what bankruptcy courts are doing in cases like Red River Talc, Celsius and FTX, but do you know the latest trends in equitable tolling, chapter 5 avoidance claims and conversion rights? Bill Rochelle and this panel of esteemed bankruptcy judges hold a lively discussion of a few critical-but-under-the-radar decisions that you should be reading about but likely are not.
Join Judge Michelle Harner as she leads Professor Bob Lawless through a discussion of Debt's Grip, a recent book co-authored by Profs. Lawless, Pamela Foohey and Deborah Thorne. In this interview, Judge Harner and Prof. Lawless examine the realities of financial struggle in the U.S. through the experiences of people who have filed for bankruptcy. The book uses data from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project combined with personal narratives to argue that most bankruptcies result from crises like job loss or medical emergencies, rather than irresponsibility.
ABI’s Vice President-Research Grants interviews Prof. Emeritus Lois Lupica about the structure, progress and preliminary findings of her ABI Endowment-funded Financial Distress Research Project, which examined the tools and other forms of assistance consumer debtors have been using to improve their financial well-being, and determined which ones have proven to be the most successful.
In this plenary session, attendees can attend up to four discussions led by one of nine sitting U.S. bankruptcy judges in small group settings. Each judge leads a dialogue on various timely bankruptcy topics, including bad-faith filings, trial advocacy skills, proceeds in bankruptcy, plan modifications, dischargeability issues, bankruptcy appeals, valuing assets and other topics.
This panel examines recent developments in student loan regulation and litigation, including the Department of Education’s evolving policies and their impact on borrowers and creditors in bankruptcy.
This panel of bankruptcy judges provides their perspectives on effective advocacy in consumer cases. The panelists share their insights on what they expect in written filings, courtroom presentations and case administration, as well as common mistakes that undermine counsel’s effectiveness. Attendees will come away with practical guidance to better align their practice with judicial expectations and improve their representation of consumer clients.
This panel of bankruptcy judges from the Eighth and Tenth Circuits discuss several recent decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Eighth and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeals and Bankruptcy Appellate Panels, and elsewhere that are likely to impact your bankruptcy practice.