2016 Bankruptcy Battleground West

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Now in its 24th year, ABI’s Bankruptcy Battleground West continues its tradition of bringing seasoned insolvency professionals together to discuss the leading issues of bankruptcy law, with a focus on the Southern California region. This year’s program once again offers concurrent sessions on a variety of insolvency topics, making this a conference you will not want to miss!

Sessions

Friday, March 11

8:00-9:00 a.m.

Breakfast and Registration

The Advisory Board welcomes you to a complimentary continental breakfast.

9:00-9:15 a.m.

Welcome by Conference Leadership

9:15-10:30 a.m.

Hot Topics in Bankruptcy

This panel will discuss current hot topics in bankruptcy cases, including bankruptcy law developments in entertainment cases, nonprofit education cases, municipalities and other chapter 9 cases, and many more.

Hon. Martin R. Barash, Moderator

U.S. Bankruptcy Court (C.D. Cal.); Woodland Hills

Amir Agam

FTI Consulting, Inc.; Los Angeles

Paul R. Glassman

Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, P.C.; Santa Monica, Calif.

Jennifer L. Nassiri

Venable LLP; Los Angeles

Victor A. Sahn

SulmeyerKupetz, APC; Los Angeles

10:30-10:45 a.m.

Coffee Break

Sponsored by Berkley Research Group

10:45 a.m.-12:00 noon

Concurrent Sessions (2)

An Apple a Day Might Not Keep Bankruptcy Away: Health Care Restructurings

Health care is an industry like few others. To say that the sector is heavily regulated does not do it justice; all aspects of health care delivery in the U.S. fall under arduous and often-overlapping regulatory schemes. This panel will discuss the current economic status of the health care sector, the major issues in a health care restructuring, and current events in health care bankruptcies.

Jeffrey C. Krause, Moderator

Gibson Dunn; Encino, Calif

Robert A. Guy, Jr.

Polsinelli LLP; Nashville, Tenn.

Suzanne Koenig

SAK Management Services, LLC; Northfield, Ill.

Louis E. Robichaux, IV

Deloitte Transactions & Business Analytics LLP; Dallas

The Un-Usual Suspects: Maximizing Value Out of Little-Known Bankruptcy Assets

This panel will discuss “found money assets” — unusual or unknown assets that can be liquidated for the benefit of the estate, including commercial tort litigation/class action participation and unclaimed funds. The panel will also discuss the pros and cons of sales of remnant assets such as aged and written-off A/R, small balance and default judgments from preference claims, trade claims held by the estate, and litigation rights.

Lorie A. Ball

Robins Kaplan LLP; Los Angeles

Peter Kravitz

Province Capital; Las Vegas

Jake Miller

Oak Point Partners Inc.; Chicago

Brad Naso

Melville Capital, LLC; Santa Monica, CA

Judith A. Zahid

Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP; San Francisco

12:00-1:15 p.m.

Luncheon

Sponsored by Loeb & Loeb LLP and Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP

Recent Key Issues for the OUST in Bankruptcy Cases

Clifford J. White, III

U.S. Department of Justice; Washington, DC

1:30-2:45 p.m.

Concurrent Sessions (2)

Bankruptcy Without Borders: Chapter 15

In the decade since it was enacted, the courts have had a lot to say about chapter 15. This panel will explore some of the hottest, most heavily litigated chapter 15 topics, including determining the location of a debtor’s center of main interests (COMI) necessary to establish the existence of a foreign main proceeding, whether a debtor must maintain assets in the U.S. as a prerequisite to filing a chapter 15 petition, and public policy considerations. The panel will also discuss the practical implications of enforcing foreign judgments in the U.S. and U.S. judgments in foreign jurisdictions, as well as chapter 15’s emphasis on comity and direct court-to-court communications.

Hon. Louise DeCarl Adler, Moderator

U.S. Bankruptcy Court (S.D. Cal.); San Diego

Steven M. Berman

Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP; Tampa, Fla.

Kimberly A. Posin

Latham & Watkins LLP; Los Angeles

Victor A. Vilaplana

Foley & Lardner LLP; San Diego

Everything-Must-Go Sale: The Ins and Outs of Retail Bankruptcies

This panel will discuss a variety of issues that arise in connection with a distressed retailer, including GOB sales, landlord issues and vendor issues.

Jeffrey N. Pomerantz, Moderator

Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP; Los Angeles

Erin N. Brady

Jones Day; Los Angeles

Ivan M. Gold

Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP; San Francisco

Michael M. Lauter

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP; San Francisco

Jeffrey A. Nerland

SierraConstellation Partners LLC; Los Angeles

2:45-3:00 p.m.

Refreshment Break

Conference Co-Chairs

Shirley S. Cho

Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP; Los Angeles

Eve H. Karasik

Levene, Neale, Bender, Yoo & Brill, L.L.P.; Los Angeles

Kimberly A. Posin

Latham & Watkins LLP; Los Angeles

Judicial Chair

Hon. Hannah L. Blumenstiel

U.S. Bankruptcy Court (N.D. Cal.); San Francisco

Advisory Board

Lorie A. Ball

Robins Kaplan LLP; Los Angeles

David P. Benick, ASA

Gavin/Solmonese LLC; New York

Steven M. Berman

Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP; Tampa, Fla.

Erin N. Brady

Jones Day; Los Angeles

Richard W. Brunette

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP; Los Angeles

Sara L. Chenetz

Perkins Coie LLP; Los Angeles

Dawn M. Cica

Fox Rothschild, Las Vegas

A. Kyle Everett

Development Specialists, Inc.; Los Angeles

Paul R. Glassman

Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, P.C.; Santa Monica

Eric D. Goldberg

DLA Piper; Los Angeles

Richard H. Golubow

Winthrop Couchot PC; Newport Beach, Calif.

David M. Guess

Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP; Los Angeles

Jennifer Hayes

Dentons; San Francisco

Tiffany Ikeda

Arnold & Porter LLP; Los Angeles

Lance J. Jurich

Loeb & Loeb LLP; Los Angeles

Thomas R. Kreller

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP; Los Angeles

Winston Mar

SierraConstellation Partners LLC; Los Angeles

Cynthia A. Nelson

FTI Consulting, Inc.; Los Angeles

Aram Ordubegian

Arent Fox LLP; Los Angeles

Brian K. Osborne

Rust Omni; Woodland Hills, Calif.

Keith C. Owens

Venable LLP; Los Angeles

Victor A. Sahn

SulmeyerKupetz, APC; Los Angeles

Timothy G. Skillman

Deloitte CRG; Los Angeles

Allen Soong

Deloitte CRG; Los Angeles

Randye B. Soref

Polsinelli LLP; Los Angeles

Christopher D. Sullivan

Diamond McCarthy LLP; San Francisco

Victor A. Vilaplana

Foley & Lardner LLP; San Diego

Genevieve G. Weiner

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP; Los Angeles

Conference Information

Accomodations

The conference will be held at the JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE located at 900 West Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. Reservations may be made by calling the hotel directly at (213) 765-8600.

Continuing Education Credit

5 hours of general CLE credit are pending in states calculating CLE on a 60-minute hour, and 6 hours of general CLE credit are pending in 50-minute-hour states. Credit hours granted are subject to approval from each state. California MCLE: ABI certifies that this activity has been approved for MCLE credit in the amount of 5 hours. NY MCLE: This transitional and non-transitional program has been approved in accordance with the requirements of the CLE Board for a maximum of 6 hours of credit, which can be applied toward professional practice. 6 hours of CPE credit are also available.

*ABI offers intermediate-level courses, which assume that attendees have some knowledge of insolvency matters (pursuant to the “Statement on Standards for CPE Programs” established by AICPA and NASBA). ABI is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE sponsors. State boards of accountancy have the final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be addressed to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, 150 Fourth Ave. North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN 37219-2417, or www.nasba.org. For more information regarding administrative policies such as complaints and refunds, please contact the American Bankruptcy Institute at (703) 739-0800.

ABI acknowledges that in some instances there will be persons who need to attend an educational seminar for CLE credit who are not able to pay full registration fees. ABI will handle such instances on a case-by-case basis and will work with the individual on alternative solutions. For persons who cannot meet the full registration rate, ABI will offer a reduced rate based on what the individual can reasonably afford to cover the cost of meals and materials. For persons unable to pay a reduced rate, we may allow the individual to work at our registration area for a few hours during attendee check-in, or assist in conference set-up. ABI also has reduced rates for government employees, professors, law clerks and students. For information on tuition assistance, send an e-mail to [email protected].

Cancellation Policy

All fees, except a $75 handling fee, will be refunded if written notice of cancellation is received by February 19, 2016. No refunds will be granted after February 19, but substitutions will be allowed. After February 19, upon written request, a coupon for 20% off the registration fee (not including optional events) will be issued, which can be used (by the canceling registrant only) for any ABI educational program up to one year after this conference, or for this same conference next year.

Breakfast Sponsor

2016 Bankruptcy Battleground West Advisory Board

Special Thanks

We extend our special thanks to Deloitte CRG for the Pocket Agenda, East West Bank for the cell phone charging station, Thomson Reuters for the printed educational materials, Wilmington Trust for the tote bags and Winthrop Couchot PC for cell phone charging station.