Wednesday, March 18
8:00-9:00 a.m.
Breakfast and Registration
9:00-9:15 a.m.
Welcome by Conference Leadership
9:15-10:30 a.m.
Plenary Session
The Great Divide: Overview of Circuit Splits on Current Issues
This panel of legal experts will break down topical circuit-level and bankruptcy court rulings that are dividing circuits across the country, including debt recharacterization, equitable mootness, U.S. Trustee quarterly fees, In re Till, jurisdiction over claims/issues arising around the Social Security Act, and sufficiency of collateral descriptions in UCC-1 financing statements. Do you know where your circuit stands on these issues?
Hon. William J. Lafferty, III, Moderator
U.S. Bankruptcy Court (N.D. Cal.); Oakland
Amir Gamliel
Perkins Coie LLP; Los Angeles
David B. Golubchik
Levene, Neale, Bender, Yoo & Brill L.L.P.; Los Angeles
Kenneth P. Kansa
Sidley Austin LLP; Chicago
Jordana L. Renert
Arent Fox LLP; New York
10:30-10:45 a.m.
Break
Sponsored by Polsinelli
10:45 a.m.- 12:00 noon
Concurrent Sessions (2)
How State LLC and Partnership Acts May Limit the Estate’s Rights to Manage, Control and Sell
This panel will discuss the conflict between state LLC and partnership acts and the Bankruptcy Code, and how those state acts might impact the rights of the estate, including the right to manage and control LLCs and partnerships, and the right to sell interests in LLCs and partnerships. The panel will discuss the implications of court decisions treating LLC operating agreements and partnership agreements as executory contracts, and court decisions treating rights of first refusal, buyout rights and other ipso facto provisions (such as removal of the debtor as the manager upon bankruptcy) as enforceable in bankruptcy.
Hon. Deborah J. Saltzman, Moderator
U.S. Bankruptcy Court (C.D. Cal.); Los Angeles
Ted A. Dillman
Latham & Watkins; Los Angeles
David M. Guess
Greenberg Traurig, LLP; Irvine, Calif.
Roye Zur
Elkins Kalt Weintraub Reuben Gartside LLP; Los Angeles
Intellectual Property and the Entertainment Industry: Tempnology and Beyond
In Tempnology, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the effect of a licensor rejecting a trademark license and held that the rejection of an executory contract does not constitute a rescission of the agreement. This panel will discuss the bases and rationales for the Court’s holding in Tempnology, the potential impact of the decision on the treatment of intellectual property, and other novel rejection, assumption, sale and assignment issues relating to entertainment assets in bankruptcy.
Paul R. Glassman, Moderator
Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, P.C.; Santa Monica
Brian L. Davidoff
Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger LLP; Los Angeles
Michael T. Delaney
Robins Kaplan LLP; Los Angeles
Joshua Pichinson
AgencyIP; Santa Clara
12:00-12:30 p.m.
Luncheon
Sponsored by Loeb & Loeb LLP and Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP
12:30-1:15 p.m.
Keynote Presentation
Recession in 2020
Will 2020 mark the end of the longest expansion in U.S. post-WWII history? What sectors will be hit the hardest? Will this be a mild recession? The data point to some answers from the Federal Reserve. They also give us solid clues as to the ultimate dislocation associated with U.S. foreign trade policy, particularly with respect to China.
Dr. Jerry Nickelsburg
UCLA Anderson School of Management; Los Angeles
1:30-2:45 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions (2)
Sales of Health Care Entities in Bankruptcy
The health care industry is financially challenged nationally, and California has had its fair share of health care industry bankruptcy cases in the past five years. Most of these cases result in a sale of all or substantially all assets under § 363. However, sales of health care industry assets raise many unique issues and complicate familiar issues. For example, half of the U.S.’s hospitals are nonprofit, and the intersection of the Bankruptcy Code’s rules for sales of nonprofit assets, California laws related to the sales of nonprofit health care entities, and the Bankruptcy Code and Bankruptcy Rules dealing with § 363 sales generally create a morass not found in the sales of other assets. What happens if the highest bid is not the “best” bid in terms of continuing a facility’s charitable mission? How does one evaluate the best bid when comparing bids that may have very different uses for the facility? This panel will explore these and other unique issues that arise in the bankruptcy sale of a health care entity.
Rebecca J. Winthrop, Moderator
Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP; Los Angeles
Hon. Scott C. Clarkson
U.S. Bankruptcy Court (C.D. Cal.); Santa Ana
Elan Levey
United States Attorney's Office; Los Angeles
Samuel R. Maizel
Dentons; Los Angeles
Andrew H. Sherman
Sills Cummis & Gross P.C.; Newark, N.J.
Lessons Learned from PG&E
The PG&E bankruptcy cases have involved a number of novel issues and conflicting perspectives. This panel will explore and discuss the battles fought and lessons learned in one of the most significant California bankruptcy cases in recent times.
Mary Ann Kaptain, Moderator
FTI Consulting, Inc.; Los Angeles
Gregory A. Bray
Milbank LLP; Los Angeles
Cecily A. Dumas
BakerHostetler; Los Angeles
Alan W. Kornberg
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP; New York
Jeffrey M. Reisner
McDermott Will & Emery; Los Angeles
2:45-3:00 p.m.
Break
Sponsored by Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, PC
3:00-4:15 p.m.
Plenary Session
Crossfire
This panel will be conducted in the format of current-events TV program “Crossfire” and will address three “hot” or “interesting” bankruptcy issues that are not being addressed in the other sessions.
Paul D. Buie, Moderator
Onyx Asset Advisors; Los Angeles
Hon. Martin R. Barash
U.S. Bankruptcy Court (C.D. Cal.); Woodland Hills
Hon. Neil Bason
U.S. Bankruptcy Court (C.D. Cal.); Los Angeles
Hon. Sheri Bluebond
U.S. Bankruptcy Court (C.D. Cal.); Los Angeles
J. Scott Bovitz
Bovitz & Spitzer; Los Angeles
Hon. Julia W. Brand
U.S. Bankruptcy Court (C.D. Cal.); Los Angeles
Leslie Cohen
Leslie Cohen Law PC; Santa Monica
Caroline R. Djang
Best Best & Krieger LLP; Irvine
Robbin L. Itkin
DLA Piper; Los Angeles
William N. Lobel
Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones; Los Angeles
Corey R. Weber
Brutzkus Gubner; Woodland Hills
Hon. Scott H. Yun
U.S. Bankruptcy Court (C.D. Cal.); Riverside
Hon. Vincent P. Zurzolo
U.S. Bankruptcy Court (C.D. Cal.); Los Angeles
4:15-6:00 p.m.
Reception
Sponsored by GlassRatner