Contact: John Hartgen 
             Phone: (703) 739-0800
             Email: [email protected]

ABI’S POPULAR NORTHEAST BANKRUPTCY CONFERENCE AND CONSUMER FORUM SET TO TAKE PLACE IN JULY

March 31, 2006, Alexandria, Va. –More than 450 participants and 12 judges are expected to attend ABI’s 13^th Annual Northeast Bankruptcy Conference from July 13-16 at the Newport Marriott in Newport, R.I. The conference provides an opportunity for attendees to earn up to 9.25 hours of continuing education credits including 1.5 hours of ethics. In addition, this year’s conference will again offer a 2-day consumer forum at a reduced conference rate.

Programs at the main conference include:

• “Suits Against Fiduciaries and Their Counsel” features moderator M. Ellen Carpenter of Roach & Carpenter PC (Boston) joined by panelists Steven Darr of Mesirow Financial Consulting LLC (Boston), Christine Devine of Mirick O’Connell (Worcester, Mass.) and Carol J. Kenner, Former U.S. Bankruptcy Judge (Boston).
  
• William J. Hanlon of Seyfarth Shaw (Boston) will moderate the “Shedding Legacy Liabilities” session featuring panelists Judge Louis H. Kornreich (Maine), Annapoorni Sankaran of Greenberg Traurig (Boston) and Shawn Sisti of New England Benefits (Andover, Mass.).
  
• Moderator Judy Groves of Edwards Angell Palmer Dodge LLP (Boston), along with panelists Judge Gerardo Carlo (San Juan), Kenneth S. Leonetti of Foley Hoag LLP (Boston) and Pamela E. Phelan of Orr & Reno PA (Concord, N.H.), will participate in “Business Case Update: Decisions under the New Law Affecting Businesses.”
  
• “Staying Alive: Business Chapter 11 Strategy under the Bankruptcy Amendments of 2005” includes moderator John D. Sigel of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP (Boston) and panelists Roger A. Clement of Verrill, Dana LLP (Portland, Maine), Judge J. Michael Deasy (Manchester, N.H.) and J. Scott Victor of SSG Capital AdvisorsLP (West Conshohocken, Pa).
  
• J. David Leslie of Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster (Boston) will moderate “State Insurance Company Insolvency Proceedings—Looks Like a Bankruptcy, Walks Like a Bankruptcy” and be joined by Judge Melanie L. Cyganowski (Stony Brook, N.Y.), Mark C. Ellenberg of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP (New York), Judith A. Kokinda of Albert Risk Management Consultants (Needham, Mass.) and Peter C.L. Roth of the New Hampshire Department of Justice (Concord, N.H.).
  
• “What’s An ‘Eleemosynary Institution,’ and What’s It Doing in Chapter 11, Anyway? Current Hot Topics Concerning Not-for-Profit Organizations” will be moderated by Robert A. White of Murtha Cullina LLP (Hartford, Conn.) and feature panelists Daniel J. Callaghan of  Devine Millimet & Branch PA (Manchester, N.H.), Daniel M. Glosband of Goodwin Procter LLP (Boston) and Judge Elizabeth S. Stong (Brooklyn, N.Y.).
  
• The “Hedge Fund Receiverships” panel will be moderated by Francis C. Morrissey of Nixon Peabody LLP (Boston) and include panelists Eric A. Henzy of Reid & Reige PC (Hartford, Conn.), Scott M. Berman and Anne E. Beaumont of Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman (New York), as well as Phillip S. Stenger of Stenger & Stenger (Grand Rapids, Mich.).
  
• “Director Liability 2006” features moderator Andrew M. Troop of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP (Boston) and panelists Charles R. Bennett, Jr. of Hanify & King PC (Boston), Judge Robert E. Gerber (New York) and Sharyn Beth Zuch of Wiggin & Dana LLP (Hartford).
  
• Richard E. Mikels of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, PC (Boston) will moderate “A Plan Too Far and Other Confirmation Controversies” and be joined by panelists Michael J. Epstein of TRG (Boston), Steven T. Hoort of Ropes & Gray LLP (Boston) and Judge Mark W. Vaughn (Manchester, N.H.).
  
• “Investing in or Acquiring Underperforming Companies: How the Deal Gets Done” will feature Douglas B. Rosner of Goulston & Storrs PC (Boston) as moderator and panelists Marjorie Kaufman of Getzler Henrich & Associates LLC (Boston), Jameson Grant of RCW Mirus (Burlington, Mass.) and Saul Burian and Charles Reardon of Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin (McLean, Va.).
  
• “Statutory Construction in Light of the 2005 Amendments” includes moderator Steven B. Levine of Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels LLP (Boston) and panelists Judge Judith K. Fitzgerald (Pittsburgh), Joseph A. Foster of McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton, PA (Manchester, N.H.) and Pamela Smith Holleman of Sullivan & Worcester LLP (Boston).
  
• The “Ethical Conflicts, Confusion and Crimes” panel features moderator Charles R. Dougherty of Foley & Lardner LLP (Boston) and panelists John G. Loughnane of Gadsby Hannah LLP (Boston), Judge Joel B. Rosenthal (Worcester, Mass.) and Paul R. Salvage of Bacon & Wilson PC (Worcester, Mass.).
  
• The “Dockside Chat” features a discussion of current issues between Hon. Joan N. Feeney (Boston), Prof. David A. Skeel of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and former Judge James F. Queenan (Worcester, Mass.).
  
• The “Views from the Bench – Supreme Court Year in Review” plenary session will be moderated by Mark Berman of Nixon Peabody LLP (Boston) and include Judges J. Michael Deasy (Manchester, N.H.), Enrique S. Lamoutte (San Juan), Louis H. Kornreich (Bangor, Maine) and Joel B. Rosenthal (Worcester, Mass.).

For more information on the Northeast Bankruptcy Conference, visit http://www.abiworld.org/NE06

In conjunction with the Northeast Bankruptcy Conference, ABI’s Northeast Consumer Forum, which will be held July 13-15, will focus on consumer bankruptcy educational programs designed for both experienced and new professionals. Back by popular demand, this two-day forum offers insolvency practitioners an opportunity to earn approximately 6 hours of CLE/CPE credit, including 1.5 hours of ethics.

The Consumer Forum programs include:

• “Hot Topics and Issues after October 17” features moderator Nina M. Parker of Parker & Associates (Winchester, Mass.) with panelists Judge Dennis R. Dow (Kansas City, Mo.), John Rao of the National Consumer Law Center (Boston) and Judges Thomas F. Waldron (Dayton, Ohio) and Eugene R. Wedoff (Chicago).
  
• Lynne Riley of Riley & Esher LLP/JAMS (Boston) will moderate “Ethics and Pre-Petition Planning: Protection by Debtors and Actions by Creditors; Credit Counseling and Debt-Relief Agency Requirements and Client-Lawyer Relations.” Panelists will include Mark DeGiacomo of Murtha Cullina LLP (Boston), Judge Joan N. Feeney (Boston), John Fitzgerald of the U.S. Department of Justice (Boston), Leslie E. Linfield with the Institute for Financial Literacy Inc. (Portland, Maine) and David Madoff of Madoff & Khoury LLP (Foxboro, Mass.).
  
• Chapter 13 Trustee Doreen Solomon (Boston) will be joined by panelists Judge Colleen Brown (Rutland, Vt.), Joseph B. Collins of Hendel & Collins PC (Springfield, Mass.), Judge Enrique Lamoutte (San Juan), Kara Rescia of Weiner Law Firm PC (Springfield, Mass.), Stephen E. Shamban of Law Offices PC (Braintree, Mass.) and Elizabeth J. Wyman of the Office of the Attorney General of Maine (Augusta, Maine) for “Practically Speaking: Conversions between chapters’ 7 and 13; Treatment of Domestic-Support Obligations; and Reaffirmation, Redemption, Surrender and Statement of Intention after October 17.”
  
• Moderator Patricia Antonelli of Partridge, Snow & Hahn, LLP (Providence, R.I.) will be joined by panelists Gary Klein of Roddy Klein & Ryan (Boston), Christopher Lefebvre of Lefebvre & Lefebvre PC (Pawtucket, R.I.), Cherylanne Novinsky of Mortgage Solutions Inc. (Brockton, Mass.) and former Judge James Queenan (Worcester, Mass.) for  “Consumer Lending Topics – Predatory Lending Legislation and Activities of Mortgage Foreclosure Consultants; Interest-Only and Option ARM Mortgage Loans; Summary of Changes to TILA Made by BAPCPA.”
  
• “Individual Chapter 11’s: A Better Choice Compared to Abov-Median-Income Debtors in Chapter 13?” features moderator James Molleur of James F. Molleur LLC (Saco, Maine) and panelists Carolyn Bankowski of Deutsch Williams Brooks DeRensis & Holland PC (Boston), Judge Colleen Brown (Rutland, Vt.), Pamela Harbeson of Looney & Grossman LLP (Boston), Judge Jeffrey Hopkins (Cincinnati), Ray Obuchowski of Obuchowski & Emens-Butler (Bethel, Vt.) and Thomas J. Raftery (Carlisle, Mass.). 

For more information about the Northeast Consumer Forum, visit http://www.abiworld.org/NECON06

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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes more than 11,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abiworld.org/events.html.