Contact: John Hartgen
             703-739-0800
             [email protected]

ABI’S POPULAR NORTHEAST BANKRUPTCY CONFERENCE AND CONSUMER FORUM TO ADDRESS CURRENT BANKRUPTCY AND ECONOMIC TOPICS

March 24, 2008, Alexandria, Va. –More than 400 practitioners will join a 15-judge faculty at ABI’s 15^th Annual Northeast Bankruptcy Conference, July 10-13 in Brewster, Mass., at the Ocean Edge Resort & Club. The conference provides up to 9.25 hours of continuing education credits including 1.5 hours of ethics. This year’s conference will again offer a separate 2-day consumer forum at a reduced conference rate.

Programs at the main conference include:

The “Sunny Side Up, or Down? Breakfast on the Economy” session with moderator Stephen B. Darr of Mesirow Financial Consulting, LLC (Boston) and panelists Bankruptcy Judge Hon. H. Louis Kornreich (D. Maine; Bangor),  Carl Steidtmann of Deloitte (New York) and David Wyss of Standard & Poor’s (New York).

Michael J. Goldberg of Cohn, Whitesell & Goldberg LLP (Boston) will moderate the “Current Issues in Commercial Leasing” session with panelists Paul W. Carey of Mirick O'Connell DeMallie & Lougee, LLP (Worcester, Mass.), Mark Duston of DJM Asset Management LLC (Melville, N.Y.) and Bankruptcy Judge Brian K. Tester (D. P.R.; San Juan).

“Appellate Advocacy Skills,” moderated by Kenneth S. Leonetti of Foley Hoag LLP (Boston), features panelists Prof. Thomas Carey of Boston College Law School (Newton, Mass.) and Bankruptcy Judge James B. Haines, Jr. (D. Maine; Portland) and U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Thomas M. Hardiman (Third Circuit; Pittsburgh).

Moderator Daniel W. Sklar of The Daymark Group LLC (Manchester, N.H.), along with panelists James C. Ebbert of McShane Group, Inc. (Rockland, Maine), Michael J. Fencer of Jager Smith PC (Boston) and James E. Fleet of  Phoenix Management Services, Inc. (Boston), will participate in the “You Can’t Treat the Patient without a Diagnosis: Identifying Causes of Business Failure” session.

“Current Issues in Avoidance Actions” will be moderated by H. Jeffrey Schwartz of Dechert LLP (New York) and feature panelists Jonathan R. Doolittle of Verrill Dana LLP (Portland, Maine), James S. Lamontagne of Sheehan, Phinney, Bass + Green (Manchester, N.H.) and Bankruptcy Judge Mark W. Vaughn (D. N.H.; Manchester).

The “Gaining Support from All of Your Constituencies” session, moderated by Thomas O. Bean of McDermott Will & Emery, LLP (Boston) will feature Bankruptcy Judge Judith K. Fitzgerald (W.D. Pa.; Pittsburgh), Martha E.M. Kopacz of Grant Thornton LLP (New York) and Daniel J. Callaghan of Devine Millimet & Branch PA (Manchester, N.H.).

Daniel M. Glosband of Goodwin Procter LLP (Boston) will moderate the “Cross-Border Issues Coming to Your Town” session with panelists Bankruptcy Judge Gerardo Carlo (D. P.R.; San Juan), Brian Cassady of Black Management Advisors (Miami) and Tracey C. Sandler of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP (Toronto).

“Troubled Portfolio Companies,” moderated by Christine D. Lynch of Goulston & Storrs, PC (Boston), will feature panelists Michael J. Epstein of CRG Partners (Boston), Douglas R. Gooding of Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP (Boston) and Stephen Moeller-Sally of Ropes & Gray LLP (Boston).

The “Privileges, Exceptions and Civil and Criminal Liability” session will be moderated by Robert E. Kaelin of Murtha Cullina LLP (Hartford, Conn.) and feature panelists Michael J. Missal of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis, LLP (Washington, D.C.), William J. Hanlon of Seyfarth Shaw LLP (Boston), M. Stephanie Wickouski of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP (New York).

Moderator Adrienne Walker of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, PC (Boston) and panelists John P. Fitzgerald of the Office of the U.S. Trustee (Boston), Bankruptcy Judge Robert E. Gerber (S.D.N.Y., New York) and Pamela A. Harbeson of Looney & Grossman LLP (Boston) will participate in the “Avoiding Administrative Insolvency” session.

The “Hot Topics in Claims Purchasing and Trading” session will be moderated by Victor G. Milione of Nixon Peabody LLP (Boston) and feature panelists Jeanne P. Darcey of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP (Boston), Christopher Moon of Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith (New York) and Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth S. Stong (E.D.N.Y.; Brooklyn).

ABI Resident Scholar Jack Williams will moderate the “Seaside Chat” with Bankruptcy Judges Henry J. Boroff (D. Mass.; Worcester) and Joan N. Feeney (D. Mass.; Boston).

Bruce A. Harwood of Sheehan, Phinney, Bass + Green (Manchester, Mass.) will moderate the “View from the Bench: Supreme Court Year in Review” session featuring Bankruptcy Judges Henry J. Boroff (D. Mass.; Worcester), Joan N. Feeney (D. Mass.; Boston), Judith K. Fitzgerald (W.D. Pa.; Pittsburgh), Robert E. Gerber (S.D.N.Y.; New York) and Joel B. Rosenthal (D. Mass.; Worcester).

In conjunction with the Northeast Bankruptcy Conference, ABI’s Third Annual Northeast Consumer Forum, will be held July 11-12 and 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 6.0 hours of CLE/CPE credit.

The Consumer Forum programs include:

“Messing with Mortgages: Continuing Consumer and Creditor Confusion,” moderated by Catherine V. Eastwood of Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP (Warwick, R.I.), features panelists Richard I. Isacoff of Richard I. Isacoff, P.C. (Pittsfield, Mass.), William McLeod of McLeod Law Offices (Boston) and Bankruptcy Judge Joel B. Rosenthal (D. Mass.; Worcester).

Eleanor William Dahar of Victor W. Dahar, PA (Manchester, N.H.) will moderate “The Bursting Bubble: Behind on Mortgages and Car Loans—Is Chapter 13 an Option?” session with panelists Steven J. Boyajian of Boyajian, Harrington & Richardson (Providence, R.I.), John McNicholas of Ablitt & Charlton, PC (Stoneham, Mass.) and Bankruptcy Judge Colleen Brown (D. Vt.; Rutland).

“BAPCPA Three Years Later: Through the Looking Glass—How Is It Down the Rabbit Hole?” will be moderated by Justin H. Dion of Bacon & Wilson, P.C. (Springfield, Mass.) and feature panelists Kristin McDonough of Riemer & Braunstein LLP (Boston) and Bankruptcy Judge Eugene R. Wedoff (N.D. Ill.; Chicago).

The “Fables and Fairy Tales…How the Practice Has Evolved” session, moderated by Assistant U.S. Trustee Geraldine L. Karonis (D. N.H.; Manchester), will feature panelists William M. Gillen of the Law Offices of William M. Gillen (Manchester, N.H.), Bankruptcy Judge Enrique S. Lamoutte (D. P.R.; San Juan) and David N. Ostrander of Ostrander Law Office (Northhampton, Mass.).

For more information about the Northeast Consumer Forum, visit http://www.abiworld.org/NE08/consumer.html

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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 nearly 11,700 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/conferences.html.