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

CONSUMER TOPICS, JUDICIAL DEBATES HIGHLIGHT ABI’S 2008 CENTRAL STATES BANKRUPTCY WORKSHOP

February 25, 2008, Alexandria, Va. —The American Bankruptcy Institute’s (ABI) 15th Annual Central States Bankruptcy Workshop, featuring 21 bankruptcy judges from the Sixth and Seventh Circuits, will take place June 12-15 at Michigan’s Grand Traverse Resort and Spa on Lake Michigan. More than 400 professionals are expected to attend this year’s workshop. Attendees have the opportunity to earn up to 10.8 hours of CLE and CPE credits including 1.25 hours of ethics. Sheryl L. Toby of Dykema PLLC (Detroit, Mich.) is the program chair, while Bankruptcy Judges Marci B. McIvor and Phillip J. Shefferly (E.D. Mich.; Detroit) are the judicial co-chairs.

Returning to this year’s Workshop are a series of four unique “Judicial Debates,” moderated bytheprogram’s Advisory Board Chair Claire Ann Resop of Von Briesen & Roper, SC (Madison, Wis.). The following propositions will be debated this year:

“The Means Test Should Be Repealed” will be debated by Bankruptcy Judges Steven W. Rhodes (E.D. Mich.; Detroit) and Mary Ann Whipple (N.D. Ohio, Toledo).

Debating “It is Not a Violation of the Absolute Priority Rule for a Senior Secured Creditor to ‘Gift’ a Portion of Its Recovery in a Chapter 11 Case to a Junior Class of Claims or Interests, Even Though Administrative, Priority and Other Classes of Claims Senior to Such Class Receive No Recovery” will be Bankruptcy Judges Walter Shapero (E.D. Mich.; Detroit) and Phillip J. Shefferly (E.D. Mich.; Detroit).

Bankruptcy Judges Pamela Pepper (E.D. Wis.; Milwaukee) and Eugene R. Wedoff (N.D. Ill.; Chicago) will debate “Official Form 22C Conclusively Determines ‘Projected Disposable Income’ for Chapter 13 Debtors with Above-Median Income.”

“The Failure of a Sole Supplier without a Contract to Ship to a Debtor in the Early Days of a Chapter 11 Case violates the Automatic Stay” will be debated by Bankruptcy Judges Arthur I. Harris (N.D. Ohio; Cleveland) and Jeffrey R. Hughes (W.D. Mich.; Grand Rapids).

The ABI Presidents' Panel will feature a discussion of litigation skills techniques with former ABI presidents Robert M. Fishman of Shaw Gussis Fishman Glantz Wolfson & Towbin LLC (Chicago), Richardo I. Kilpatrick of Kilpatrick & Associates, PC (Auburn Hills, Mich.), Robin E. Phelan of Haynes and Boone, LLP (Dallas) and Michael P. Richmanof Foley & Lardner LLP (New York).

“Mr. and Mrs. Smith Meet Bankruptcy,” one of six consumer bankruptcy topics, will feature panelists Forrest L. Ingram of Forrest L. Ingram, PC (Chicago), John C. Lange of Gold Lange & Majoros, PC; (Southfield, Mich.), Bankruptcy Judge Margaret Dee McGarity (E.D. Wis.; Milwaukee) and David M. Whittaker of Bricker & Eckler LLP (Columbus, Ohio).

Daniela Dimovski of Chimko, Dzialo & Dimovski, PC (Rochester Hills, Mich.), Julie Gleason of Gleason and Gleason, LLC (Chicago), Bankruptcy Judge A. Benjamin Goldgar (N.D. Ill.; Chicago) and chapter 13 Trustee David William Ruskin (Southfield, Mich.) will participate in the “Attorney Fees in Chapters 7 and 13” session.

The “Cramming for the Means Test: How to Pass It Line by Line” session will include panelists Jill M. Gies of the Office of the U.S. Trustee (Detroit), Robert T. Kasdorf of Herrick & Kasdorf (Madison, Wis.), Steven A. Leahy of the Law Office of Steven A. Leahy (Chicago) and Bankruptcy Judge Marci B. McIvor (E.D. Mich.; Detroit).

The “Strategies in Negotiating Financing Orders: How Can David Beat Goliath?” session features panelists Douglas C. Bernstein of Plunkett & Cooney, PC (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), Scott A. Eisenberg of Amherst Partners, LLC (Birmingham, Mich.), Bankruptcy Judge Steven W. Rhodes (E.D. Mich.; Detroit) and Robert A. Weisberg of Carson Fischer, PLC (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.).

“Business Subprime Lending Issues: Whoa to the Woes” includes panelists John T. Gregg of Barnes & Thornburg LLP (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Alex D. Moglia of Moglia Advisors (Schaumburg, Ill.), Jean R. Robertson of Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP (Cleveland) and Bankruptcy Judge Lawrence S. Walter (S.D. Ohio; Dayton).

Ronald S. Barliant of Goldberg Kohn Bell Black Rosenbloom & Moritz, Ltd. (Chicago), Carrianne Basler of AlixPartners LLP (Chicago), David Distel of O'Keefe & Associates (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Brian A. Jarmain of Silver Point Capital (Greenwich, Conn.) and Bankruptcy Judge Jack Schmetterer (N.D. Ill.; Chicago) will participate in the “Claims Trading: Profits, Pitfalls and Strategies in Chapter 11 – Do I Hear a Higher Bid?” session.

The panel for “The Changing World of Creditors' Committees: As the World Turns” session features Bankruptcy Judge Bruce W. Black (N.D. Ill.; Chicago), Nicole Y. Lamb-Hale of Foley & Lardner LLP (Detroit), Robert A. Morris of MorrisAnderson & Associates, Ltd. (Chicago) and Nancy A. Peterman of Greenberg Traurig, LLP (Chicago).

Participating in the “Complex Issues in Preference Litigation: Maneuvering Through the Thicket” session will be Judy B. Calton of Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP (Detroit), John R. Carr, III of Ayres Carr & Sullivan, PC (Indianapolis), Bankruptcy Judge Jacqueline P. Cox (N.D. Ill.; Chicago) and Anne B. Miller of Epiq Bankruptcy Advisory Services, Inc. (Crystal Lake, Ill.).

The “Executory Contracts: Execution at the Guilloutine?” session includes panelists Joel D. Applebaum of Clark Hill, PLC (Detroit), Jeffrey A. Hokanson of Hostetler & Kowalik, PC (Indianapolis), Ken Munn of BBK, Ltd. (Southfield, Mich.) and Bankruptcy Judge Daniel S. Opperman (E.D. Mich.; Bay City).

“Chapter 13 This Way, That Way, Which Way?” features Bankruptcy Judge James D. Gregg (W.D. Mich.; Grand Rapids), Perry G. Pastula of Dunn, Schouten & Snoap, P.C. (Wyoming, Mich.), Charles J. Schneider of Charles J. Schneider, PC (Livonia, Mich.) and Chapter 13 Trustee Mary K. Viegelahn-Hamlin (Kalamazoo, Mich.).

Panelists for the “Bringing Down the House: Residential Mortgages” session include Amy A. Aronson of Aronson & Walsh, PC (Vernon Hills, Ill.), Marcy J. Ford of Trott & Trott, PC (Farmington Hills, Mich.), Lawrence A. Friedman of Bear Stearns (New York) and Bankruptcy Judge Thomas J. Tucker (E.D. Mich.; Detroit).

Lynn M. Brimer of Warner Norcross & Judd LLP (Southfield, Mich.), Monica V. Kindt of Cohen, Todd, Kite & Stanford, LLC (Cincinnati), Bankruptcy Judge Philip Klingeberger (N.D. Ind.; Hammond) and James M. McArdle of Scott & Kraus LLC (Chicago) will participate in the “Paying the Piper: Taxes in Consumer Cases” session.

The “Breakfast with a Judge” session will allow participants a unique opportunity to interact with Bankruptcy Judges Carol A. Doyle (N.D. Ill.; Chicago), A. Benjamin Goldgar (N.D. Ill.; Chicago), James D. Gregg (W.D. Mich.; Grand Rapids), Philip Klingeberger (N.D. Ind.; Hammond), Margaret Dee McGarity (E.D. Wis.; Milwaukee), Marci B. McIvor (E.D. Mich.; Detroit), Pamela Pepper (E.D. Wis.; Milwaukee), Steven W. Rhodes (E.D. Mich.; Detroit), Phillip J. Shefferly (E.D. Mich.; Detroit), John H. Squires (N.D. Ill.; Chicago) and Mary Ann Whipple (N.D. Ohio.; Toledo).

For more information about the Central States Bankruptcy Workshop, call ABI at (703) 739-0800 or visit www.abiworld.org/CSO8.  

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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.