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

FIFTEEN JUDGES FEATURED AT ABI’s CENTRAL STATES BANKRUPTCY WORKSHOP

MARCH 13, 2006, Alexandria, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute’s (ABI) Thirteenth Annual Central States Bankruptcy Workshop will be held June 15-18 at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa in Traverse City, Mich. More than 400 professionals are expected to attend this year’s workshop that will focus on business and consumer issues under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA). Attendees can earn eight hours of CLE credit, including 2.5 hours of ethics.  Sheryl L. Toby of Dykema PLLC (Detroit, Mich.) is the program chair, while Judge Phillip Shefferly (Detroit, Mich.) is the judicial chair. Sponsorship chair for the event is Michael P. Thomas of BBK Ltd. (Southfield, Mich.) and Claire Ann Resop of Brennan Steil & Basting, SC (Madison, Wis.) chairs the Advisory Board.

The “Bankruptcy Litigation Skills” breakfast presentation brings past and present ABI presidents together for a demonstration of oral advocacy skills. Participating will be Andrew W. Caine of Pachulski, Stang, Ziehl, Young, Jones & Weintraub PC (Los Angeles), Richardo I. Kilpatrick of  Kilpatrick & Associates, PC (Auburn Hills, Mich.),  John D. Penn of Haynes and Boone, LLP (Fort Worth, Texas), Michael P. Richman of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP (New York), Keith J. Shapiro of Greenberg Traurig, LLP (Chicago), Judge Wesley W. Steen (S.D. Texas) and Bettina M. Whyte of AlixPartners LLC (New York).  

Panel topics for ABI’s Central States Bankruptcy Workshop include:

The “Means Test–Can It Work?” session will include panelists David W. Allard of Allard & Fish, PC (Detroit), David E. Grochocinski of Grochocinski, Grochocinski & Lloyd, Ltd. (Orland Park, Ill.), Judge Marci McIvor (E.D. Michigan) and Susan L. Rhiel of Rhiel & Associates, Co., LPA (Columbus, Ohio).

Participating on the “Advertising/Disclosure Notices; Rules for Debt-Relief Agencies” panel will be Charles D. Bullock of Stevenson & Bullock, PLC (Southfield, Mich.), Karen E. Evangelista of Karen E. Evangelista, PC (Auburn Hills, Mich), Judge Philip Klingeberger (N.D. Indiana) and Debra Vorhies Levine of Debra V. Levine & Associates (Chicago).   

Participants in “The New Administrative Vendor Claims and Their Effect on Pre-Petition Planning and Post-Petition Consequences” session include Patrick M. O’Keefe of O’Keefe & Associates Consulting (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), Claire Ann Resop of Brennan, Steil & Basting, SC (Madison, Wis.), William H. Schorling of Klett Rooney Lieber & Schorling, PC (Philadelphia), and Judge Mary Ann Whipple (N.D. Ohio).

Susan M. Cook of Lambert, Leser, Isackson, Cook & Giunta, PC (Bay City, Mich.), Judge James D. Gregg, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, (W.D. Michigan), William I. Kohn of Schiff Hardin LLP (Chicago) and Thomas A. Morrow of AlixPartners LLC (Southfield, Mich.) will participate in the “Ethics: New Officer/Insider Compensation Issues and Risks” session.

“Chapter 11 Financing Order Issues: Casting the Die for the Case?” will include discussions by Richard E. Kruger of Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer & Weiss, PC (Southfield, Mich.), Brian L. Shaw of Shaw Gussis Fishman Glantz Wolfson & Towbin LLC (Chicago), Timothy G. Skillman of Alvarez & Marsal, LLC (Detroit) and Judge Thomas J. Tucker (E.D. Michigan).

“Small Business and Individual Chapter 11s–the New Code’s Effect on Strategies” panel participants include Ira Bodenstein of Shaw Gussis LLC (Chicago), Judge Arthur I. Harris (W.D. Ohio), Leslie Stein of Seyburn, Kahn, Ginn, Bess and Serlin, PC (Southfield, Mich.) and Paul G. Swanson of Steinhilber, Swanson, Mares, Marone & McDermott, (Oshkosh, Wis.).

The “Auto Cases: Where Is This Road Going?” session will feature Stephen M. Gross of McDonald Hopkins Co., LPA (Bingham Farms, Mich.), Stephen S. LaPlante of Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, PLC (Detroit), Alicia Massey of BBK Ltd. (Southfield, Mich.) and Judge Steven W. Rhodes (E.D. Michigan).

Daniel F. Dooley of Morris-Anderson & Associates, Ltd. (Des Plaines, Ill.), Matthew T. Gensburg of Greenberg Traurig, LLP (Chicago), Judge Robert D. Martin (W.D. Wisconsin) and Barbara Rom of Pepper Hamilton LLP (Detroit) will be the participants on the “Ethics: Pre- and Post-Petition Deepening Insolvency and Other Professional Liability Perils” panel.

“Automatic Stay: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?” will feature Deborah K. Ebner of the Law Office of Deborah K. Ebner (Chicago), Kelly M. Hagan of Hagan Law Offices PLC (Acme, Mich.), Judge Jack Schmetterer (N.D. Illinois) and Steve Sowel (Mount Clemens, Mich.).

The “Heavy Metal: Liens on Automobiles and Personal Property in Chapters 7 and 13 after BAPCPA” session will feature Judge Susan V. Kelley (E.D. Wisconsin), Richardo I. Kilpatrick of Kilpatrick & Associates, PC, (Auburn Hills, Mich),  James M. Philbrick of  The Law Offices of James M. Philbrick PC (Mundelein, Ill.) and Grant F. Shipley, Shipley & Associates (Fort Wayne, Ind.).

“Effective Committee Representation” will feature panelists Judge Pamela S. Hollis, (N.D. Illinois), Paula Jacobi of Sugar Friedberg & Felsenthal (Chicago), Jeffrey L. Johnston of Conway MacKenzie & Dunleavy, Birmingham, Mich.) and Patrick E. Mears of Barnes & Thornburg, LLP (Grand Rapids, Mich.).

The “Liquidating 11s–Auctioning Off the Company” session will include panelists Patrick B. Howell of Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek SC (Milwaukee), Ronald L. Rose of Dykema Gossett PLLC (Detroit), Judge Phillip J. Shefferly (E.D. Michigan) and Peter Stenger of Stout Risius Ross, Inc. (Farmington Hills, Mich.)

The “U.S. Trustee Perspective” session will feature Nancy J. Gargula, U.S. Trustee, Region 10, Indianapolis.

Lawrence A. Friedman of eCAST Settlement Corp. (New York) and the former director of the U.S. Trustee program will be the presenter for the “How Reformed Is the Reformation?” session.

“Breakfast with a Judge” will feature a roundtable discussion with Judges James D. Gregg (W.D. Michigan), Jeffrey R. Hughes (W.D. Michigan), Susan V. Kelley (E.D. Wisconsin), Philip Klingeberger (N.D. Indiana), Robert D. Martin (W.D. Wisconsin), Steven W. Rhodes (E.D. Michigan), Walter Shapero (E.D. Michigan), Phillip J. Shefferly (E.D. Michigan), John H. Squires (N.D. Illinois) and Mary Ann Whipple (N.D. Ohio).

The American Board of Certification (ABC) will offer its business bankruptcy, consumer bankruptcy and creditors’ rights exams at the Grand Traverse Resort on Thursday, June 15, from 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Details on the certification process, exam composition and a sample exam can be obtained by calling ABC at (703) 739-1023, by e-mailing [email protected] or by visiting the ABC web site at http://www.abcworld.org.

For more information about the Central States Bankruptcy Workshop, call ABI at (703) 739-0800 or visit http://www.abiworld.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Meetings_and_Events/Upcoming_Events1/Central_States_Bankruptcy_Workshop2/Central_States_Bankruptcy_Workshop.htm. Early registrants can save $50.

###

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/conferences.html.