New Commission to Explore Overhauling Chapter 11 Detailed in ABI Journal Article
New Commission to Explore Overhauling Chapter 11 Detailed in ABI Journal Article
Contact: John Hartgen
703-894-5935
[email protected]
NEW COMMISSION TO EXPLORE OVERHAULING CHAPTER 11 DETAILED IN ABI JOURNAL ARTICLE
May 31, 2011, Alexandria, Va. —A new American
Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) commission will explore overhauling chapter
11 of the Bankruptcy Code, according to a column featured in the June
edition of the ABI Journal. In “Commission to Explore
Overhauling Chapter 11,” authors ABI Chairman Robert J.
Keach of Bernstein Shur (Portland, Maine) and Albert
Togut of Togut, Segal & Segal LLP (New York) provide an
overview of ABI President Geoff Berman’s
initiative to study and recommend changes to chapter 11.
“It has been more than 30 years since the enactment of the
Bankruptcy Code, and there is a growing view that the current law needs
an overhaul,” the authors wrote. Keach and Togut pointed to
feedback stemming from ABI’s “Chapter 11 at the Crossroads:
Does Reorganization need Reform?” that took place in 2009.
“While the Bankruptcy Code was developed in an era when the
biggest employers were manufacturers, the biggest employers today are
service companies such as retailers and technology-driven
enterprises,” according to the authors. “Since the
Code’s enactment, there has been an explosion in the use of
secured credit, placing secured debt at all levels of the capital
structure and trumping any long-term reorganization for the benefit of
existing shareholders.”
Berman has tasked Keach and Togut to help assemble a roster of chapter
11 practitioners, academics and bankers to study possible business
bankruptcy law reforms. The commission will hold hearings nationwide to
hear and collect data and opinions on various issues related to chapter
11. “The final result will be a comprehensive report,” Keach
and Togut wrote, “part blueprint for reform and part catalog of
open issues and current options, to be considered in updating the
bankruptcy laws.” While the work of the commission will likely be
a multi-year effort, the authors said that the commission’s aim is
to “do the work that Congress will require to change the
law.”
To obtain a copy of “Commission to Explore Overhauling Chapter
11,” published in the June edition of the ABI Journal,
please contact John Hartgen at 703-894-5935 or via email at [email protected].
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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 13,000 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.