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

REAL ESTATE, ETHICS AND HOT TOPICS IN CONSUMER AND BUSINESS BANKRUPTCY AMONG TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED AT ABI’s SOUTHEAST BANKRUPTCY WORKSHOP

May 14, 2009, Alexandria, Va. — Eight bankruptcy judges and more than 300 attendees will gather to discuss the latest bankruptcy topics at ABI’s Fourteenth Annual Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop. The workshop, held from July 29-August 1 at the Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa on Hilton Head Island, S.C., brings together the region’s top insolvency professionals for four days of intense learning and networking. Attendees also have the opportunity to earn 9.0 hours of CLE credits, including 2.5 hours of ethics.

Program co-chairs for the Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop include C.R. “Chip” Bowles, Jr. of Greenebaum Doll & McDonald PLLC (Louisville, Ky.) and David B. Wheeler of Moore & Van Allen (Charleston, S.C.). The judicial chair for the workshop is Bankruptcy Judge Mary Grace Diehl (N.D. Ga.; Atlanta).

Highlighting the workshop will be a plenary session titled “The Fall of Boris Badenough: Ethical Issues for Lawyers in Representing ‘Unusual’ Clients.” The session involves a cast of experts conducting a mock trial to present ethical situations faced when representing failed financial entities and their principals, along with a separate panel to examine the key issues in a case. The cast of the mock trial includes:

• “Announcer:” C.R. “Chip” Bowles, Jr. of Greenebaum Doll & McDonald PLLC (Louisville, Ky.).
• “Boris Badenough:” Robin E. Phelan of Haynes and Boone, LLP (Dallas).
• “Big Jim Hunt Silver:” Carl H. Young, III of Bridge Associates LLC (New York).
• “Boris’s Attorney:” Diane P. Furr of Poyner & Spruill LLP (Charlotte, N.C.).
• Big Jim’s Attorney:” J. Ted Donovan of Finkel Goldstein Rosenbloom & Nash, LLP (New York).

Panelists providing analysis for the mock trial include Acting U.S. Trustee Cynthia P. Burnette (Tampa, Fla.), James S. Feltman of Mesirow Financial Consulting, LLC (Miami) and Bankruptcy Judge J. Rich Leonard (E.D.N.C.; Raleigh).

Concurrent workshops at the conference include:

Patricia A. Redmond of Stearns, Weaver, Miller, Weissler, Alhadeff & Sitterson, PA (Miami) moderating the “Dead Dirt: Part 1” session with panelists Paul J. Battista of Genovese Joblove & Battista, PA (Miami), William G. Londrey of Tranzon LLC (Richmond, Va.), Bankruptcy Judge C. Ray Mullins (N.D. Ga.; Atlanta) and James Lee Paul of Chamberlain Hrdlicka White Williams & Martin (Atlanta) examining issues arising from the recent wave of business real estate bankruptcies.

The “Jumping the Queue: Administrative, Priority and Reclamation Claims in Chapter 11 Cases” session, moderated by Lawrence R. Ahern, III of Burr & Forman LLP (Nashville, Tenn.), will feature panelists Paula S. Beran of Tavenner & Beran, PLC (Richmond), Daniel F. Dooley of MorrisAnderson & Associates, Ltd. (Chicago) and Bankruptcy Judge Douglas O. Tice, Jr. (E.D. Va.; Richmond).

ABI Deputy Executive Director Felicia S. Turner will moderate the “Hot Topics in Chapter 13 Cases” session with panelists Chapter 13 Trustee O. Byron Meredith, III (Savannah, Ga.), Richard H. Thomson of Clark & Washington, PC (Atlanta) and Bankruptcy Judge Michael G. Williamson (M.D. Fla.; Tampa).

“Swimming in Shark-infested Waters,” moderated by Robert E. Weld of Tatum LLC (Vero Beach, Fla.), will feature panelists Richard H. Engman of Jones Day (New York) and John C. “Kit” Weitnauer of Alston & Bird LLP (Atlanta).

The “Dead Dirt: Part 2” session will review hot real estate issues that impact closely-held business and guarantors in smaller chapter 11 and chapter 13 business cases. Moderator Robert P. Reynolds of Reynolds, Reynolds & Duncan, LLC (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) will be joined by Bankruptcy Judge Robert Mark (S.D. Fla.; Miami), Michael Thompson of Thompson, O’Brien, Kemp & Nasuti, PC (Norcross, Ga.) and Robert L. Shields, III of Tanner & Guin, LLC (Birmingham, Ala.) on the panel.

“Hot Consumer Topics in Chapter 7,” moderated by U.S. Trustee Donald F. Walton (Region 21; Atlanta), features panelists Michael J. Cox of Michael J. Cox Attorney at Law, LLC (Columbia, S.C.), Neil C. Gordon of Arnall Golden Gregory LLP (Atlanta) and Bankruptcy Judge Laurel Myerson Isicoff (S.D. Fla.; Miami).

Moderator Terri L. Gardner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP (Raleigh, N.C.) will be joined by panelists Eric W. Anderson of Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs LLP (Atlanta), Thomas W. Anderson (Pilot Mountain, N.C.), Rudy J. Cerone of McGlinchey Stafford, PLLC (New Orleans), Bankruptcy Judge Mary Grace Diehl (N.D. Ga.; Atlanta) and Robert M. Hirsh of Arent Fox LLP (New York) for the “Lenders Under Fire: Strategies for and Defenses to Extracting Money from Lenders in Consumer and Business Cases” session.

The “Dead Dealers: Problems and Challenges with Auto-dealer Insolvencies” session will be moderated by Jeffrey W. Kelley of Troutman Sanders LLP (Atlanta) and include panelists Keith Northern of NachmanHaysBrownstein, Inc. (Narberth, Pa.), Charles M. Tatelbaum of Adorno & Yoss LLP (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Bankruptcy Judge James D. Walker, Jr. (M.D. Ga.; Macon).

 The “Consumer Law Update” and “Business Law Update” sessions will feature discussions between Retired Bankruptcy Judge William H. Brown (Carbondale, Colo.) and Prof. Jeffrey W. Morris of the University of Dayton School of Law and Counsel, Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur (Dayton, Ohio) on critical developments that have taken place over the past year in consumer and business bankruptcy cases.

For more information about the Fourteenth Annual Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop, call ABI at (703) 739-0800 or visit http://www.abiworld.org/SE09. 

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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 12,000 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.