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

SUPREME COURT JUSTICE JOHN PAUL STEVENS TO KEYNOTE ABI’s 16th ANNUAL SOUTHWEST BANKRUPTCY CONFERENCE

May 21, 2008 Alexandria, Va. -- More than 500 are expected to attend ABI’s 16th Annual Southwest Bankruptcy Conference, which will be held Sept. 4-6 at the Four Seasons Hotel in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip.  Programming for the conference features 9 CLE credit hours, including 1 hour of ethics. Program chairs for the conference are Jeffrey N. Pomerantz of Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP (Los Angeles) and Candace C. Carlyon of Shea & Carlyon, Ltd. (Las Vegas). The Judicial Chair is Bankruptcy Judge Gregg W. Zive (Reno, Nev.). The sponsorship chair for the conference is Jeff Nerland of CRG Partners LLC (Santa Ana, Calif.)
 
Keynoting the conference is Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who will be sitting down for a conversation with Bankruptcy Judges James D. Gregg (W.D. Mich.; Grand Rapids) and Eugene R. Wedoff (N.D. Ill.; Chicago) to be moderated by ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano.
 
The conference also features a “Judges Roundtable” moderated by Bankruptcy Judge Eileen W. Hollowell (D. Ariz.; Tucson) and includes Bankruptcy Judges Robert N. Kwan (C.D. Cal.; Santa Ana), Bruce A. Markell (D. Nev.; Las Vegas), James M. Marlar (D. Ariz.; Tucson), Mike Nakagawa (D. Nev.; Las Vegas), Steven W. Rhodes (E.D. Mich.; Detroit), Linda B. Riegle (D. Nev.; Las Vegas), Erithe A. Smith (C.D. Cal.; Los Angeles), Wesley W. Steen (S.D. Texas; Houston) and Eugene R. Wedoff (N.D. Ill.; Chicago).

John D. Penn of Haynes and Boone, LLP (Fort Worth, Texas) will moderate ABI’s popular “Great Debates” program, consisting of three debates. In Debate No. 1, “The Debtor’s Motion to Appoint a Chief Restructuring Officer with Power to Manage Constitutes Grounds for Appointment of a Trustee,” August B. Landis of Office of the U.S. Trustee (Las Vegas) will debate Cathy L. Reece of Fennemore Craig PC (Phoenix).
 
In Debate No. 2, “When Contracts Include Recovery of Attorney’s Fees, Post-Petition Attorney’s Fees Are Recoverable on Unsecured Claims,” G. Eric Brunstad, Jr. of Bingham McCutchen LLP (Hartford, Conn.) will debate Prof. Mark S. Scarberry of Pepperdine University School of Law (Malibu, Calif.).
 
In Debate No. 3, “The Disposable-income Test Is Unconstitutional,” David A. Tilem of the Law Offices of David A. Tilem (Glendale, Calif.) will debate Ford Elsaesser of Elsaesser, Jarzabek, Anderson, Marks, Elliott & McHugh, Chtd. (Sandpoint, Idaho).
 
Conference sessions include:
 
Prof. Nancy B. Rapoport of the William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada (Las Vegas) will moderate the “Multimedia Ethics Extravaganza” plenary session.
 
The “Consumer Remedies for Lender Misconduct” session, moderated by Rudy J. Cerone of McGlinchey Stafford, PLLC (New Orleans), will feature panelists Karen L. Kellett of The Kellett Law Firm (Dallas), Marilee A. Madan of Barrett Burke Wilson Castle Daffin & Frappier, LLP (Houston) and Bankruptcy Judge Erithe A. Smith (C.D. Cal.; Los Angeles).
 
“They Aren’t Buying It: Handling the Next Wave of Retail Insolvencies” will be moderated by T. Scott Avila of CRG Partners (Los Angeles) and include panelists John P. Beauclair of Sun Capital Partners, Inc. (Los Angeles), Michael D. Chartock of Gordon Brothers Group, LLC (Boston), Prof. Dawn McLaren of the W.P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University (Tempe, Ariz.) and Ronald M. Tucker of Simon Property Group (Indianapolis, Ind.).
 
“Claims Trading, Fiduciary Duties and Other Pesky Committee Issues,” moderated by Eve H. Karasik of Stutman, Treister & Glatt, PC (Los Angeles), will feature panelists Ronald F. Greenspan of FTI Consulting, Inc. (Los Angeles), William Kaye of JLL Consultants, Inc. (East Rockaway, N.Y.), Bankruptcy Judge James M. Marlar (D. Ariz.; Tucson) and David B. Shemano of Peitzman, Weg & Kempinsky LLP (Los Angeles).
 
Jeffrey N. Pomerantz of Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP (Los Angeles) will moderate “The Anatomy of a Bankruptcy M&A Transaction: From Teaser to Tombstone” session with panelists Marc Bilbao of Imperial Capital (Los Angeles), Robbin L. Itkin of Steptoe & Johnson LLP; Los Angeles) and George Kase of Marlin Equity Partners (Los Angeles).
 
“The Subprime Meltdown from an Insolvency Litigation Perspective” session will be moderated by James D. McCarthy of Diamond McCarthy LLP (Dallas) and feature panelists Bankruptcy Judge Robert N. Kwan (C.D. Cal.; Santa Ana), Larry Lattig of Mesirow Financial Consulting, LLC (Dallas) and Samuel Newman of  Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP (Los Angeles).
 
The “Individual Chapter 11s: The Saga Continues” session, moderated by James Patrick Shea of Shea & Carlyon, Ltd. (Las Vegas), includes panelists James T. Markus of Block, Markus & Williams, LLC (Denver), Patricia A. Redmond of Stearns, Weaver, Miller, Weissler, Alhadeff & Sitterson, PA (Miami) and Bankruptcy Judge Eugene R. Wedoff (N.D. Ill.; Chicago).
 
The “Dialing for Dollars and Other Creative Ways to Find Cash for the Estate” session will be moderated by Henry R. Ritter of SoCal Advisors (Playa Del Rey, Calif.) and include panelists Michelle C. Campbell of AlixPartners LLP (Los Angeles), Douglas E. Himmel of Melville Capital, LLC (Los Angeles), Eric A. Linn of Oak Point Partners (Palatine, Ill.) and Bankruptcy Judge Linda B. Riegle (D. Nev.; Las Vegas).
 
Bankruptcy Judge Gregg W. Zive (D. Nev.; Reno) will moderate the “Current Case Law Developments (Commercial)” workshop with panelists Donald L. Gaffney of Snell & Wilmer, LLP (Phoenix), Claire Ann Resop of von Briesen & Roper, SC (Madison, Wis.) and Deborah D. Williamson of Cox Smith Matthews Incorporated (San Antonio).
 
The “Relationships and Stakeholder Positions in a Changing Market” session, to be moderated by Brian I. Swett of Winston & Strawn LLP (Chicago), will include Richard K. Brooks of Wachovia Capital Finance (Pasadena, Calif.), Martin J. McKinley of Wells Fargo Business Credit, Inc. (San Francisco), Steven C. Petrie of Summit Investment Management LLC (Denver) and Alexander William Stevenson of XRoads Solutions Group (Santa Ana, Calif.).
 
Bankruptcy Judge Mike Nakagawa (D. Nev.; Las Vegas) will moderate the “Current Case Law Developments (Consumer)” workshop featuring panelists Donald L. Gaffney of Snell & Wilmer, LLP (Phoenix), Claire Ann Resop of von Briesen & Roper, SC (Madison, Wis.) and Deborah D. Williamson of Cox Smith Matthews Incorporated (San Antonio).
 
For more information on the Southwest Bankruptcy Conference, visit http://www.abiworld.org/SW08.  

###

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 11,700 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.