Chapter 11 Bankruptcy: The Ultimate Guide

Agenda / Content Covered

1. Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Overview
   10:00 — 10:30, Cecilia Lee
   1. Goals and Process Overview
   2. Chapter 11 vs. Chapter 7 Liquidation, Conversion and Dismissal
   3. Traditional Chapter 11 vs. Small Business Cases
2. Filing, Case Preparation, and First Day Motions
   10:30 — 11:30, Peter Gannott
   1. What You Need to Know Before You File
   2. Eligibility Requirements
   3. Making Filing Decisions and Preparing the Petition
   4. Key Deadlines
   5. Preliminary Pleadings and Motions
   6. Adversary Proceedings
3. Automatic Stay, Exceptions to Stay, and Stay Litigation
   11:45 — 12:15, Cecilia Lee
4. Continuing Business Operations
   12:15 — 1:15, William Amann
   1. Debtor in Possession Responsibilities and Powers
   2. Reporting and Financial Statements
   3. Disposition of Estate Property - Assets, Contracts, and Leases
   4. Cash Collateral and Debtor Financing Issues
   5. Creditor Claims and Role of Creditor Committees
   6. Trustee and Examiner Roles and Responsibilities
5. Plan of Reorganization Preparation, Confirmation, and Implementation
   1:45 — 2:45, William Amann
   1. Who Can File
   2. Preparing the Plan and Disclosure Statement
   3. Negotiations with Creditor Committees
   4. Creditor Motions and Objections
   5. Confirmation Hearing and Plan Confirmation
   6. Plan Implementation
6. Post-Confirmation Administration, Claims Resolution, and Exit from Chapter 11
   2:45 — 3:45, John Ruddy
7. Ethical Issues in Bankruptcy
   4:00 — 5:00, Peter Gannott
   1. Analyzing Conflicts of Interest
   2. Managing/Resolving Conflicts of Interest
   3. Attorney Fees
   4. Candor to Tribunal
   5. Disclosure Issues

Accreditation Details:

WILLIAM J. AMANN is a partner with Braucher & Amann, PLLC where he concentrates his practice in the areas of bankruptcy, creditors’ rights, commercial litigation, real estate, and commercial litigation. Mr. Amann regularly represents national and regional creditors in bankruptcy courts and the state courts in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He has recently been admitted to the Southern District Federal Court for New York representing a Massachusetts business in a contract dispute. Prior to joining the firm, he served as legal counsel to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee for the District of New Hampshire. In addition, he has considerable experience in the areas of commercial turnarounds, debt restructuring, equitable subordination, debt re-characterization, asset sales, title insurance, real estate conveyancing, land use, receiverships, premises liability, employment law, evictions, and probate administration. Mr. Amann served on the Board of Directors for the City of Manchester's Public Library Literacy Fund for two years, starting in 2009. He is an editor for the American Bankruptcy Institute and is an annual editor for the New Hampshire Bar Association's Supreme Court At-a-Glance article series and regularly speaks before professional and trade groups on the topics of bankruptcy, creditors’ rights, and real estate. Prior to practicing law, Mr. Amann was employed by Fidelity Investments as a trade resolution specialist, by Ford Motor Credit Company as an account executive and branch legal liaison, and he is a former police officer. He earned his B.A. degree from Saint Anselm College and his J.D. degree from Massachusetts School of Law.

PETER M. GANNOTT is the principal of the Louisville law firm of Gannott Law Group, PLLC. Since 1985, he has focused his practice in the areas of business and consumer bankruptcy, creditors' rights and commercial collections, complex commercial litigation, and real estate matters. Mr. Gannott works with clients on everything from the creation and dissolution of business entities to representation of business clients in business-to-business collections or large asset issues. He is a frequent lecturer on his areas of practice and has been an adjunct faculty member at the University of Louisville. Mr. Gannott is board certified in business bankruptcy law by the American Board of Certification. He graduated, with honors, from the University of Illinois; and earned his J.D. degree from the Washington College of Law, American University.

CECILIA LEE practices all aspects of bankruptcy law in the law firm of Fletcher & Lee in Reno, Nevada. She is certified as a business bankruptcy specialist by the American Board of Certification and has been recognized as a business bankruptcy specialist in the state of Nevada since 2002. Ms. Lee practices in the areas of bankruptcy, creditor’s rights, appellate, and restructuring law. In 2015, she joined the law faculty as an adjunct professor of debtor/creditor and Chapter 11 restructuring law at Willamette University College of Law. In addition, she publishes and lectures on various aspects of business and consumer bankruptcy law. As a member of the ABI Consumer Bankruptcy Committee, she was honored with the Committee of the Year award for work done in 2015, and recognized in the June 2016 issue of the ABI Journal. Ms. Lee earned her B.A. degree, with honors, from Swarthmore College; her M.S. degree from the University of Oregon; and her J.D. degree from Willamette University College of Law. Ms. Lee is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, the Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, and the state and federal courts in Nevada and Oregon.

JOHN C. RUDDY is a managing member in the firm Ruddy & Petersen Law Group, LLC in Aurora, Illinois. Mr. Ruddy concentrates his practice in the areas of litigation concerning real estate, bankruptcy reorganization, commercial matters, eminent domain, and consumer disputes. He has been in practice since 1977. Mr. Ruddy advises and represents the firm's clients on real estate foreclosure proceedings, including the implementation of sheriff's sales. He also advises and represents loan borrowers on defenses and counterclaims to mortgage foreclosure proceedings, including the Fair Credit Agreements Act, the Real Estate Settlement Protections Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act. Mr. Ruddy earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Denver and his J.D. degree from John Marshall Law School. He has been the chairperson of the Commercial Banking and Bankruptcy Committee of the Kane County Bar Association from 1994 to the present, and is a former bankruptcy trustee.