Commercial Law League of America

Events & Education

CLLA Recorded Zoom Discussions and Webinars

Find A CLLA Attorney

Find A CLLA Certified Agency

Find A CLLA Agency

Find A CLLA Professional

Commercial Law League of America

Events & Education

Find A CLLA Attorney

Find A CLLA Certified Agency

Find A CLLA Agency

Find A CLLA Professional

CLLA Recorded Sessions

We are thrilled to announce that CLLA’s recorded Zoom discussions are available for your viewing pleasure. Whether you missed a session or simply want to revisit the invaluable insights shared, you can now access them at your convenience. Our esteemed panelists have shared their expertise on a wide range of topics, from bankruptcy to commercial law, and we are confident that you will find their discussions insightful and informative. So sit back, relax, and enjoy CLLA’s archived Zoom discussions. All recorded sessions are free to view and do not offer CLE or CEU credits.

PLEASE NOTE: Non-Members may receive ONLY ONE complimentary link. Please contact Mary McCann at mary.mccann@clla.org for more information.

CLLA Recorded Sessions

We are thrilled to announce that CLLA’s recorded Zoom discussions are available for your viewing pleasure. Whether you missed a session or simply want to revisit the invaluable insights shared, you can now access them at your convenience. Our esteemed panelists have shared their expertise on a wide range of topics, from bankruptcy to commercial law, and we are confident that you will find their discussions insightful and informative. So sit back, relax, and enjoy CLLA’s archived Zoom discussions. All recorded sessions are free to view and do not offer CLE or CEU credits.

PLEASE NOTE: Non-Members may receive ONLY ONE complimentary link. Please contact Dawn Federico at dawn.federico@clla.org for more information.

ZOOM DISCUSSIONS

Monday, November 25, 2024

Passing the Torch: Selling, Merging or Closing Your Practice

It can take a long time to develop a collections law practice. What happens when it is time to retire or move on? Our panel will look at this issue from 3 very different perspectives. First, we have a panelist who recently sold his collection law practice, next we have an attorney who has been busy acquiring other law practices and finally we have a collection agent who gives the client’s perspective on how these things happen and how it would work best from an agency perspective. 

PANELISTS

MODERATOR: RICHARD PAYNE

Richard Payne
Payne Law, Barristers and Solicitors

Richard received a B.A. and an LL.B from Dalhousie University and was called to the Bar of the Province of Ontario in 1987. He is the Principal with Payne Law, Barristers and Solicitors. Richard practices in the area of Commercial Litigation with a primary focus on Debtor-Creditor work including collections for lawyers and other professionals. He has practiced in Collections Law extensively since he was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1987 and has represented both unsecured and secured Creditors in collection proceedings.

 

Richard is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Toronto Lawyers Association and the Commercial Law League of America. He is a former Chair of the Creditors’ Rights Section, and is currently the President Elect of the League.

ROBERT ASH

Robert Ash
Legal Dept. Manager, AMS Commercial Division, Radius Global Solutions, LLC

Robert Ash is a seasoned veteran of the collection industry; with over 20 years’ experience in Accounts Receivable Management, Consumer Collections and Commercial Debt Collections. His longstanding career with AMS began in 1997, when Robert joined the collection team.

After six years of delivering exceptional recovery results and service to AMS’ clients, Robert was promoted to Legal Department Manager. Robert’s financial expertise and strong communication skills provide a seamless transition from collections to litigation.

As a member of the Commercial Law League of America (CLLA) and active participant within the CLLA’s Eastern Region, Robert has developed and cultivated close associations with a network of collection attorneys throughout the country, ensuring AMS’ clients have the best representation to meet their legal needs. 

DAVID GAMACHE

David Gamache
Kramer & Frank, P.C.

Mr. Gamache is a Senior Attorney with the suburban St. Louis, Missouri law firm of Kramer & Frank, PC where his practice is limited to the area of Creditors’ Rights. The firm practices in the states of Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Illinois. He is licensed in both Missouri and Arkansas. Prior to his employment with Kramer & Frank PC he was a principal in the firm of Gamache & Myers, PC.

 He is a Past-President of the Commercial Law League of America, past CLLA Treasurer and Past Chair of the Creditors’ Rights Section of the Commercial Law League of America. He currently serves on the CLLA board as Recording Secretary. His firm was a founding member of the Missouri Creditors Bar Association of which he was the first President.

 He was the 2015 recipient of the Robert E Caine Leadership Award, given by Caine & Weiner and the CLLA. David is “AV Preeminent” rated through Martindale Hubbell.   

 David is a frequent speaker for many organizations including but not limited to The CLLA and the Missouri Bar Association. He has spoken on the topics of collection law, judgment recovery, creditor liability and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). He has authored during several publication years the chapter entitled “Handling Collections” for the Missouri CLE publication Creditor-Debtor Remedies. He has authored numerous articles related to FDCPA and has been quoted in a number of national publications.

David is a member of the Commercial Law League of America, the American Bar Association, Missouri Bar Association, and the Arkansas Bar. His firm are members of NCBA and is an associate member with CCA of A.

 He has also served for four years as chair of the Commercial Law League’s FDCPA Committee, and as the Chair of the Midwestern Members Association.

TIMOTHY WAN

Tim Wan
Senior Partner and CEO, Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh

Timothy Wan, Esq. is Senior Partner and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh. His areas of expertise include managing the creditor’s rights and collection law practice, serving as General Counsel to various small businesses in the local business community and spearheading practice areas of entertainment law, music law, copyright and intellectual property.

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Experts Analyze the Red River Talc Bankruptcy Venue Decision & Potential Impacts on the Bankruptcy System and Pending Legislative Reforms

The CLLA/Venue Group invites you to hear an expert panel’s analysis and opinions about the recent decision in Red River Talc not to transfer venue of the case from Texas to New Jersey. 

This unique opportunity will provide attendees with in-depth insights and discussion from leading law professors, former judges and the former Director of the United States Trustee Program. 

Professor & Retired Bankruptcy Judge Bruce Markell (Northwestern University), Professor Jay Westbrook (University of Texas), and Former USTP Director Clifford White will share their unique and thoughtful perspectives about the decision and potential broader implications of it in an engaging hour of commentary moderated by Retired United States Bankruptcy Judge Joan Feeney.

PANELISTS

MODERATOR: HON. JOAN N. FEENEY (RET.)

Hon. Joan N. Feeney (Ret.)
JAMS

Hon. Joan N. Feeney (Ret.) joined JAMS in 2019 following almost 27 years on the bench of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts and 23 years as a member of the United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the First Circuit. As a judge, Judge Feeney presided over a full range of cases, including complex commercial cases with multiple parties and interests. While on the bench, she wrote over 500 opinions in many different areas of the law. Judge Feeney now serves as a mediator, arbitrator, and neutral evaluator in all types of two-party and multi-party disputes, concentrating in bankruptcy, business, and employment law. She has developed a robust national practice as a neutral at JAMS.

BRUCE MARKELL

Bruce Markell
Professor of Bankruptcy Law and Practice, and Edward Avery Harriman Lecturer in Law
(Northwestern University)

Bruce A. Markell was appointed the Professor of Bankruptcy Law and Practice at Northwestern in 2015. From 2013 to 2015, he was the Jeffrey A. Stoops Professor of Law at Florida State University School of Law, and before that he was a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Nevada, a position he had held since 2004. After law school, he clerked for then-judge Anthony M. Kennedy on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Before taking the bench, he practiced bankruptcy and business law in Los Angeles for ten years (where he was a partner at Sidley & Austin), and was a law professor for fourteen. He is the author of numerous articles on bankruptcy and commercial law, and a co-author of four law school casebooks. He has been a visiting professor at, among other schools, Peking University School of Law in Beijing, and Harvard Law School. He contributes to Collier on Bankruptcy, and is a member of Collier ’s editorial advisory board.

He is a conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, a charter member of the International Insolvency Institute, and a member of the American Law Institute. He is a founding member of the NITA-trained faculty of the Advanced Consumer Bankruptcy Practice Institute. Professor Markell also consults with the International Monetary Fund on insolvency-related issues (having been part of the IMF’s missions to Ireland, Bosnia, Belarus, Montenegro, Serbia, Georgia, and Greece), and was the primary drafter of Kosovo’s current bankruptcy law. He is an associate editor of the Bankruptcy Law Letter, and regularly contributes articles to that publication. In 2022, Professor Markell received the Lawrence P. King Award from the Commercial Law League of America.

JAY WESTBROOK

Jay Westbrook
Benno C. Schmidt Chair of Business Law
Professor
(University of Texas)

Jay Westbrook is one of the nation’s most distinguished scholars in the field of bankruptcy, leading scholarship in both empirical research and international/comparative studies. He teaches and writes in commercial law and international business litigation. Professor Westbrook also serves as a consultant to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. He is a member of the American Law Institute, the National Bankruptcy Conference, and the American College of Bankruptcy. He has twice been named the Outstanding Teacher at Texas Law and received the “Larry King Award” from the Commercial Law League.

CLIFFORD J, WHITE III

Clifford J. White III
Former USTP Director

Clifford J. White III is the former head of the Justice Department’s United States Trustee Program (USTP), known as the “watchdog” of the bankruptcy system. Before retiring in 2022, Cliff served as the USTP’s Director for 17 years. During his tenure, the USTP implemented key provisions of the comprehensive Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Prevention Act of 2005 and the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019. He also developed new enforcement strategies to address creditor violations of bankruptcy law and to uphold chapter 11 requirements limiting executive bonuses, policing professional conflicts of interest and fees, and scrutinizing other controversial practices. 

 

During his tenure, the USTP objected to non-consensual third-party releases, including in the Purdue Pharma case which was decided by the Supreme Court in favor of the government’s position. Cliff received two Presidential Rank Awards, the highest awards given to career government senior executives, from President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. Cliff is currently employed by a financial services and technology firm with clients in the banking and lending industry. He is a frequent commentator on bankruptcy issues before professional associations and in the news media.

Monday, september 30, 2024

Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act 

Signed into Law in California

Since this bill has been signed into law, this discussion will cover the expansion of the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and how it may affect your organization or agency.

PANELISTS

MODERATOR: RICHARD PAYNE

Richard Payne
Payne Law, Barristers and Solicitors

Richard received a B.A. and an LL.B from Dalhousie University and was called to the Bar of the Province of Ontario in 1987. He is the Principal with Payne Law, Barristers and Solicitors. Richard practices in the area of Commercial Litigation with a primary focus on Debtor-Creditor work including collections for lawyers and other professionals. He has practiced in Collections Law extensively since he was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1987 and has represented both unsecured and secured Creditors in collection proceedings.

 

Richard is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Toronto Lawyers Association and the Commercial Law League of America. He is a former Chair of the Creditors’ Rights Section, and is currently the President Elect of the League.

WANDA BORGES

Wanda Borges
Borges and Associates, LLC

For more than forty years, Ms. Borges has concentrated her law practice on commercial litigation and creditors’ rights in bankruptcy matters, representing corporate clients and creditors’ committees throughout the United States in Chapter 11 proceedings, out of court settlements, commercial transactions, and preference litigation.

She is a member and Past President of the Commercial Law League of America (CLLA) and has been an Attorney Member of its National Board of Governors, a Chair of the Bankruptcy Section and Creditors’ Rights Section as well as President of the Commercial Law League Fund for Public Education. She is a member of several bar associations, including the American Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers. Ms. Borges serves on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Commercial Collectors (IACC), of which her firm is an associate member.

She is an internationally recognized lecturer and author on various legal topics which impact trade creditors. She is the Vice-Chair of the Board of Associate Editors for the Commercial Law League of America’s “Commercial Law World” magazine and regularly contributes articles to that magazine as well as her column “Heard and Overheard.” Her treatise Hidden Liens: Who is Entitled to What? was published in the Fall, 1998 Edition of the Commercial Law Journal. She has authored Antitrust, Restraint of Trade and Unfair Competition: Myth Versus Reality, published by the NACM and most recently updated in 2017. Ms. Borges is the lead author and Editor-in-Chief of Enforcing Judgments and Collecting Debts in New York, a treatise updated annually and published by Thomson West Publishing Company. She routinely publishes articles for the National Association of Credit Management “Business Credit” magazine and has published articles for its “Fraud Prevention News.”  

Upon the passage of the BAPCPA in 2005, Ms. Borges prepared and presents educational programs on this new legislation and co-authored The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 – An Overhaul of U.S. Bankruptcy Law, published by the NACM. Her article titled “Uniform Voidable Transactions Act” was published in Insolvency Intelligence, a law journal published by Thomson West in the UK. Ms. Borges has been included in the New York Super Lawyers – Metro Edition list (Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights) each year since 2009. In November 2010, Ms. Borges received the “Robert E. Caine Award for Leadership” from the Commercial Law League of America and in 2023 she was the recipient of the Warren Pinchuck Volunteer Service Award. She is listed in Who’s Who in America.

  

JOHN PUCIN

John Pucin
Caine & Weiner

John is a creditor’s rights attorney with over 20 years of experience managing multiple priorities as a former partner at a large law firm.

This includes negotiation, management of personnel, litigation, team leadership, and marketing. He understands how to execute strategic objectives and has a strong passion for consistent deliverance of client satisfaction. A unique combination of courtroom competency and ability to manage and help grow an organization provides John the necessary experience to coordinate, assess, and lead our Legal Department and affiliated law firm.

John is admitted to the State Bars in Illinois and Ohio along with the United States District Courts of Northern Illinois, Northern Ohio and Southern Ohio. He is currently an active member of the Commercial Law League of America, Illinois Creditors Bar Association, and the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals.

He graduated in 1988 from Xavier University, Cincinnati OH with a B.S.B.A./Finance and in 1992 with a Juris Doctor degree from the Capital University Law School, Columbus Ohio.  

COLIN WINKLER

Colin Winkler
ACA International

Colin Winkler, currently senior counsel for ACA International—the accounts-receivable management industry’s trade association—has a diverse set of legal and professional expertise. He has worked as a financial crimes consultant with Wells Fargo Bank, where he investigated potential money laundering in the context of the Venezuelan currency crisis in 2019; an attorney-editor with Thomson Reuters’ statutes editorial team, where he led early research on the California Consumer Privacy Act; a paralegal supervisor and business operations manager for CACI International at the U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division, where he worked hand-in-hand with DOJ attorneys to enforce civil tax liabilities through litigation in federal courts; and a collections and creditors’ rights attorney in solo practice and at a small firm in northern Virginia.

Tuesday, september 25, 2024

Getting Good Help:
Employees, Contractors, Offshoring and Artificial Intelligence

Traditionally, the answer to an increase in business was to add more employees. These days with tighter margins and cost-conscious clients, firms are under greater pressure to consider other options in order to remain competitive. Our panel will discuss their own experiences with employees, technology and with alternative service providers as well as industry trends. Attendees will be encouraged to submit questions and comments for consideration and discussion by the panel.

PANELISTS

MODERATOR: RICHARD PAYNE

Richard Payne
Payne Law, Barristers and Solicitors

Richard received a B.A. and an LL.B from Dalhousie University and was called to the Bar of the Province of Ontario in 1987. He is the Principal with Payne Law, Barristers and Solicitors. Richard practices in the area of Commercial Litigation with a primary focus on Debtor-Creditor work including collections for lawyers and other professionals. He has practiced in Collections Law extensively since he was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1987 and has represented both unsecured and secured Creditors in collection proceedings.

 

Richard is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Toronto Lawyers Association and the Commercial Law League of America. He is a former Chair of the Creditors’ Rights Section, and is currently the President Elect of the League.

LORI J. FRANK

Lori J. Frank
Markoff Law Michigan Office

Lori J. Frank is the managing attorney for Markoff Law’s Michigan office, is the immediate past president of the Michigan Creditors Bar Association, Chair of the Creditors Rights Section and is a past board member for the Commercial Law League of America, has lobbied in Congress and in Lansing. She is an active member of the Michigan State Bar and is the proud dog mom of Big Popi & Little Khalessi. Lori received her undergraduate degree from Boston University and law degree from Detroit College of Law now known as Michigan State University College of Law.

NEERAJ MENDIRATTA

Neeraj Mendiratta
President, Knova One, Inc.

Neeraj established KnovaOne in 2012 with the aim of helping law firms in the Collections and Default industry to improve their processes and performance, provide visibility into their operations, and provide staffing support for back-office and administrative tasks. KnovaOne established its India operations in Pune, India along with IT development center (ARMGuard Solutions). KnovaOne was acquired by Data Search BY, Inc in April 2024.

KnovaOne provides operational support to its clients that helps them balance workload and focus internal resources on more complex or revenue generating tasks. KnovaOne services help clients save costs, increase production, reduce turnaround time and effectively manage workload without HR challenges. The clients include Default & Collections Law Firms, Mortgage Servicers, Debt Buyers, Collection Networks, Data Providers, and Process Servers.

ARMGuard Solutions has been helping clients automate their processes, build customized applications and improve productivity. It has also built a compliance platform, Audit Information Management (AIM), that allows organizations to not only manage internal compliance, but also audit their vendors.

Before starting his own businesses, Neeraj was Head of Default for Ocwen. Neeraj briefly served as the Head of Attorney Network at NCO Financial in 2011. Prior to this, he donned several hats at Capital One managing analytics, first-party and third-party agencies, and the legal collections network. In his various roles, Neeraj has built complex analytical models, developed risk and operation strategies, and managed vendor operations.

Neeraj has Ph.D. from Virginia Tech, Blacksburg (USA), and a B.Tech (Honors) from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (India).

Neeraj is a member of several professional organizations in Collections and Default industry, and actively participates in CLLA, NCBA, RMAi, ALFN, USFN, MBA, Five-Star, and HFMA.

TIMOTHY WAN, ESQ.

Timothy Wan, Esq.
Senior Partner and CEO, Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh

Timothy Wan, Esq. is Senior Partner and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh. His areas of expertise include managing the creditor’s rights and collection law practice, serving as General Counsel to various small businesses in the local business community and spearheading practice areas of entertainment law, music law, copyright and intellectual property.

Thursday, June 27, 2024

Purdue Pharma, The Decision and What Comes Next

A CLLA panel discusses the Supreme Court’s Purdue Pharma decision and its implications for Chapter 11 practice.

The Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in the Purdue Pharma Chapter 11 case. The issue is whether nonconsensual third-party releases – an essential tool in complex mass tort cases – is authorized under the Bankruptcy Code. Third-party releases appear in some way in most Chapter 11 cases either directly or through other clauses such as exculpation protecting professionals and others who work on the case. These releases are then enforced through companion injunction provisions.

The Supreme Court’s decision could implicate asbestos-related cases, for which third-party releases and related injunctions are permitted under the Bankruptcy Code. Section 524(g) is viewed as the precursor to newer mass tort situations involving abuse and medical claims. Related, many plans include “consensual” third-party releases as the default if creditors fail to opt-out of the releases. This practice and what constitutes consent has also attracted controversy.

PANELISTS

MELISSA B. JACOBY

Melissa B. Jacoby
Graham Kenan Professor of Law
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Melissa B. Jacoby is the Graham Kenan Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of Unjust Debts: How our Bankruptcy System Makes America More Unequal, which Publishers Weekly described as a “startling debut” and an “eye-opening look at the laws that undergird American inequality.” Jacoby testified on mass tort bankruptcy before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2023 and just published an essay on that topic in the New York Times. She will be a visiting professor at Harvard Law School in Fall 2024.

CANDICE KLINE

Candice Kline
Partner, Saul Ewing LLP, Chicago, IL

Candice Kline is a partner at Saul Ewing focused on bankruptcy and restructuring situations and litigation. She serves in leadership at various bar and trade associations and is a member of the CLLA’s Bankruptcy Section Executive Council and Board of Governors. Candice has an MBA and JD and began her legal career after many years in global commercial banking and business, including startups. She practices in Illinois and Ohio with a nationwide docket in complex commercial matters. Candice is a frequent speaker and writer on mass tort bankruptcies and third-party releases, including a long-running series in the Commercial Law World magazine.

DAVID SKEEL

David Skeel
Samuel Arsht Professor
University of Pennsylvania Law School

David Skeel is the S. Samuel Arsht Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He is author of True Paradox: How Christianity Makes Sense of Our Complex World (InterVarsity, 2014); The New Financial Deal: Understanding the Dodd-Frank Act and its (Unintended) Consequences (Wiley, 2011); Icarus in the Boardroom: The Fundamental Flaws in Corporate America and Where They Came From (Oxford, 2005); Debt’s Dominion: A History of Bankruptcy Law in America (Princeton, 2001); and numerous articles on bankruptcy and financial distress, corporate law, Christianity and law, law and literature, and other topics. His commentary has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and elsewhere. Since August 2016, he has served on the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, which he currently chairs (since October 2020).

MODERATOR: HON. JUDITH K. FITZGERALD (Ret.)

Hon. Judith K. Fitzgerald (Ret.)
Tucker Arensberg, Pittsburgh, PA 

Hon. Judith K. Fitzgerald (Ret.) ia a long-time member of CLLA, and a Retired U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, has been blessed with an exciting, challenging and intellectually stimulating career. As a Judicial Law Clerk, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief Bankruptcy Judge, Professor of Law, Practitioner at Tucker Arensberg, Arbitrator, Mediator, Author and Expert Witness, she has experienced a wide variety of legal disciplines and administrative responsibilities. Judi is a Professor in the Practice of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she teaches Bankruptcy and Advanced Bankruptcy. She is active in national and local professional organizations including the Commercial Law League of America, the American Law Institute, the American College of Bankruptcy. The American Bankruptcy institute and the American Inns of Court. Among other offices, she has served as President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and as Chair of the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Committee to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Judi has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Commercial Law League’s Lawrence P. King Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy and the American Inns of Court Bankruptcy Alliance Distinguished Service Award. Judi consults and lectures in matters involving trial strategy, evidence, procedure, contracts, bankruptcy and professional responsibility, and participates on several committees and boards dedicated to fostering legal education and improving access to justice.

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Bartenwerfer v. Buckley:
What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

When is an “innocent” non-debtor partner on the hook for a co-debtor’s fraudulent actions.

The recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in Bartenwerfer v. Buckley raised the question of when a debtor might be on the hook for the fraudulent conduct of her partner. Turning to section 523(a) of the Bankruptcy Code, which provides certain exceptions to the dischargeability of debt, including fraud, the Supreme Court held that an innocent business partner can be held liable for her business partner’s fraud regardless of her own culpability or knowledge of such fraud. In its unanimous decision, the Supreme Court determined that the debt incurred by the fraud of another was not dischargeable and must be paid by the debtor. Our panelists will discuss the impact of this unanimous decision on both business partners and debtors, considering how creditors can use Bartenwerfer as a powerful weapon against the discharge of fraudulently-obtained debt and how debtors might attempt to defend themselves against such a challenge to discharge.

PANELISTS

ERIC LANGSTON

Eric Langston
Aegis Law, Cedar Rapids, IA 

Eric Langston is a highly skilled attorney based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who chairs the Bankruptcy and Restructuring Practice Group at his law firm. Prior to starting his solo practice, Eric worked at the largest law firm in the Eastern Iowa region and, while in Chicago, with the restructuring group of a global law firm.

 With over a decade of experience in business law, Eric has extensive expertise in complex commercial real estate transactions, corporate governance, and banking and finance law. His experience includes negotiating large commercial transactions, such as a $40 million asset-based loan facility on behalf of a borrower, negotiating a private equity investor’s investment of $75 million as debt, and handling the disposition or acquisition of distressed assets.

In bankruptcy and restructuring, Eric has represented a variety of stakeholders, including debtors, unsecured creditors’ committees, liquidating trustees, and statutory equity committees, in matters such as fraudulent conveyance actions and bankruptcy motion practice. Eric’s experience in this area is highly sought after, and he is recognized as a leading bankruptcy and restructuring attorney in Iowa.

Eric is also a passionate advocate for pro bono impact litigation. He has partnered with the ACLU to successfully challenge the constitutionality of a policy of the Michigan Secretary of State that made it impossible or unduly burdensome for transgender individuals to change the gender marker on their driver’s licenses. Eric has also challenged the constitutionality of the Louisiana Department of Corrections’ denial of auxiliary aids or services to hearing-impaired probationers and parolees and represented an LGBT client seeking asylum from Kyrgyzstan. Eric’s dedication to pro bono work has made him a respected member of his community.

Before becoming a lawyer, Eric worked as a data scientist in the higher education industry for seven years. The skills he developed during this time have proven invaluable in his legal practice, particularly in representing clients in complex real estate transactions and bankruptcy proceedings. Eric is licensed to practice law in Colorado, Iowa, and Illinois and is also a Notary Public in Iowa.

In his free time, Eric enjoys rock climbing, hiking, and playing tennis. He has a strong interest in astrophysics and space travel, quantum computing, generalized artificial intelligence, and abstract mathematics. Eric has a motorcycle endorsement on his driver’s license and enjoys riding sport-bikes.

Eric is a graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, where he focused his studies on tax law. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Knox College. Eric is a member of local and state bar associations and is committed to the civil justice movement. He regularly volunteers for efforts surrounding community enhancement, such as Iowa Legal Aid and other partners to deliver legal assistance via Linn County’s Expungement and Employment Barriers Resource Clinic. Eric also held a pro bono estate planning workshop for people living with HIV to prepare and execute wills and powers of attorney for healthcare and property.

MARIBETH THOMAS

Maribeth Thomas
Tucker Arensberg, Pittsburgh, PA 

Maribeth Thomas focuses her practice primarily on Bankruptcy, Insolvency, and Creditors’ Rights. She proficiently navigates the intersection of bankruptcy law with state law. Knowledge of the system and the ability to listen and understand the issues that clients face, attention to detail, communication, and problem-solving skills are just a few of Maribeth’s greatest strengths. Maribeth has a comprehensive understanding of all bankruptcy aspects including collections, foreclosures, representation in bankruptcy cases, and debtor’s work. When clients are dealing with difficult situations, Maribeth provides counsel and offers problem-solving solutions and then works to come up with a collaborative positive result.

Maribeth’s professional experience includes handling litigation and bankruptcy counsel for financial institutions, mortgage servicers, homeowners associations, and automotive financing companies. She also has experience with collections litigation and collection of money judgements for both individuals and commercial clients. In addition, she has represented multiemployer trust funds with issues related to withdrawal liability and transactions to “evade or avoid” withdrawal liability, as well as controlled group liability along with multiemployer trust funds in contributing employers’ bankruptcy proceedings nationwide to assert and protect the funds’ interests as creditors.

Prior to joining Tucker Arensberg, P.C., Maribeth was a judicial law clerk for The Honorable Gregory L. Taddonio and The Honorable Judith K. Fitzgerald (ret.) in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. This valuable experience allows Maribeth to understand the procedures and nuances of the judges and the court. She has an eye toward knowing what the court wants. In addition to her federal clerkships, Maribeth worked for a boutique creditors’ rights law firm in Pittsburgh. She also completed judicial clerkships with the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania and the Court of Common Pleas of Lawrence County.

Maribeth earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

MODERATOR: BEVERLY WEISS MANNE, ESQ.

Beverly Weiss Manne, Esq.
Tucker Arensberg, P.C., Pittsburgh, PA 

Beverly Weiss Manne, Esq. is a shareholder, and was previously chairperson, of the Insolvency and Creditors’ Rights Department of the law firm of Tucker Arensberg, P.C. in Pittsburgh. Ms. Manne is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Her practice includes complex bankruptcies and reorganizations, creditors’ rights, commercial loan originations, restructuring and liquidations, receiverships, and commercial lending/leasing workouts. Beverly also is an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law where she teaches Commercial Paper and Banking (Payment Systems) and has taught Secured Transactions. Ms. Manne is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, a member of the ABA, PBA and Allegheny County Bar Association, International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation, Commercial Law League (“CLLA”), American Bankruptcy Institute, and a past Chair of the ACBA Bankruptcy and Commercial Law Section. She is the immediate past Chair of the PBA Business Law Section Council, co-chair of the Insolvency Law Modernization Task Force and the UCC Chapter 12 Adoption Task Force, and BLS’ representative in PBA’s House of Delegates. Ms. Manne is a member of the CLLA Education and Bankruptcy Executive Committee and has served on Western District Bankruptcy Court Chapter 11 Subchapter V Small Business procedures committees as well as the Complex Chapter 11 Procedures committee. Ms. Manne received her B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and her law degree from University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She is a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer in Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights Category for 2006 through the present, and; has been selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2007 through the present in the Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law category.

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

The New Federal Corporate Transparency Act

What you need to know to protect yourself, your business, and your clients.

If you are an owner of a corporation and/or you form corporations, you should NOT miss this discussion. Jason Webb will review the new Federal Corporate Transparency Act, effective on January 1, 2024, and how it will affect you and your clients.

SPEAKER

Jason Webb, Davis Miles McGuire Gardner, Tempe, AZ

Jason earned his Juris Doctorate from the James E. Rogers School of Law at the University of Arizona where he served as the Chief Articles Manager for the Arizona Law Journal of Emerging Technologies, worked in the school’s Immigration Law Clinic, and completed various internships in both immigration law and personal injury. Prior to law school, Jason attended Arizona State University where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science near the top of his class, graduating summa cum laude.

Jason Webb practices in the firm’s transactional law department and works specifically with companies and LLCs and “Beneficial Owners” in complying with the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).

In his free time, Jason enjoys spending time with his wife and their two dogs, golfing, and supporting the many professional and collegiate sports teams around the Valley.

Monday, September 18, 2023

We Are Addicted to Purdue Pharma; You Should Be Too!

Now that the US Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal filed by the US Trustee Program in Purdue Pharma bankruptcy, speculation is rife as to what decision will follow and how it will affect the use of nonconsensual third-party releases in mass tort bankruptcy cases. Our panelists hold widely differing views as to the real economic impact of nonconsensual third-party releases and whether the Court’s decision will assure benefit or harm to mass tort victims and to the bankruptcy system overall.  

PANELISTS

ADAM J. LEVITIN

Adam J. Levitin
Anne Fleming Research Professor & Professor of Law
Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC

Professor Levitin specializes in bankruptcy, commercial law, and financial regulation. His scholarship has won numerous awards, including the American Law Institute’s Young Scholar’s Medal, in recognition of his work’s potential to influence improvements in law.

Before joining Georgetown faculty, Professor Levitin practiced in the Business Finance & Restructuring Department of Weil, Gotshal, & Manges, LLP and served as law clerk to the Honorable Jane R. Roth on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Professor Levitin has also previously served as the Bruce W. Nichols Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, as the Robert Zinman Scholar in Residence at the American Bankruptcy Institute, as Special Counsel to the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Consumer Advisory Board.

WILLIAM (BILLY) ORGANEK

William (Billy) Organek

Assistant Professor of Law, Zicklin School of Business

Baruch College, New York, NY

William Organek is an Assistant Professor of Law at the Zicklin School of Business, and is the Managing Editor of the Harvard Law School Bankruptcy Roundtable. His research investigates bankruptcy’s operation as a system of public law regulation and private law ordering. His scholarship develops case studies with a blend of empirical analysis and insights from law and economics. His work also draws on his nearly ten years of legal practice and real estate business experience. His articles have been or are forthcoming in major law reviews and he has been featured on several podcasts of legal scholarship.

 Prior to joining the Zicklin faculty, William was a Program Fellow with the Bankruptcy Project at Harvard Law School. Before that, he practiced law in the New York offices of two major international law firms, and he clerked for Judge Michael Wiles on the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Earlier in his career, he started a real estate business in China and lived in Shanghai for more than two years. He holds a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and a B.A. in Economics-Philosophy from Columbia University.

HON. JUDITH K. FITZGERALD (RET.)

Hon. Judith K. Fitzgerald (Ret.)

Tucker Arensberg, P.C., Pittsburgh, PA

 

A long-time member of CLLA, and Retired U.S. Bankruptcy has been blessed with an exciting, challenging and intellectually stimulating career. As a Judicial Law Clerk, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief Bankruptcy Judge, Professor of Law, Practitioner at Tucker Arensberg, Arbitrator, Mediator, Author and Expert Witness, she has experienced a wide variety of legal disciplines and administrative responsibilities. Judi is a Professor in the Practice of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she teaches Bankruptcy and Advanced Bankruptcy. She is active in national and local professional organizations including the Commercial Law League of America, the American Law Institute, the American College of Bankruptcy. The American Bankruptcy institute and the American Inns of Court. Among other offices, she has served as President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and as Chair of the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Committee to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Judi has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Commercial Law League’s Lawrence P. King Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy and the American Inns of Court Bankruptcy Alliance Distinguished Service Award. Judi consults and lectures in matters involving trial strategy, evidence, procedure, contracts, bankruptcy and professional responsibility, and participates on several committees and boards dedicated to fostering legal education and improving access to justice. 

CANDICE KLINE

Candice Kline

Partner, Saul Ewing LLP, Chicago, IL

 

Candice Kline is a partner at Saul Ewing focused on bankruptcy and restructuring situations and litigation. She serves in leadership at various bar and trade associations and is a member of the CLLA’s Bankruptcy Section Executive Council and Board of Governors. Candice has an MBA and JD and began her legal career after many years in global commercial banking and business, including startups. She practices in Illinois and Ohio with a nationwide docket in complex commercial matters. Candice is a frequent speaker and writer on mass tort bankruptcies and third-party releases, including a long-running series in the Commercial Law World magazine.

MODERATOR: BEVERLY WEISS MANNE, ESQ.

Beverly Weiss Manne, Esq.

Tucker Arensberg, P.C., Pittsburgh, PA 

 

Beverly is an experienced attorney who represents secured and unsecured creditors, lessors, and buyers of assets in bankruptcy cases, non-judicial restructurings and in complex, and distressed business and commercial credit situations and commercial finance matters. Ms. Manne is licensed in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She also is an adjunct professor at University of Pittsburgh School of Law and teaches Payment Systems and Banking, and also taught Secured Transactions for many hears. From 1981 to 1986, she was an attorney with the USDA Office of General Counsel. Ms. Manne obtained her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh as well as her B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. She is a member of the Commercial Law League of America, serves on the Executive Council of its Creditors’ Rights Section and has served on the Executive Council of its Bankruptcy Section. Ms. Manne is immediate past Chair of the PBA Business Law Section, member, and ex-officio of the PBA Shale Energy Law Committee, the 2014 Uniform Voidable Transfer Act adoption task force, 2013 Insolvency Law Task Force, UCC Article 9 Revisions Adoption Task Forces in 2000 and 2010, and the Insolvency Law Task Force in 1994-1996. Ms. Manne is a founding member and ex-officio of the Judith K. Fitzgerald Bankruptcy Inn of Court. Ms. Manne frequent is a speaker, panelist, and course planner, locally and nationally on bankruptcy, mechanics lien, oil and gas and commercial issues. She is included in the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Edition and Best Lawyers in America.  

Wednesday, June 7, 2023

Decision Time: Second Circuit Allows Controversial Nonconsensual Third-Party Releases in Purdue Pharma Chapter 11 Plan

Please join our distinguished panel of lawyers and law professors as they discuss the Second Circuit’s important Purdue Pharma decision. Whether you want to learn more about the circuit’s position, consider its impact on mass tort practice and venue selection, or weigh the potential for Supreme Court review, this powerhouse panel will deliver unparalleled insights.

PRESENTERS

RALPH BRUBAKER

Ralph Brubaker is the James H.M. Sprayregen Professor of Law at the University of Illinois, where he teaches courses in bankruptcy, bankruptcy procedure, corporate reorganizations, contracts, conflict of laws (private international law), and restitution. Professor Brubaker has three degrees from the University of Illinois, including his J.D. summa cum laude and an M.B.A., and he received Bronze Tablet distinction (highest honors) and C.P.A. certification as an undergraduate. He clerked for Judge James K. Logan of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and he practiced in the bankruptcy and corporate reorganization group with the law firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey (now Squire Patton Boggs) in Cleveland, Ohio. Professor Brubaker was a member of the faculty at the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia from 1995 until 2004, when he returned to his alma mater. Professor Brubaker is the Editor-in-Chief and a contributing author for West’s Bankruptcy Law Letter, he is co-author of a bankruptcy casebook, and he has written dozens of journal articles and essays. He is particularly an expert in the complex jurisdictional and procedural facets of federal bankruptcy proceedings. Professor Brubaker has been an editorial advisor for the American Bankruptcy Law Journal, the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review, and the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal. He is a member of the American Law Institute, a Conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, and a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, for which he has been the Scholar-in-Residence. Professor Brubaker has served on the executive committee of the board of directors of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), and he was a member of the advisory committee on business enterprise sales for the ABI’s 2014 Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11.

KAREN CORDRY

Karen Cordry is the bankruptcy and special issues counsel for the National Association of
Attorneys General. She graduated with highest honors from Wayne State University Law School in 1977 and subsequently obtained an L.L.M., again with highest honors, from George Washington University in 1987. She worked for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from 1977 until February 1992; since then, she has been employed at the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG).

Since coming to NAAG, Karen has worked to assist state agencies to take a more active role in enforcing state regulatory policies and collecting financial obligations during bankruptcy proceedings. In addition to conducting multi-day seminars on “Bankruptcy and the Government Lawyer,” she has spoken at many other bankruptcy programs, and written articles on bankruptcy issues of interest to governmental entities for many publications, including several for Norton’s Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law. She also serves as an editor and contributor for the “Affairs of State” column for the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal. She maintains a network for state attorneys working on bankruptcy issues and publishes a quarterly bulletin describing important new cases. She has also represented the claims of many states in a number of cases, ranging from taxes to consumer protection to environmental protection to tobacco cases and has sat as the states’ representative on the creditors’ committee in a number of asbestos bankruptcy cases. She is currently preparing the second edition of her bankruptcy manual, “Bankruptcy Law and the Governmental Regulatory Process,” which explores the interaction between governmental enforcement actions and the Bankruptcy Code. She also leads programs for the National Attorneys General Training and Research Institute (“NAGTRI”) on state defense litigation.

MELISSA B. JACOBY

Melissa B. Jacoby is the Graham Kenan Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she teaches bankruptcy law, contract law, and commercial law. In 2021, Jacoby was appointed by Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts to assist the Federal Judicial Center on educational programming for bankruptcy judges. Jacoby’s book about the American bankruptcy system is under contract with The New Press.

Jacoby has been elected to the American Law Institute, the National Bankruptcy Conference, the American College of Bankruptcy, and the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers, and has served as the Robert M. Zinman Scholar for the American Bankruptcy Institute. She is a recipient of the Grant Gilmore Award for scholarship from the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers and the Byrd Award for teaching, among other honors.

Jacoby held judicial clerkships with the Honorable Robert E. Ginsberg of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Honorable Marjorie O. Rendell of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and was a staff attorney for the National Bankruptcy Review Commission. Before joining the faculty at UNC, she taught for four years at Temple University in Philadelphia. Jacoby graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, as well as from Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences, where she was a history major.

CANDICE KLINE
Candice Kline advises clients on bankruptcy and corporate restructuring matters and related litigation. She represents debtors, trustees, official committees, investors and creditors in bankruptcy proceedings and out-of-court workouts. Her experience includes managing cases from $10 million to $13 billion, with key roles in large, complex Chapter 11 and 7 cases. She also handles Chapter 12 cases and has experience with cross-border insolvency Chapter 15 proceedings.
 
Drawing on her past experience working in global banks and at technology start-ups, as well as her knowledge from earning an MBA, Candice relies on a combination of her strong business background and legal experience when helping companies with workout and restructuring situations.
 
Her experience includes advising on contractual clauses and termination strategies involving multi-billion-dollar contracts and bankruptcy risk in the airline, technology, and health services industries. Candice is a strong mediator and negotiator on behalf of her clients in both transactional disputes and workouts, as well as in trial and appellate work. Her experience in litigation in both state and federal courts includes cases involving real estate, fraud investigations, loan transactions, breach of fiduciary duty, contract disputes and collections.
MODERATOR: ERIC VAN HORN

Eric Van Horn is a partner in the Dallas office of Spencer Fane LLP, a national business law firm with offices throughout the country. Eric assists clients nationwide with all aspects of bankruptcy, reorganizations, negotiations, collection actions, multijurisdictional insolvencies, and corporate liquidations. His work in complex Chapter11 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases has involved representing committees of unsecured creditors and investors, debtors, trustees, secured lenders, landlords, and general unsecured creditors (including critical vendors and suppliers). He also defends clients against bankruptcy preference and fraudulent transfer (clawback) lawsuits and assists clients in bidding on and acquiring assets out of bankruptcy cases. His specific industry experience includes clients in oil and gas, manufacturing, health care, restaurant, manufacturing, retail, and technology industries.

Eric served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Leif M. Clark, retired bankruptcy judge in the Western District of Texas, San Antonio. He graduated from The University of Texas School of Law and served as a Research Assistant for Professor Jay L. Westbrook.

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Using ChatGPT and Other AI Tools to Perform Daily Work at Your Law Firm

This CLLA Zoom Discussion focused on the benefits of using AI tools such as ChatGPT to streamline daily administrative tasks at law firms. AI can be used for tasks such as drafting client emails, blogs, performing legal research and performing document reviews. By automating these tasks, lawyers and law firm owners can save time, reduce errors and increase efficiency. For example, ChatGPT can be used to draft emails, create simple documents (e.g., SOP’s, template letters, etc.) and even answer common client questions. Additionally, AI-powered document review tools can quickly and accurately review large volumes of documents, saving lawyers valuable time. After viewing this discussion, you will have a better understanding of what tools are available today and how they can be used at your law firm.

Allen Rodriguez

ONE400 founder Allen Rodriguez is a legal product development strategist who has been serving the legal industry for over 20 years. Over the course of his career, Allen has built a reputation for creating innovative legal services products as well as developing highly effective law firm business models and marketing strategies. Allen is a valued speaker on the topics of law marketing, legal services product development, and future of law issues. He has provided consulting and marketing services for companies such as McKinsey & Co., Coleman Research Group, LexisNexis, and Littler.

Prior to founding ONE400, Allen was the Director of Attorney Services at LegalZoom. While there, his work contributed to a substantial portion of overall revenue at the company and helped LegalZoom move from a provider of “do-it-yourself” legal services to a comprehensive legal solutions provider, incorporating attorney-fulfilled work across all U.S. jurisdictions. Allen’s immersion in the legal industry began running operations at the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral Service. While there, his marketing knowledge, operational developments, and leadership helped generate millions of dollars in revenue for the association.

Allen is also an adviser to legal tech startups and a board member of the Group Legal Services Association, a member of the Chicago Bar Foundation’s National Advisory Council for their Sustainable Practice of Law Initiative and a former California State Bar Task Force member on the Access Through Innovation of Legal Services (ATILS) panel. Allen Rodriguez is also a proud veteran of the United States Army.

ZOOM DISCUSSIONS

Monday, November 25, 2024

Passing the Torch: Selling, Merging or Closing Your Practice

It can take a long time to develop a collections law practice. What happens when it is time to retire or move on? Our panel will look at this issue from 3 very different perspectives. First, we have a panelist who recently sold his collection law practice, next we have an attorney who has been busy acquiring other law practices and finally we have a collection agent who gives the client’s perspective on how these things happen and how it would work best from an agency perspective. 

PANELISTS

MODERATOR: RICHARD PAYNE

Richard Payne
Payne Law, Barristers and Solicitors

Richard received a B.A. and an LL.B from Dalhousie University and was called to the Bar of the Province of Ontario in 1987. He is the Principal with Payne Law, Barristers and Solicitors. Richard practices in the area of Commercial Litigation with a primary focus on Debtor-Creditor work including collections for lawyers and other professionals. He has practiced in Collections Law extensively since he was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1987 and has represented both unsecured and secured Creditors in collection proceedings.

 

Richard is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Toronto Lawyers Association and the Commercial Law League of America. He is a former Chair of the Creditors’ Rights Section, and is currently the President Elect of the League.

ROBERT ASH

Robert Ash
Legal Dept. Manager, AMS Commercial Division, Radius Global Solutions, LLC

Robert Ash is a seasoned veteran of the collection industry; with over 20 years’ experience in Accounts Receivable Management, Consumer Collections and Commercial Debt Collections. His longstanding career with AMS began in 1997, when Robert joined the collection team.

After six years of delivering exceptional recovery results and service to AMS’ clients, Robert was promoted to Legal Department Manager. Robert’s financial expertise and strong communication skills provide a seamless transition from collections to litigation.

As a member of the Commercial Law League of America (CLLA) and active participant within the CLLA’s Eastern Region, Robert has developed and cultivated close associations with a network of collection attorneys throughout the country, ensuring AMS’ clients have the best representation to meet their legal needs. 

DAVID GAMACHE

David Gamache
Kramer & Frank, P.C.

Mr. Gamache is a Senior Attorney with the suburban St. Louis, Missouri law firm of Kramer & Frank, PC where his practice is limited to the area of Creditors’ Rights. The firm practices in the states of Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Illinois. He is licensed in both Missouri and Arkansas. Prior to his employment with Kramer & Frank PC he was a principal in the firm of Gamache & Myers, PC.

 He is a Past-President of the Commercial Law League of America, past CLLA Treasurer and Past Chair of the Creditors’ Rights Section of the Commercial Law League of America. He currently serves on the CLLA board as Recording Secretary. His firm was a founding member of the Missouri Creditors Bar Association of which he was the first President.

 He was the 2015 recipient of the Robert E Caine Leadership Award, given by Caine & Weiner and the CLLA. David is “AV Preeminent” rated through Martindale Hubbell.   

 David is a frequent speaker for many organizations including but not limited to The CLLA and the Missouri Bar Association. He has spoken on the topics of collection law, judgment recovery, creditor liability and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). He has authored during several publication years the chapter entitled “Handling Collections” for the Missouri CLE publication Creditor-Debtor Remedies. He has authored numerous articles related to FDCPA and has been quoted in a number of national publications.

David is a member of the Commercial Law League of America, the American Bar Association, Missouri Bar Association, and the Arkansas Bar. His firm are members of NCBA and is an associate member with CCA of A.

 He has also served for four years as chair of the Commercial Law League’s FDCPA Committee, and as the Chair of the Midwestern Members Association.

TIMOTHY WAN

Tim Wan
Senior Partner and CEO, Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh

Timothy Wan, Esq. is Senior Partner and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh. His areas of expertise include managing the creditor’s rights and collection law practice, serving as General Counsel to various small businesses in the local business community and spearheading practice areas of entertainment law, music law, copyright and intellectual property.

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Experts Analyze the Red River Talc Bankruptcy Venue Decision & Potential Impacts on the Bankruptcy System and Pending Legislative Reforms

The CLLA/Venue Group invites you to hear an expert panel’s analysis and opinions about the recent decision in Red River Talc not to transfer venue of the case from Texas to New Jersey. 

This unique opportunity will provide attendees with in-depth insights and discussion from leading law professors, former judges and the former Director of the United States Trustee Program. 

Professor & Retired Bankruptcy Judge Bruce Markell (Northwestern University), Professor Jay Westbrook (University of Texas), and Former USTP Director Clifford White will share their unique and thoughtful perspectives about the decision and potential broader implications of it in an engaging hour of commentary moderated by Retired United States Bankruptcy Judge Joan Feeney.

PANELISTS

MODERATOR: HON. JOAN N. FEENEY (RET.)

Hon. Joan N. Feeney (Ret.)
JAMS

Hon. Joan N. Feeney (Ret.) joined JAMS in 2019 following almost 27 years on the bench of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts and 23 years as a member of the United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the First Circuit. As a judge, Judge Feeney presided over a full range of cases, including complex commercial cases with multiple parties and interests. While on the bench, she wrote over 500 opinions in many different areas of the law. Judge Feeney now serves as a mediator, arbitrator, and neutral evaluator in all types of two-party and multi-party disputes, concentrating in bankruptcy, business, and employment law. She has developed a robust national practice as a neutral at JAMS.

BRUCE MARKELL

Bruce Markell
Professor of Bankruptcy Law and Practice, and Edward Avery Harriman Lecturer in Law
(Northwestern University)

Bruce A. Markell was appointed the Professor of Bankruptcy Law and Practice at Northwestern in 2015. From 2013 to 2015, he was the Jeffrey A. Stoops Professor of Law at Florida State University School of Law, and before that he was a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Nevada, a position he had held since 2004. After law school, he clerked for then-judge Anthony M. Kennedy on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Before taking the bench, he practiced bankruptcy and business law in Los Angeles for ten years (where he was a partner at Sidley & Austin), and was a law professor for fourteen. He is the author of numerous articles on bankruptcy and commercial law, and a co-author of four law school casebooks. He has been a visiting professor at, among other schools, Peking University School of Law in Beijing, and Harvard Law School. He contributes to Collier on Bankruptcy, and is a member of Collier ’s editorial advisory board.

He is a conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, a charter member of the International Insolvency Institute, and a member of the American Law Institute. He is a founding member of the NITA-trained faculty of the Advanced Consumer Bankruptcy Practice Institute. Professor Markell also consults with the International Monetary Fund on insolvency-related issues (having been part of the IMF’s missions to Ireland, Bosnia, Belarus, Montenegro, Serbia, Georgia, and Greece), and was the primary drafter of Kosovo’s current bankruptcy law. He is an associate editor of the Bankruptcy Law Letter, and regularly contributes articles to that publication. In 2022, Professor Markell received the Lawrence P. King Award from the Commercial Law League of America.

JAY WESTBROOK

Jay Westbrook
Benno C. Schmidt Chair of Business Law
Professor
(University of Texas)

Jay Westbrook is one of the nation’s most distinguished scholars in the field of bankruptcy, leading scholarship in both empirical research and international/comparative studies. He teaches and writes in commercial law and international business litigation. Professor Westbrook also serves as a consultant to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. He is a member of the American Law Institute, the National Bankruptcy Conference, and the American College of Bankruptcy. He has twice been named the Outstanding Teacher at Texas Law and received the “Larry King Award” from the Commercial Law League.

CLIFFORD J, WHITE III

Clifford J. White III
Former USTP Director

Clifford J. White III is the former head of the Justice Department’s United States Trustee Program (USTP), known as the “watchdog” of the bankruptcy system. Before retiring in 2022, Cliff served as the USTP’s Director for 17 years. During his tenure, the USTP implemented key provisions of the comprehensive Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Prevention Act of 2005 and the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019. He also developed new enforcement strategies to address creditor violations of bankruptcy law and to uphold chapter 11 requirements limiting executive bonuses, policing professional conflicts of interest and fees, and scrutinizing other controversial practices. 

 

During his tenure, the USTP objected to non-consensual third-party releases, including in the Purdue Pharma case which was decided by the Supreme Court in favor of the government’s position. Cliff received two Presidential Rank Awards, the highest awards given to career government senior executives, from President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. Cliff is currently employed by a financial services and technology firm with clients in the banking and lending industry. He is a frequent commentator on bankruptcy issues before professional associations and in the news media.

Monday, september 30, 2024

Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act 

Signed into Law in California

Since this bill has been signed into law, this discussion will cover the expansion of the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and how it may affect your organization or agency.

PANELISTS

MODERATOR: RICHARD PAYNE

Richard Payne
Payne Law, Barristers and Solicitors

Richard received a B.A. and an LL.B from Dalhousie University and was called to the Bar of the Province of Ontario in 1987. He is the Principal with Payne Law, Barristers and Solicitors. Richard practices in the area of Commercial Litigation with a primary focus on Debtor-Creditor work including collections for lawyers and other professionals. He has practiced in Collections Law extensively since he was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1987 and has represented both unsecured and secured Creditors in collection proceedings.

 

Richard is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Toronto Lawyers Association and the Commercial Law League of America. He is a former Chair of the Creditors’ Rights Section, and is currently the President Elect of the League.

WANDA BORGES

Wanda Borges
Borges and Associates, LLC

For more than forty years, Ms. Borges has concentrated her law practice on commercial litigation and creditors’ rights in bankruptcy matters, representing corporate clients and creditors’ committees throughout the United States in Chapter 11 proceedings, out of court settlements, commercial transactions, and preference litigation.

She is a member and Past President of the Commercial Law League of America (CLLA) and has been an Attorney Member of its National Board of Governors, a Chair of the Bankruptcy Section and Creditors’ Rights Section as well as President of the Commercial Law League Fund for Public Education. She is a member of several bar associations, including the American Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers. Ms. Borges serves on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Commercial Collectors (IACC), of which her firm is an associate member.

She is an internationally recognized lecturer and author on various legal topics which impact trade creditors. She is the Vice-Chair of the Board of Associate Editors for the Commercial Law League of America’s “Commercial Law World” magazine and regularly contributes articles to that magazine as well as her column “Heard and Overheard.” Her treatise Hidden Liens: Who is Entitled to What? was published in the Fall, 1998 Edition of the Commercial Law Journal. She has authored Antitrust, Restraint of Trade and Unfair Competition: Myth Versus Reality, published by the NACM and most recently updated in 2017. Ms. Borges is the lead author and Editor-in-Chief of Enforcing Judgments and Collecting Debts in New York, a treatise updated annually and published by Thomson West Publishing Company. She routinely publishes articles for the National Association of Credit Management “Business Credit” magazine and has published articles for its “Fraud Prevention News.”

Upon the passage of the BAPCPA in 2005, Ms. Borges prepared and presents educational programs on this new legislation and co-authored The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 – An Overhaul of U.S. Bankruptcy Law, published by the NACM. Her article titled “Uniform Voidable Transactions Act” was published in Insolvency Intelligence, a law journal published by Thomson West in the UK. Ms. Borges has been included in the New York Super Lawyers – Metro Edition list (Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights) each year since 2009. In November 2010, Ms. Borges received the “Robert E. Caine Award for Leadership” from the Commercial Law League of America and in 2023 she was the recipient of the Warren Pinchuck Volunteer Service Award. She is listed in Who’s Who in America.

  

JOHN PUCIN

John Pucin
Caine & Weiner

John is a creditor’s rights attorney with over 20 years of experience managing multiple priorities as a former partner at a large law firm.

This includes negotiation, management of personnel, litigation, team leadership, and marketing. He understands how to execute strategic objectives and has a strong passion for consistent deliverance of client satisfaction. A unique combination of courtroom competency and ability to manage and help grow an organization provides John the necessary experience to coordinate, assess, and lead our Legal Department and affiliated law firm.

John is admitted to the State Bars in Illinois and Ohio along with the United States District Courts of Northern Illinois, Northern Ohio and Southern Ohio. He is currently an active member of the Commercial Law League of America, Illinois Creditors Bar Association, and the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals.

He graduated in 1988 from Xavier University, Cincinnati OH with a B.S.B.A./Finance and in 1992 with a Juris Doctor degree from the Capital University Law School, Columbus Ohio.  

COLIN WINKLER

Colin Winkler
ACA International

Colin Winkler, currently senior counsel for ACA International—the accounts-receivable management industry’s trade association—has a diverse set of legal and professional expertise. He has worked as a financial crimes consultant with Wells Fargo Bank, where he investigated potential money laundering in the context of the Venezuelan currency crisis in 2019; an attorney-editor with Thomson Reuters’ statutes editorial team, where he led early research on the California Consumer Privacy Act; a paralegal supervisor and business operations manager for CACI International at the U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division, where he worked hand-in-hand with DOJ attorneys to enforce civil tax liabilities through litigation in federal courts; and a collections and creditors’ rights attorney in solo practice and at a small firm in northern Virginia.

Tuesday, september 25, 2024

Getting Good Help:
Employees, Contractors, Offshoring and Artificial Intelligence

Traditionally, the answer to an increase in business was to add more employees. These days with tighter margins and cost-conscious clients, firms are under greater pressure to consider other options in order to remain competitive. Our panel will discuss their own experiences with employees, technology and with alternative service providers as well as industry trends. Attendees will be encouraged to submit questions and comments for consideration and discussion by the panel.

PANELISTS

MODERATOR: RICHARD PAYNE

Richard Payne
Payne Law, Barristers and Solicitors

Richard received a B.A. and an LL.B from Dalhousie University and was called to the Bar of the Province of Ontario in 1987. He is the Principal with Payne Law, Barristers and Solicitors. Richard practices in the area of Commercial Litigation with a primary focus on Debtor-Creditor work including collections for lawyers and other professionals. He has practiced in Collections Law extensively since he was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1987 and has represented both unsecured and secured Creditors in collection proceedings.

 

Richard is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Toronto Lawyers Association and the Commercial Law League of America. He is a former Chair of the Creditors’ Rights Section, and is currently the President Elect of the League.

LORI J. FRANK

Lori J. Frank
Markoff Law Michigan Office

Lori J. Frank is the managing attorney for Markoff Law’s Michigan office, is the immediate past president of the Michigan Creditors Bar Association, Chair of the Creditors Rights Section and is a past board member for the Commercial Law League of America, has lobbied in Congress and in Lansing. She is an active member of the Michigan State Bar and is the proud dog mom of Big Popi & Little Khalessi. Lori received her undergraduate degree from Boston University and law degree from Detroit College of Law now known as Michigan State University College of Law.

NEERAJ MENDIRATTA

Neeraj Mendiratta
President, Knova One, Inc.

Neeraj established KnovaOne in 2012 with the aim of helping law firms in the Collections and Default industry to improve their processes and performance, provide visibility into their operations, and provide staffing support for back-office and administrative tasks. KnovaOne established its India operations in Pune, India along with IT development center (ARMGuard Solutions). KnovaOne was acquired by Data Search BY, Inc in April 2024.

KnovaOne provides operational support to its clients that helps them balance workload and focus internal resources on more complex or revenue generating tasks. KnovaOne services help clients save costs, increase production, reduce turnaround time and effectively manage workload without HR challenges. The clients include Default & Collections Law Firms, Mortgage Servicers, Debt Buyers, Collection Networks, Data Providers, and Process Servers.

ARMGuard Solutions has been helping clients automate their processes, build customized applications and improve productivity. It has also built a compliance platform, Audit Information Management (AIM), that allows organizations to not only manage internal compliance, but also audit their vendors.

Before starting his own businesses, Neeraj was Head of Default for Ocwen. Neeraj briefly served as the Head of Attorney Network at NCO Financial in 2011. Prior to this, he donned several hats at Capital One managing analytics, first-party and third-party agencies, and the legal collections network. In his various roles, Neeraj has built complex analytical models, developed risk and operation strategies, and managed vendor operations.

Neeraj has Ph.D. from Virginia Tech, Blacksburg (USA), and a B.Tech (Honors) from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (India).

Neeraj is a member of several professional organizations in Collections and Default industry, and actively participates in CLLA, NCBA, RMAi, ALFN, USFN, MBA, Five-Star, and HFMA.

TIMOTHY WAN, ESQ.

Timothy Wan, Esq.
Senior Partner and CEO, Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh

Timothy Wan, Esq. is Senior Partner and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh. His areas of expertise include managing the creditor’s rights and collection law practice, serving as General Counsel to various small businesses in the local business community and spearheading practice areas of entertainment law, music law, copyright and intellectual property.

Thursday, June 27, 2024

Purdue Pharma, The Decision and What Comes Next

A CLLA panel discusses the Supreme Court’s Purdue Pharma decision and its implications for Chapter 11 practice.

The Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in the Purdue Pharma Chapter 11 case. The issue is whether nonconsensual third-party releases – an essential tool in complex mass tort cases – is authorized under the Bankruptcy Code. Third-party releases appear in some way in most Chapter 11 cases either directly or through other clauses such as exculpation protecting professionals and others who work on the case. These releases are then enforced through companion injunction provisions.

The Supreme Court’s decision could implicate asbestos-related cases, for which third-party releases and related injunctions are permitted under the Bankruptcy Code. Section 524(g) is viewed as the precursor to newer mass tort situations involving abuse and medical claims. Related, many plans include “consensual” third-party releases as the default if creditors fail to opt-out of the releases. This practice and what constitutes consent has also attracted controversy.

PANELISTS

MELISSA B. JACOBY

Melissa B. Jacoby
Graham Kenan Professor of Law
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Melissa B. Jacoby is the Graham Kenan Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of Unjust Debts: How our Bankruptcy System Makes America More Unequal, which Publishers Weekly described as a “startling debut” and an “eye-opening look at the laws that undergird American inequality.” Jacoby testified on mass tort bankruptcy before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2023 and just published an essay on that topic in the New York Times. She will be a visiting professor at Harvard Law School in Fall 2024.

CANDICE KLINE

Candice Kline
Partner, Saul Ewing LLP, Chicago, IL

Candice Kline is a partner at Saul Ewing focused on bankruptcy and restructuring situations and litigation. She serves in leadership at various bar and trade associations and is a member of the CLLA’s Bankruptcy Section Executive Council and Board of Governors. Candice has an MBA and JD and began her legal career after many years in global commercial banking and business, including startups. She practices in Illinois and Ohio with a nationwide docket in complex commercial matters. Candice is a frequent speaker and writer on mass tort bankruptcies and third-party releases, including a long-running series in the Commercial Law World magazine.

DAVID SKEEL

David Skeel
Samuel Arsht Professor
University of Pennsylvania Law School

David Skeel is the S. Samuel Arsht Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He is author of True Paradox: How Christianity Makes Sense of Our Complex World (InterVarsity, 2014); The New Financial Deal: Understanding the Dodd-Frank Act and its (Unintended) Consequences (Wiley, 2011); Icarus in the Boardroom: The Fundamental Flaws in Corporate America and Where They Came From (Oxford, 2005); Debt’s Dominion: A History of Bankruptcy Law in America (Princeton, 2001); and numerous articles on bankruptcy and financial distress, corporate law, Christianity and law, law and literature, and other topics. His commentary has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and elsewhere. Since August 2016, he has served on the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, which he currently chairs (since October 2020).

MODERATOR: HON. JUDITH K. FITZGERALD (Ret.)

Hon. Judith K. Fitzgerald (Ret.)
Tucker Arensberg, Pittsburgh, PA 

Hon. Judith K. Fitzgerald (Ret.) ia a long-time member of CLLA, and a Retired U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, has been blessed with an exciting, challenging and intellectually stimulating career. As a Judicial Law Clerk, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief Bankruptcy Judge, Professor of Law, Practitioner at Tucker Arensberg, Arbitrator, Mediator, Author and Expert Witness, she has experienced a wide variety of legal disciplines and administrative responsibilities. Judi is a Professor in the Practice of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she teaches Bankruptcy and Advanced Bankruptcy. She is active in national and local professional organizations including the Commercial Law League of America, the American Law Institute, the American College of Bankruptcy. The American Bankruptcy institute and the American Inns of Court. Among other offices, she has served as President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and as Chair of the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Committee to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Judi has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Commercial Law League’s Lawrence P. King Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy and the American Inns of Court Bankruptcy Alliance Distinguished Service Award. Judi consults and lectures in matters involving trial strategy, evidence, procedure, contracts, bankruptcy and professional responsibility, and participates on several committees and boards dedicated to fostering legal education and improving access to justice.

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Bartenwerfer v. Buckley:
What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

When is an “innocent” non-debtor partner on the hook for a co-debtor’s fraudulent actions.

The recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in Bartenwerfer v. Buckley raised the question of when a debtor might be on the hook for the fraudulent conduct of her partner. Turning to section 523(a) of the Bankruptcy Code, which provides certain exceptions to the dischargeability of debt, including fraud, the Supreme Court held that an innocent business partner can be held liable for her business partner’s fraud regardless of her own culpability or knowledge of such fraud. In its unanimous decision, the Supreme Court determined that the debt incurred by the fraud of another was not dischargeable and must be paid by the debtor. Our panelists will discuss the impact of this unanimous decision on both business partners and debtors, considering how creditors can use Bartenwerfer as a powerful weapon against the discharge of fraudulently-obtained debt and how debtors might attempt to defend themselves against such a challenge to discharge.

PANELISTS

ERIC LANGSTON

Eric Langston
Aegis Law, Cedar Rapids, IA 

Eric Langston is a highly skilled attorney based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who chairs the Bankruptcy and Restructuring Practice Group at his law firm. Prior to starting his solo practice, Eric worked at the largest law firm in the Eastern Iowa region and, while in Chicago, with the restructuring group of a global law firm.

With over a decade of experience in business law, Eric has extensive expertise in complex commercial real estate transactions, corporate governance, and banking and finance law. His experience includes negotiating large commercial transactions, such as a $40 million asset-based loan facility on behalf of a borrower, negotiating a private equity investor’s investment of $75 million as debt, and handling the disposition or acquisition of distressed assets.

In bankruptcy and restructuring, Eric has represented a variety of stakeholders, including debtors, unsecured creditors’ committees, liquidating trustees, and statutory equity committees, in matters such as fraudulent conveyance actions and bankruptcy motion practice. Eric’s experience in this area is highly sought after, and he is recognized as a leading bankruptcy and restructuring attorney in Iowa.

Eric is also a passionate advocate for pro bono impact litigation. He has partnered with the ACLU to successfully challenge the constitutionality of a policy of the Michigan Secretary of State that made it impossible or unduly burdensome for transgender individuals to change the gender marker on their driver’s licenses. Eric has also challenged the constitutionality of the Louisiana Department of Corrections’ denial of auxiliary aids or services to hearing-impaired probationers and parolees and represented an LGBT client seeking asylum from Kyrgyzstan. Eric’s dedication to pro bono work has made him a respected member of his community.

Before becoming a lawyer, Eric worked as a data scientist in the higher education industry for seven years. The skills he developed during this time have proven invaluable in his legal practice, particularly in representing clients in complex real estate transactions and bankruptcy proceedings. Eric is licensed to practice law in Colorado, Iowa, and Illinois and is also a Notary Public in Iowa.

In his free time, Eric enjoys rock climbing, hiking, and playing tennis. He has a strong interest in astrophysics and space travel, quantum computing, generalized artificial intelligence, and abstract mathematics. Eric has a motorcycle endorsement on his driver’s license and enjoys riding sport-bikes.

Eric is a graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, where he focused his studies on tax law. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Knox College. Eric is a member of local and state bar associations and is committed to the civil justice movement. He regularly volunteers for efforts surrounding community enhancement, such as Iowa Legal Aid and other partners to deliver legal assistance via Linn County’s Expungement and Employment Barriers Resource Clinic. Eric also held a pro bono estate planning workshop for people living with HIV to prepare and execute wills and powers of attorney for healthcare and property.

MARIBETH THOMAS

Maribeth Thomas
Tucker Arensberg, Pittsburgh, PA 

Maribeth Thomas focuses her practice primarily on Bankruptcy, Insolvency, and Creditors’ Rights. She proficiently navigates the intersection of bankruptcy law with state law. Knowledge of the system and the ability to listen and understand the issues that clients face, attention to detail, communication, and problem-solving skills are just a few of Maribeth’s greatest strengths. Maribeth has a comprehensive understanding of all bankruptcy aspects including collections, foreclosures, representation in bankruptcy cases, and debtor’s work. When clients are dealing with difficult situations, Maribeth provides counsel and offers problem-solving solutions and then works to come up with a collaborative positive result.

Maribeth’s professional experience includes handling litigation and bankruptcy counsel for financial institutions, mortgage servicers, homeowners associations, and automotive financing companies. She also has experience with collections litigation and collection of money judgements for both individuals and commercial clients. In addition, she has represented multiemployer trust funds with issues related to withdrawal liability and transactions to “evade or avoid” withdrawal liability, as well as controlled group liability along with multiemployer trust funds in contributing employers’ bankruptcy proceedings nationwide to assert and protect the funds’ interests as creditors.

Prior to joining Tucker Arensberg, P.C., Maribeth was a judicial law clerk for The Honorable Gregory L. Taddonio and The Honorable Judith K. Fitzgerald (ret.) in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. This valuable experience allows Maribeth to understand the procedures and nuances of the judges and the court. She has an eye toward knowing what the court wants. In addition to her federal clerkships, Maribeth worked for a boutique creditors’ rights law firm in Pittsburgh. She also completed judicial clerkships with the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania and the Court of Common Pleas of Lawrence County.

Maribeth earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

MODERATOR: BEVERLY WEISS MANNE, ESQ.

Beverly Weiss Manne, Esq.
Tucker Arensberg, P.C., Pittsburgh, PA 

Beverly Weiss Manne, Esq. is a shareholder, and was previously chairperson, of the Insolvency and Creditors’ Rights Department of the law firm of Tucker Arensberg, P.C. in Pittsburgh. Ms. Manne is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Her practice includes complex bankruptcies and reorganizations, creditors’ rights, commercial loan originations, restructuring and liquidations, receiverships, and commercial lending/leasing workouts. Beverly also is an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law where she teaches Commercial Paper and Banking (Payment Systems) and has taught Secured Transactions. Ms. Manne is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, a member of the ABA, PBA and Allegheny County Bar Association, International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation, Commercial Law League (“CLLA”), American Bankruptcy Institute, and a past Chair of the ACBA Bankruptcy and Commercial Law Section. She is the immediate past Chair of the PBA Business Law Section Council, co-chair of the Insolvency Law Modernization Task Force and the UCC Chapter 12 Adoption Task Force, and BLS’ representative in PBA’s House of Delegates. Ms. Manne is a member of the CLLA Education and Bankruptcy Executive Committee and has served on Western District Bankruptcy Court Chapter 11 Subchapter V Small Business procedures committees as well as the Complex Chapter 11 Procedures committee. Ms. Manne received her B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and her law degree from University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She is a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer in Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights Category for 2006 through the present, and; has been selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2007 through the present in the Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law category.

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

The New Federal Corporate Transparency Act

What you need to know to protect yourself, your business, and your clients.

If you are an owner of a corporation and/or you form corporations, you should NOT miss this discussion. Jason Webb will review the new Federal Corporate Transparency Act, effective on January 1, 2024, and how it will affect you and your clients.

SPEAKER

Jason Webb, Davis Miles McGuire Gardner, Tempe, AZ

Jason earned his Juris Doctorate from the James E. Rogers School of Law at the University of Arizona where he served as the Chief Articles Manager for the Arizona Law Journal of Emerging Technologies, worked in the school’s Immigration Law Clinic, and completed various internships in both immigration law and personal injury. Prior to law school, Jason attended Arizona State University where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science near the top of his class, graduating summa cum laude.

Jason Webb practices in the firm’s transactional law department and works specifically with companies and LLCs and “Beneficial Owners” in complying with the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).

In his free time, Jason enjoys spending time with his wife and their two dogs, golfing, and supporting the many professional and collegiate sports teams around the Valley.

Monday, September 18, 2023

We Are Addicted to Purdue Pharma; You Should Be Too!

Now that the US Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal filed by the US Trustee Program in Purdue Pharma bankruptcy, speculation is rife as to what decision will follow and how it will affect the use of nonconsensual third-party releases in mass tort bankruptcy cases. Our panelists hold widely differing views as to the real economic impact of nonconsensual third-party releases and whether the Court’s decision will assure benefit or harm to mass tort victims and to the bankruptcy system overall.

PANELISTS

ADAM J. LEVITIN

Adam J. Levitin
Anne Fleming Research Professor & Professor of Law
Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC

Professor Levitin specializes in bankruptcy, commercial law, and financial regulation. His scholarship has won numerous awards, including the American Law Institute’s Young Scholar’s Medal, in recognition of his work’s potential to influence improvements in law.

Before joining Georgetown faculty, Professor Levitin practiced in the Business Finance & Restructuring Department of Weil, Gotshal, & Manges, LLP and served as law clerk to the Honorable Jane R. Roth on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Professor Levitin has also previously served as the Bruce W. Nichols Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, as the Robert Zinman Scholar in Residence at the American Bankruptcy Institute, as Special Counsel to the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Consumer Advisory Board.

WILLIAM (BILLY) ORGANEK

William (Billy) Organek

Assistant Professor of Law, Zicklin School of Business

Baruch College, New York, NY

William Organek is an Assistant Professor of Law at the Zicklin School of Business, and is the Managing Editor of the Harvard Law School Bankruptcy Roundtable. His research investigates bankruptcy’s operation as a system of public law regulation and private law ordering. His scholarship develops case studies with a blend of empirical analysis and insights from law and economics. His work also draws on his nearly ten years of legal practice and real estate business experience. His articles have been or are forthcoming in major law reviews and he has been featured on several podcasts of legal scholarship.

Prior to joining the Zicklin faculty, William was a Program Fellow with the Bankruptcy Project at Harvard Law School. Before that, he practiced law in the New York offices of two major international law firms, and he clerked for Judge Michael Wiles on the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Earlier in his career, he started a real estate business in China and lived in Shanghai for more than two years. He holds a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and a B.A. in Economics-Philosophy from Columbia University.

HON. JUDITH K. FITZGERALD (RET.)

Hon. Judith K. Fitzgerald (Ret.)

Tucker Arensberg, P.C., Pittsburgh, PA

 

A long-time member of CLLA, and Retired U.S. Bankruptcy has been blessed with an exciting, challenging and intellectually stimulating career. As a Judicial Law Clerk, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief Bankruptcy Judge, Professor of Law, Practitioner at Tucker Arensberg, Arbitrator, Mediator, Author and Expert Witness, she has experienced a wide variety of legal disciplines and administrative responsibilities. Judi is a Professor in the Practice of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she teaches Bankruptcy and Advanced Bankruptcy. She is active in national and local professional organizations including the Commercial Law League of America, the American Law Institute, the American College of Bankruptcy. The American Bankruptcy institute and the American Inns of Court. Among other offices, she has served as President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and as Chair of the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Committee to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Judi has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Commercial Law League’s Lawrence P. King Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy and the American Inns of Court Bankruptcy Alliance Distinguished Service Award. Judi consults and lectures in matters involving trial strategy, evidence, procedure, contracts, bankruptcy and professional responsibility, and participates on several committees and boards dedicated to fostering legal education and improving access to justice.

CANDICE KLINE

Candice Kline

Partner, Saul Ewing LLP, Chicago, IL

 

Candice Kline is a partner at Saul Ewing focused on bankruptcy and restructuring situations and litigation. She serves in leadership at various bar and trade associations and is a member of the CLLA’s Bankruptcy Section Executive Council and Board of Governors. Candice has an MBA and JD and began her legal career after many years in global commercial banking and business, including startups. She practices in Illinois and Ohio with a nationwide docket in complex commercial matters. Candice is a frequent speaker and writer on mass tort bankruptcies and third-party releases, including a long-running series in the Commercial Law World magazine.

MODERATOR: BEVERLY WEISS MANNE, ESQ.

Beverly Weiss Manne, Esq.

Tucker Arensberg, P.C., Pittsburgh, PA 

 

Beverly is an experienced attorney who represents secured and unsecured creditors, lessors, and buyers of assets in bankruptcy cases, non-judicial restructurings and in complex, and distressed business and commercial credit situations and commercial finance matters. Ms. Manne is licensed in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She also is an adjunct professor at University of Pittsburgh School of Law and teaches Payment Systems and Banking, and also taught Secured Transactions for many hears. From 1981 to 1986, she was an attorney with the USDA Office of General Counsel. Ms. Manne obtained her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh as well as her B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. She is a member of the Commercial Law League of America, serves on the Executive Council of its Creditors’ Rights Section and has served on the Executive Council of its Bankruptcy Section. Ms. Manne is immediate past Chair of the PBA Business Law Section, member, and ex-officio of the PBA Shale Energy Law Committee, the 2014 Uniform Voidable Transfer Act adoption task force, 2013 Insolvency Law Task Force, UCC Article 9 Revisions Adoption Task Forces in 2000 and 2010, and the Insolvency Law Task Force in 1994-1996. Ms. Manne is a founding member and ex-officio of the Judith K. Fitzgerald Bankruptcy Inn of Court. Ms. Manne frequent is a speaker, panelist, and course planner, locally and nationally on bankruptcy, mechanics lien, oil and gas and commercial issues. She is included in the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Edition and Best Lawyers in America.

Wednesday, June 7, 2023

Decision Time: Second Circuit Allows Controversial Nonconsensual Third-Party Releases in Purdue Pharma Chapter 11 Plan

Please join our distinguished panel of lawyers and law professors as they discuss the Second Circuit’s important Purdue Pharma decision. Whether you want to learn more about the circuit’s position, consider its impact on mass tort practice and venue selection, or weigh the potential for Supreme Court review, this powerhouse panel will deliver unparalleled insights.

PRESENTERS

RALPH BRUBAKER

Ralph Brubaker is the James H.M. Sprayregen Professor of Law at the University of Illinois, where he teaches courses in bankruptcy, bankruptcy procedure, corporate reorganizations, contracts, conflict of laws (private international law), and restitution. Professor Brubaker has three degrees from the University of Illinois, including his J.D. summa cum laude and an M.B.A., and he received Bronze Tablet distinction (highest honors) and C.P.A. certification as an undergraduate. He clerked for Judge James K. Logan of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and he practiced in the bankruptcy and corporate reorganization group with the law firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey (now Squire Patton Boggs) in Cleveland, Ohio. Professor Brubaker was a member of the faculty at the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia from 1995 until 2004, when he returned to his alma mater. Professor Brubaker is the Editor-in-Chief and a contributing author for West’s Bankruptcy Law Letter, he is co-author of a bankruptcy casebook, and he has written dozens of journal articles and essays. He is particularly an expert in the complex jurisdictional and procedural facets of federal bankruptcy proceedings. Professor Brubaker has been an editorial advisor for the American Bankruptcy Law Journal, the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review, and the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal. He is a member of the American Law Institute, a Conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, and a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, for which he has been the Scholar-in-Residence. Professor Brubaker has served on the executive committee of the board of directors of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), and he was a member of the advisory committee on business enterprise sales for the ABI’s 2014 Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11.

KAREN CORDRY

Karen Cordry is the bankruptcy and special issues counsel for the National Association of
Attorneys General. She graduated with highest honors from Wayne State University Law School in 1977 and subsequently obtained an L.L.M., again with highest honors, from George Washington University in 1987. She worked for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from 1977 until February 1992; since then, she has been employed at the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG).

Since coming to NAAG, Karen has worked to assist state agencies to take a more active role in enforcing state regulatory policies and collecting financial obligations during bankruptcy proceedings. In addition to conducting multi-day seminars on “Bankruptcy and the Government Lawyer,” she has spoken at many other bankruptcy programs, and written articles on bankruptcy issues of interest to governmental entities for many publications, including several for Norton’s Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law. She also serves as an editor and contributor for the “Affairs of State” column for the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal. She maintains a network for state attorneys working on bankruptcy issues and publishes a quarterly bulletin describing important new cases. She has also represented the claims of many states in a number of cases, ranging from taxes to consumer protection to environmental protection to tobacco cases and has sat as the states’ representative on the creditors’ committee in a number of asbestos bankruptcy cases. She is currently preparing the second edition of her bankruptcy manual, “Bankruptcy Law and the Governmental Regulatory Process,” which explores the interaction between governmental enforcement actions and the Bankruptcy Code. She also leads programs for the National Attorneys General Training and Research Institute (“NAGTRI”) on state defense litigation.

MELISSA B. JACOBY

Melissa B. Jacoby is the Graham Kenan Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she teaches bankruptcy law, contract law, and commercial law. In 2021, Jacoby was appointed by Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts to assist the Federal Judicial Center on educational programming for bankruptcy judges. Jacoby’s book about the American bankruptcy system is under contract with The New Press.

Jacoby has been elected to the American Law Institute, the National Bankruptcy Conference, the American College of Bankruptcy, and the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers, and has served as the Robert M. Zinman Scholar for the American Bankruptcy Institute. She is a recipient of the Grant Gilmore Award for scholarship from the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers and the Byrd Award for teaching, among other honors.

Jacoby held judicial clerkships with the Honorable Robert E. Ginsberg of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Honorable Marjorie O. Rendell of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and was a staff attorney for the National Bankruptcy Review Commission. Before joining the faculty at UNC, she taught for four years at Temple University in Philadelphia. Jacoby graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, as well as from Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences, where she was a history major.

CANDICE KLINE
Candice Kline advises clients on bankruptcy and corporate restructuring matters and related litigation. She represents debtors, trustees, official committees, investors and creditors in bankruptcy proceedings and out-of-court workouts. Her experience includes managing cases from $10 million to $13 billion, with key roles in large, complex Chapter 11 and 7 cases. She also handles Chapter 12 cases and has experience with cross-border insolvency Chapter 15 proceedings.
 
Drawing on her past experience working in global banks and at technology start-ups, as well as her knowledge from earning an MBA, Candice relies on a combination of her strong business background and legal experience when helping companies with workout and restructuring situations.
 
Her experience includes advising on contractual clauses and termination strategies involving multi-billion-dollar contracts and bankruptcy risk in the airline, technology, and health services industries. Candice is a strong mediator and negotiator on behalf of her clients in both transactional disputes and workouts, as well as in trial and appellate work. Her experience in litigation in both state and federal courts includes cases involving real estate, fraud investigations, loan transactions, breach of fiduciary duty, contract disputes and collections.
MODERATOR: ERIC VAN HORN

Eric Van Horn is a partner in the Dallas office of Spencer Fane LLP, a national business law firm with offices throughout the country. Eric assists clients nationwide with all aspects of bankruptcy, reorganizations, negotiations, collection actions, multijurisdictional insolvencies, and corporate liquidations. His work in complex Chapter11 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases has involved representing committees of unsecured creditors and investors, debtors, trustees, secured lenders, landlords, and general unsecured creditors (including critical vendors and suppliers). He also defends clients against bankruptcy preference and fraudulent transfer (clawback) lawsuits and assists clients in bidding on and acquiring assets out of bankruptcy cases. His specific industry experience includes clients in oil and gas, manufacturing, health care, restaurant, manufacturing, retail, and technology industries.

Eric served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Leif M. Clark, retired bankruptcy judge in the Western District of Texas, San Antonio. He graduated from The University of Texas School of Law and served as a Research Assistant for Professor Jay L. Westbrook.

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Using ChatGPT and Other AI Tools to Perform Daily Work at Your Law Firm

This CLLA Zoom Discussion focused on the benefits of using AI tools such as ChatGPT to streamline daily administrative tasks at law firms. AI can be used for tasks such as drafting client emails, blogs, performing legal research and performing document reviews. By automating these tasks, lawyers and law firm owners can save time, reduce errors and increase efficiency. For example, ChatGPT can be used to draft emails, create simple documents (e.g., SOP’s, template letters, etc.) and even answer common client questions. Additionally, AI-powered document review tools can quickly and accurately review large volumes of documents, saving lawyers valuable time. After viewing this discussion, you will have a better understanding of what tools are available today and how they can be used at your law firm.

ALLEN RODRIGUEZ

ONE400 founder Allen Rodriguez is a legal product development strategist who has been serving the legal industry for over 20 years. Over the course of his career, Allen has built a reputation for creating innovative legal services products as well as developing highly effective law firm business models and marketing strategies. Allen is a valued speaker on the topics of law marketing, legal services product development, and future of law issues. He has provided consulting and marketing services for companies such as McKinsey & Co., Coleman Research Group, LexisNexis, and Littler.

Prior to founding ONE400, Allen was the Director of Attorney Services at LegalZoom. While there, his work contributed to a substantial portion of overall revenue at the company and helped LegalZoom move from a provider of “do-it-yourself” legal services to a comprehensive legal solutions provider, incorporating attorney-fulfilled work across all U.S. jurisdictions. Allen’s immersion in the legal industry began running operations at the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral Service. While there, his marketing knowledge, operational developments, and leadership helped generate millions of dollars in revenue for the association.

Allen is also an adviser to legal tech startups and a board member of the Group Legal Services Association, a member of the Chicago Bar Foundation’s National Advisory Council for their Sustainable Practice of Law Initiative and a former California State Bar Task Force member on the Access Through Innovation of Legal Services (ATILS) panel. Allen Rodriguez is also a proud veteran of the United States Army.

PRESENTATIONS

Thursday, November 9, 2023

Cybersecurity, Privacy and Data Protection

In a world where the hybrid of in-office work and remote work from home is the “new” normal, law firms need to build people-centric cybersecurity strategies to protect client and law office electronic data and communication. At least 40 states have adopted a Duty of Technology Competence requirement for lawyers. Florida and North Carolina require some technology training. New York is the first state to mandate Cybersecurity, Privacy and Data Protection education. This program has been designed to enable lawyers to attain an understanding of:

  • fundamental issues of securely sending, receiving, and storing client and law office electronic data and communication
  • cybersecurity features of various technologies to protect client and law office electronic data and communication
  • the threats of cyberattacks and steps to take to prevent those attacks and inadvertent disclosure of confidential client and law office information
  • security measures to protect client and law office electronic data and communication when working remotely or when using personal or business mobile devices

The program will include a discussion of Cyber Incident Response Planning, Law Office Policies and Protocols and related laws and will offer real-life examples and practical steps which may be taken to protect electronic data and thwart cyber-crime.

Wanda Borges, Esq., Borges & Associates, LLC

Wanda Borges, Borges & Associates, LLC For more than forty years, Ms. Borges has concentrated her law practice on commercial litigation and creditors’ rights in bankruptcy matters, representing corporate clients and creditors’ committees throughout the United States in Chapter 11 proceedings, out of court settlements, commercial transactions, and preference litigation. She is a member and Past President of the Commercial Law League of America and has been an Attorney Member of its National Board of Governors, a Chair of the Bankruptcy Section and Creditors’ Rights Section as well as President of the Commercial Law League Fund for Public Education. She is a member of several bar associations, including the American Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers. Ms. Borges serves on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Commercial Collectors, of which her firm is an associate member. She is an internationally recognized lecturer and author on various legal topics which impact trade creditors. She is the Vice-Chair of the Board of Associate Editors for the Commercial Law League of America’s “Commercial Law World” magazine and regularly contributes articles to that magazine as well as her column “Heard and Overheard.” Her treatise Hidden Liens: Who is Entitled to What? was published in the Fall, 1998 Edition of the Commercial Law Journal. She has authored Antitrust, Restraint of Trade and Unfair Competition: Myth Versus Reality, published by the NACM and most recently updated in 2017. Ms. Borges is the lead author and Editor-in-Chief of Enforcing Judgments and Collecting Debts in New York, a treatise updated annually and published by Thomson West Publishing Company. She routinely publishes articles for the National Association of Credit Management “Business Credit” magazine and has published articles for its “Fraud Prevention News.” Upon the passage of the BAPCPA in 2005, Ms. Borges prepared and presents educational programs on this new legislation and co-authored The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 – An Overhaul of U.S. Bankruptcy Law, published by the NACM. Her article titled “Uniform Voidable Transactions Act” was published in Insolvency Intelligence, a law journal published by Thomson West in the UK. Ms. Borges has been included in the New York Super Lawyers – Metro Edition list (Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights) each year since 2009. In November 2010, Ms. Borges received the “Robert E. Caine Award for Leadership” from the Commercial Law League of America. She is listed in Who’s Who in America.

Thursday, November 9, 2023

Artificial Intelligence Usage and Ethics
[Beware the Dangers that Lurk and Be Mindful of Responsibilities]

Artificial Intelligence is here to stay and can be a valuable tool in your law firm practice. AI can assist in the creation of legal documents from contracts through memoranda of law, which may provide attorneys with a false sense of ease having a virtual assistant. Dangers abound; however, and attorneys must be warned of the dangers that lurk therein. The U.S. District Court decision in Mata v. Avianca decision sanctioning individual lawyers and their law firm for abandoning their “gatekeeping role on attorneys to ensure the accuracy of their filings” has caused counsel and courts alike to sit up and take notice of the risks inherent with the use of Artificial Intelligence to create legal documents. As of September, 2023, three U.S. District Court Judges, one Bankruptcy Court Judge and one Judge from the Court of International Trade have adopted rules mandating certifications from attorneys stating whether or not artificial intelligence has been used in any paper, brief, memorandum, etc. and, if so, that the AI has been fact checked and verified as to accuracy. Comment 8 to ABA Model Rule 1.1 requires lawyers to “…keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology…” Judge Stong and Ms. Chin will discuss the Mata v. Avianca decision, the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence and the Ethics involved in such use. In addition, they will discuss the possibility or likelihood that more Bankruptcy Courts and state courts will be adopting AI mandates.

PRESENTERS

Sue Chin, Esq. Borges & Associates, LLC

Sue L. Chin, Esq. is an associate with Borges & Associates, LLC., a boutique law firm in Syosset, New York. She is admitted to practice in the Courts of the States of New York, New Jersey, and Texas as well as the United States District Courts for the Southern District of New York, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Ms. Chin earned a juris doctorate at New York Law School in New York State in 2005 and was part of an award-winning team in the 2004 Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition. She was a John Marshall Harlan Scholar and on the Law School Dean’s List. She obtained her LL.M in Bankruptcy from St. John’s University School of Law in June 2012 where she received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Consumer Bankruptcy while maintaining a Dean’s Academic Scholarship. Prior to law school, Ms. Chin obtained her B.B.A from Baruch College in 2002 with a Minor in Law and was awarded the “Morton Wollman Medal for outstanding achievements in law”.
During her initial years in practice, Ms. Chin served as a Law Clerk to the Hon. Randolph Baxter, (Retired) U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Ohio. Prior to joining Borges & Associates, Ms. Chin was in private practice as an associate with law firms concentrating her practice on bankruptcy and commercial litigation matters in New York and Texas.
Since 2018, Ms. Chin has been a contributing author to Enforcing Judgments and Collecting Debts in New York published by Thomson West Publishing Company and updated annually.
Ms. Chin is a volunteer judge for the Duberstein moot court competition at St. John’s University.

Hon. Elizabeth S. Stong

Hon. Elizabeth S. Stong, U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Eastern District of New York
As of September 2, 2003, Judge Elizabeth S. Stong has been a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of New York, sitting in Brooklyn. Previously, she was a litigation partner and associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, litigation associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and law clerk to U.S. District Judge David Mazzone in the District of Massachusetts.

Judge Stong is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Council of the American Law Institute, and the boards of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the Practicing Law Institute, the New York County Lawyers’ Association, and the New York Law Institute. She is a member of the Advisory Committee of Columbia University’s Committee on Global Thought and the Advisory Board of P.R.I.M.E. Finance, an international dispute resolution and judicial training organization based in The Hague. She regularly serves as a delegate to UNCITRAL’s Working Groups on Arbitration and Conciliation and Insolvency and is an elected member of the European Law Institute. She is the Chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Continuing Legal Education and holds leadership roles in the International Insolvency Institute, the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the ABA Business Law Section, International Law Section, and Judicial Division. Judge Stong is an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School.

Her past positions include President of the Harvard Law School Association, Chair of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges International Judicial Relations Committee, Co-Chair of the New York Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, as well as Co-Chair of the New York City Bar’s Council on the Profession, Vice Chair of its Judiciary Committee, and Chair of its Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee. She also served on the ABA’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, Standing Committee on the American Judicial System, Standing Committee on Federal Judicial Improvements, Standing Committee on Continuing Legal Education, Center for Innovation, Commission on Women in the Profession, and Commission on Homelessness and Poverty. In addition, she served as Vice President of the Federal Bar Council, Vice President of the board of directors of the New York City Bar’s Fund Inc. and City Bar Justice Center, the board of directors of the International Insolvency Institute, and an officer of the ABA Business Law Section. She was also a member of the board of MFY Legal Services, Inc., one of the largest providers of free legal services to low-income residents of New York City.

Judge Stong has trained judges in more than 25 countries on five continents, including North, Central and West Africa, Central Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, and South America with the U.S. Commerce Department Commercial Law Development Program, the World Bank, the ABA-Rule of Law Initiative, and INSOL, among other organizations. She has consulted with the Supreme Court of China and People’s High Courts in Beijing and Guangzhou, the Uganda Registration Services Bureau, and has recently led judicial workshops and consultations in Morocco, Bahrain, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, and Brazil, among other venues.
Judge Stong has received many recognitions for her work. These include the American Bar Foundation’s Outstanding State Chair Award, the ABA Glass Cutter Award, the NYIC Hon. Cecelia Goetz Award, the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors Judicial Service Award, the MFY Legal Services Scales of Justice Award, and the Brooklyn Bar Association’s Freda Nisnewitz Award for Pro Bono Service, among others. She received her A.B. magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Thursday, November 9, 2023

The Role of AI in a Law Firm – The Do’s and Don’ts of ChatGBT

In today’s world, data is growing explosively. While there are massive amounts of data at your fingertips it takes time to analyze it. Learn how to leverage AI technology for your law firm and how to avoid making costly mistakes. You will receive tips on how to best use ChatGBT IT including research, client intake, contract, and legal document analysis but you will also learn how to avoid making serious mistakes.

PRESENTER

Lisa Mirabile, Vertigo Media Group

Lisa Mirabile is President and Founder of Vertigo Media Group in Bohemia, NY. A creative marketing executive with a focus in brand advertising, Mirabile is skilled in developing and executing innovative strategies that achieve results. Over the last 29 years, Mirabile has established herself as an award- winning brand strategist, including recognition as 40 under 40, Power Women of Long Island and Top 100 Businesswomen and a One Show Pencil. Her award-winning commercials for American Express were shot in Latin America were Lisa spent 4 years living in Brazil. In 1995 Lisa was inducted into the global team for Ogilvy and Mather and as such worked to create and launch a new brand for Sears which led to the global recognition with the tagline; “Come see the softer side of Sears.”

In 2004, Lisa Mirabile created Vertigo Media Group, to represent the true meaning of 360 degrees of your brand. Vertigo Media Group has evolved into a full-service agency enjoying 20 years of success. VMG operates as a boutique style agency that allows the company to work closely with clients to unearth its best opportunities. Vertigo’s focus for 2022 has been to leverage new technology and to continually upgrade its integrated services, as well engaging clients who are serious about communicating with a Spanish-speaking audiences.

Most recently, Ms. Mirabile revealed her latest creation in the form of internet radio to bring Women owned Businesses into the world of podcasting and instructional talk radio. It can be found across the internet and around the good as WOMP (putting woman on the map) Each show come with streaming video content. “As a female business owner and a single mom, I want to empower and educate other women. This was my opportunity to create what I want and let the voices of other women be heard no matter what the category.” Say Lisa. Lisa still claims her children to be her greatest accomplishment. She is the mother to Leo, her 23-year-old son and daughter Gianna, 20. Both are attending universities in New York.

Thursday, November 9, 2023

Streamlining Workflow, Improving Efficiency and Staying in Compliance in
your Law Firm through Modern Technology

Our speakers will discuss how modern technology can be used to help maintain compliance with applicable rules concerning privacy and security, streamline our practices, and make us more efficient. We will talk about the integral features in today’s collections software, such as workflow automation, document generation, paperless office options, trust account reconciliation, payment processing, cloud-based accessibility, and more. We will also discuss how free, subscription-based, or purchased software and other technology can help ensure that law firms and collection agencies of all sizes can be as efficient as possible. We will examine various means of accepting payment from debtors and clients (credit card, payment portal, and other electronic options).

PRESENTER

Chris Nall, Case Master Pro

Chris Nall is the President of Case Master, Inc., a dynamic legal software company whose core product, CMPOnline, is a cutting-edge solution tailored to law firms focusing on commercial collections, creditor’s rights, subrogation, and judgment enforcement. For two decades, Chris has worked hand-in-hand with his clients to develop a web-based software solution with an easy-to-learn yet advanced interface that fits the needs of both large and small firms. Using his expertise in software development and knowledge of the industry, Chris has built a world-class team that utilizes an Agile strategy to quickly build client-requested (and often government-mandated) features into their software product while still maintaining superior customer support that can quickly handle any firm question or issue. Under his leadership, Case Master, Inc. has emerged as an industry trailblazer, providing forward-thinking legal professionals with a comprehensive suite of software tools designed to streamline operations, enhance efficiency, and optimize outcomes across various practice areas. The Case Master team works tirelessly to ensure that all client firms are provided with the best software on the market.

In his free time, Chris enjoys spending time with his wife, Cassie, and their son, Curtis (3), visiting Florida’s water parks and beaches and watching live music.

Timothy Wan, Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh, PC

Timothy Wan, Esq. is Senior Partner and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh, a division of the Wan Law Group. Mr. Wan’s areas of expertise include managing the creditor’s rights and collection law practice, serving as General Counsel to various small businesses in the local business community, and spearheading practice in the area of entertainment law, music law, copyright, and intellectual property.

Tim was admitted to the New York State Bar in January 2001, after graduating from Brooklyn Law School for his Juris Doctor where he was a member of the Moot Court Honor Society, and from Vassar College with a double B.A. in Political Science and Theatre in 1997.

As most of you know, Tim is a Past Chair of the Eastern Region of the Commercial Law League of America, a Past Chair of the CLLA Young Member’s Section, past member of the Board of Governors, and served as the first ever two-consecutive-term CLLA President from 2019-2021. He has also served as the President of the New York State Creditors Bar Association since 2010. Mr. Wan is a two-time Past President of the Infinite Exchange Chapter of BNI, and a member of the International Association of Commercial Collectors. Mr. Wan is a published author of the New York chapter of the textbook, Judgment Enforcement published by Wolters Kleuwer Publishing, and is a featured columnist and on the Board of Associate Editors for Commercial Law World. If you have never heard Tim speak, he apologizes in advance for any motion sickness, buckle up, and please keep your arms and legs inside the moving vehicle.

Friday, September 8, 2023

Enforcing International, Canadian and Sister-State Judgments and Judgments in Foreign Currency

Are you an attorney or agency collecting on a judgment from another state, another country, or suing on an invoice in a foreign currency? If so, there are uniform laws that your jurisdiction has enacted, or will be enacting, that affect your case. Learn what you need to know about the Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act, the Uniform Registration of Canadian Money Judgments Act, the Uniform Foreign-Money Claims Act. Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, and the fun issues that arise under those laws. This interactive presentation will discuss the juicy issues that arise under those laws.

PRESENTERS

PETER DUBOWSKY, Dubowsky Law Office, Chtd.

Peter Dubowsky, Esq. is an attorney, comedy performer, and history lecturer. He has been a collection litigator in Nevada since his admission to the Nevada Bar in 1993. He frequently speaks and writes throughout the United States on topics including commercial collections, ethics, judgment and foreign judgment enforcement, solo practice, forum selection clauses, and “Pay When Paid” provisions of a construction subcontract, among others.

He is a founding officer of the CREDITOR RIGHTS ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION OF NEVADA, INC. and a Law League member since 1995.

Peter has been serving as a Las Vegas Justice Court Small Claims Judge Pro Tempore since 1998. In 2011, the Nevada Supreme Court appointed Mr. Dubowsky as a mentor to newly admitted attorneys in the “Transition Into Practice” Program.

Peter has also been adjunct law faculty at the College of Southern Nevada Paralegal Degree Program, and a Nevada Certified Collection Agency Manager.

He graduated from Florida International University in Miami, Florida, and attended Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, California.

MARTIN GREENBAUM, Greenbaum Law Group, LLP

Martin B. Greenbaum attended UCLA for both his undergraduate and law degrees. He acquired intensive trial experience while serving as Deputy District Attorney with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office for almost five years. Since then, he has been engaged in collection, enforcement of judgments, debt recovery, and construction cases. Mr. Greenbaum is the senior attorney with the law firm of Greenbaum Law Group, LLP and limits his practice to collection and loss recovery. Mr. Greenbaum is rated “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, the highest rating given by the most prestigious attorney rating directory in the United States. Mr. Greenbaum has served as an instructor and presenter for seventeen California Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) programs on Enforcement of Judgments and Post-Trial Practice. He has served as an instructor for multiple Lorman and NBI seminars, Bar Association seminars, and specialty group presentations. He has served as a University of California Extension Instructor for legal assistance courses concerning Obtaining and Enforcing Money Judgments and Mechanics Liens, at Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego and Santa Barbara campuses. He has been a chairperson of the Orange County Bar Association Creditors’ Rights Section. Mr. Greenbaum has lectured widely to trade and business groups on the topics of credit, collection, and construction collection. He provides expert witness services on collection and collectability issues. He is admitted to practice law in California, Colorado and New York.

 

Friday, September 8, 2023

Developments in State Laws and FTC Regulations Governing Automatic-Renewal Laws

Michael Jaeger will discuss recent developments in the regulation of automatic-renewal and continuous-subscription contracts and programs, including existing state laws, recent amendments to those state laws, and a new proposed comprehensive rule from the Federal Trade Commission.

PRESENTER

MICHAEL JAEGER, Mayer Brown LLP

Michael Jaeger represents clients in class actions and complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country with a particular focus on privacy and consumer protection defense. Michael’s experience includes claims brought under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), Florida’s Security of Communications Act (FSCA), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL), California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, among others. Michael also has significant experience in a broad range of business disputes and related litigation, including in the areas of COVID-19 liability, sports and entertainment, false advertising, product liability, labor and employment, RICO, construction defect, ERISA, and franchising.

Michael also counsels clients on compliance and litigation avoidance in the areas of privacy and data protection, online terms and conditions, arbitration provisions, class action waivers, and automatic renewal/continuing subscription programs, is the author of Practical Law’s guidance on state automatic renewal laws, and is a part of the Uniform Law Commission’s Recurring Service Charges Drafting Committee. He has also written and presented on risk management and liability issues related to autonomous vehicles.

 

Friday, September 8, 2023

Private Eyes – They are Watching You: Updating the California Consumer Privacy Act

California’s Legislature enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act in 2018, to avoid an initiative. However, the California Consumer Rights Act was enacted by Californians in 2020. Most of the provisions went into effect in January 2023. Find out what changes went into effect and how that impacts collection efforts from Californians.

PRESENTER

JUNE COLEMAN, Messer Strickler

June D. Coleman, Managing Attorney for the California Office of Messer Strickler, Ltd., is a defense litigator with about 25 years of experience. Her areas of emphasis include defense of consumer rights actions involving the FDCPA, TCPA, and FCRA. She has a deep understanding of permissible debt collection conduct and how best to defend claims and minimize liability in the collection industry. She is also familiar with governmental investigations and prosecutions, including those conducted by AGs and the CFPB, as well as defending collection attorneys before the California State Bar.

Since 2008, Ms. Coleman has been voted by her peers as one of the top lawyers practicing in Northern California and Sacramento, earning her a spot on the Northern California Super Lawyers list; the “Best of the Bar” list by the Sacramento Business Journal, and the “Top of the Bar” list by the Sacramento Magazine. Ms. Coleman has also been recognized by Accounts Recovery as one of the leading attorneys in the collections field for her defense work. Ms. Coleman is a Martindale Hubbell AV Preeminent rated attorney.

Friday, September 8, 2023

Client Trust Accounting and Recent Updates

Deborah will be talking about Rule 9.8.5 of the California Rules of Court, and Rules of Professional Conduct 1.4 and 1.15; who has to report and certify their client trust accounts and by when, as well as who is exempt from reporting; what the above states Rules mean in terms of everyday practice; how to avoid commingling funds; applicable case law; what to do with unclaimed funds; and best practices to follow in order to avoid State Bar discipline.

PRESENTER

DEBORAH A. WOLFE, Wolfe Legal Solutions, PC

Wolfe Legal Solutions, PC, established by Deborah A. Wolfe, a civil trial lawyer in California since 1981, is designed to help attorneys to practice at the highest levels in helping their clients.

Deborah is a Certified Legal Specialist (“CLS”) in two areas of practice: Legal Malpractice Law (State Bar of California) and Civil Trial Law (National Board of Trial Advocates).

Deborah is an experienced trial attorney who has served on the State Bar of California Legal Malpractice Law Advisory Commission, and has been a member of the San Diego County Bar Association’s Legal Ethics Committee since 2006. She is a past president of CASD, and a two-time recipient of the Trial Lawyer of the Year award, as well as numerous Outstanding Trial Lawyer awards. In 2017, Deborah received the Daniel T. Broderick, III award for civility, integrity and professionalism. She frequently testifies as an expert witness in ethics and standard of care in legal malpractice/breach of fiduciary duty cases, in addition to assisting lawyers with ethics consulting, trial strategy and support.

FRIday, May 19, 2023

Understanding the Basics of Crytocurrency and Digital Assets

While the recent bankruptcies of crypto currency exchanges such as FTX, Celsius, and BlockFi have kept creditors’ rights and bankruptcy attorneys especially busy, the cryptocurrency and digital assets space remains an ever-evolving labyrinth of confusing concepts and technologies for most lawyers. This program is designed to provide practitioners a basic understanding of the concepts underlying technologies such as cryptocurrencies, NFTs, digital tokens, and other digital assets. The panel will also discuss the panoply of collection, regulatory, and bankruptcy issues that remain pervasive in this space.

PRESENTERS

OWEN G. HARE, ESQ., Friedman, Framme & Thrush PA

Owen G. Hare, Esq. received his Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University in 2006 where he graduated with a Major in Political Science and a Minor in History. Mr. Hare attended the Tulane University Law School and obtained his Juris Doctorate in 2009. He also received a Certificate in Admiralty and Maritime Law and worked for the Tulane University Domestic Violence Clinic. Mr. Hare worked as the Managing Attorney of Florida Bankruptcy at a large national law firm for several years handling a wide spectrum of creditor rights and bankruptcy matters for secured and unsecured creditors. Mr. Hare also worked as the managing partner of a firm he started handling creditor’s rights and bankruptcy work for creditors before joining Friedman, Framme & Thrush. P.A., in April, 2016. Mr. Hare is a Principal of Friedman, Framme & Thrush. P.A., a law firm based in Owings Mills, MD. His practice has a primary focus on Commercial Bankruptcy, Commercial litigation, Banking and Finance, Commercial Creditor’s rights, and Complex Consumer Bankruptcy. Mr. Hare is an active member of the CLLA serving on the Marketing Subcommittee and Young Members Section Executive Council. Mr. Hare is licensed to practice in state, federal, and bankruptcy courts in Maryland, Florida, and the District of Columbia.

BRAD COUNCIL, Slovin & Associates Co., LPA

Brad A. Council is a partner in the Cincinnati based law firm of Slovin & Associates Co., LPA. His practice covers all areas of commercial litigation, creditor’s rights including compliance with federal and state consumer credit and collection laws, and landlord-tenant matters. He frequently represents national banking associations, finance companies, medical service providers, debt-buyers, and other credit grantors in the areas of creditor’s rights and account receivables management. He also regularly advises and counsels these organizations on issues related to compliance with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), as well as similar state law acts and regulations. Brad also represents manufacturers, sub-contractors, and material suppliers involving actions under the Uniform Commercial Code relating to sales, leases, and secured transactions.

Brad is a past chair of the Midwest Region for the Commercial Law League of America and is currently the Secretary of the Young Members Section and member of the Creditor’s Rights Executive Council. The CLLA is North America’s oldest Creditor’s Rights Organization and has been operating since 1895. Brad is also the co-chair of the Ohio Legislative Committee for RMA International, the nation’s premier trade association for companies that purchase receivables on the secondary market.

Brad received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2003 and his Juris Doctor from the Northern Kentucky University, Salmon P. Chase College of Law in 2006. During law school Brad served as the Symposium Editor for the Northern Kentucky Law Review.

Brad is licensed to practice law in the States of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. He is also licensed to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio and Indiana.

 

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Piercing the Corporate/LLC Veil Is A Reality: You Can Make It Happen!

Creditors’ attorneys are faced with an increasing demand for asset location, judgment enforcement, and debt recovery, all while debtors are attempting to shield their assets. Effectively using the tools to pierce the corporate/LLC veil and find alter ego liability is essential to satisfy debts and judgments. Learn the strategies, tactics, and methods, in four specific real-life case studies which led to a seemingly uncollectible debt being collected. The application of litigating against corporate/LCC shells, navigating complex corporate liability issues, applying Successor-in-Interest, De Facto Merger, and Alias Theory will be discussed.

Timothy Wan, Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh

Timothy Wan, Esq. is Senior Partner and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh. Mr. Wan’s areas of expertise include managing the creditor’s rights and collection law practice, serving as General Counsel to various small businesses in the local business community, and spearheading practice in the area of entertainment law, music law, copyright, and intellectual property. Mr. Wan was admitted to the New York State Bar in January 2001, after graduating from Brooklyn Law School for his Juris Doctor where he was a member of the Moot Court Honor Society, and from Vassar College with a double B.A. in Political Science and Theatre in 1997. This background has fostered Mr. Wan’s trial and courtroom skills; throughout his career, he has successfully tried several hundred litigation matters, as well as successfully brought and defended appeals on healthcare-related matters to the appellate courts in the State of New York. Mr. Wan is admitted to the United States District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts, and a member of the New York State and Suffolk County Bar Associations. Mr. Wan is a Past Chair of the Eastern Region of the Commercial Law League of America, a Past Chair of the CLLA Young Member’s Section, past member of the Board of Governors, and served as the first ever two-consecutive-term President from 2019-2021. He also serves as the President of the New York State Creditors Bar Association. Mr. Wan is a two-time Past President of the Infinite Exchange Chapter of BNI, and a member of the International Association of Commercial Collectors. Mr. Wan is a published author of the New York chapter of the textbook, Judgement Enforcement published by Aspen Publishing, and is a featured columnist and on the Board of Associate Editors for Commercial Law World. He is also the attorney advisor to the Commack High School Mock Trial team, and regularly lectures on topics regarding creditor’s rights, collection law, business change management, improving business efficiency, and legal strategy.

Prior to founding ONE400, Allen was the Director of Attorney Services at LegalZoom. While there, his work contributed to a substantial portion of overall revenue at the company and helped LegalZoom move from a provider of “do-it-yourself” legal services to a comprehensive legal solutions provider, incorporating attorney-fulfilled work across all U.S. jurisdictions. Allen’s immersion in the legal industry began running operations at the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral Service. While there, his marketing knowledge, operational developments, and leadership helped generate millions of dollars in revenue for the association.

Allen is also an adviser to legal tech startups and a board member of the Group Legal Services Association, a member of the Chicago Bar Foundation’s National Advisory Council for their Sustainable Practice of Law Initiative and a former California State Bar Task Force member on the Access Through Innovation of Legal Services (ATILS) panel. Allen Rodriguez is also a proud veteran of the United States Army.

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Mediating Bankruptcy Disputes: A Ghost-Runner On Second Or Need A New Game?

Bankruptcy practice relies on mediation from preferences to chapter 11 plan formulation and confirmation, and many other claims and litigation disputes in a wide variety of settings, including appeals. The use and practice of mediation has generated some debate among academic and practitioner commentators, suggesting the issue is well developed for discussion. What are the pros/cons of current practices for mediating bankruptcy settlements for plan confirmation purposes? Is mandatory mediation akin to a “tax” for parties, i.e., in preference actions and chapter 11 plan disputes, does mediation provide real value? What other mediation and ADR models should be considered, including the use of staff mediator programs? Among observers and practitioners, what best practices and opportunities for reform are worth highlighting? For example, is recourse to mediation appropriate if what is being mediated is a potentially unconfirmable plan? If mediation drags on, are there any mechanisms that could encourage efficiency? Who decides which players should have a seat at the table in the mediation? What about discovery and confidentiality complications? Is there value to transparency and accountability, or is that overrated? How does transparency and accountability dove-tail with confidentiality requirements?

PRESENTERS

CANDICE KLINE, Saul Ewing LLP

Candice Kline is a partner at Saul Ewing LLP focusing on bankruptcy and restructuring situations and litigation. She serves in leadership at various bar and trade associations and is a member of the CLLA’s Bankruptcy Section Executive Council. Candice has an MBA and JD and began her legal career after many years in global commercial banking and business, including startups. She practices in Illinois and Ohio with a nationwide docket in complex commercial matters.

HON. JUDITH FITZGERALD (Ret.), Tucker Arensberg, PC

Hon. Judith Fitzgerald (Ret.) Retired U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, Judith K. Fitzgerald served in her home jurisdiction in the Western District of Pennsylvania for nearly 26 years. She sat by designation in the District of Delaware, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the District of the U.S. Virgin Islands. She has been blessed with an exciting, challenging and intellectually stimulating career. As a Judicial Law Clerk, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief Bankruptcy Judge, Professor of Law, Practitioner at Tucker Arensberg, Arbitrator, Mediator, Author and Expert Witness, she has experienced a wide variety of legal disciplines and administrative responsibilities. Judi is a Professor in the Practice of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she teaches Bankruptcy and Advanced Bankruptcy. She is active in national and local professional organizations including the American Law Institute, the American College of Bankruptcy, the American Inns of Court, Commercial Law League of America, and the American Bankruptcy Institute. Among other offices, she has served as President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and as Chair of the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Committee to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Judi has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Commercial Law League’s Lawrence P. King Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy and the American Inns of Court Bankruptcy Alliance Distinguished Service Award. Judi consults and lectures in matters involving trial strategy, professional responsibility, bankruptcy including mass tort bankruptcies, evidence, procedure, and contracts and participates on several committees and boards dedicated to fostering legal education and improving access to justice.

LESLIE BERKOFF, Morritt Hock & Hamroff, LLP

Leslie A. Berkoff is a Partner with Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP where she serves as Chair of the firm’s Dispute Resolution Practice Group and is the former Co-Chair of the firm’s Creditors’ Rights and Restructuring Department. Ms. Berkoff splits her practice between these two Practice Groups. In the restructuring space, she concentrates her practice in chapter 11 cases, bankruptcy litigation and corporate workouts, where she represents a variety of corporate debtors, trustees, creditors, and creditor committees both nationally and locally. Ms. Berkoff is an experienced commercial litigator. Ms. Berkoff’s Dispute Resolution practice has her frequently serving as an ad hoc and panel mediator; she is on the Mediation Panel for the Eastern and Southern Districts of the United States Bankruptcy Courts in New York, the United States Bankruptcy Courts in Delaware, and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, as well as the Commercial Mediation Panel for Nassau County and the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”). Ms. Berkoff also serves as a member of the Second Circuit United States Court of Appeals Pro Bono Appellate Mediation Panel and as a Special Master in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department Mediation Program.Ms. Berkoff is also a trained arbitrator and is a member of the AAA panel.

Ms. Berkoff is the immediate past Co-Chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s (ABI) Mediation Committee and is a contributing editor of the quarterly column “Mediation Matters.” She has also served as Co-Editor and contributing author of the ABI’s Bankruptcy Mediation Manual. Ms. Berkoff also serves as the American Bar Association (“ABA”) Business Law Section’s representative on the Dispute Resolution Advisory Council, and is the Chair of the Dispute Resolution Committee, the Vice Chair of Programming for the Business Bankruptcy Committee of the Business Law Section and the Vice Chair of the Bankruptcy Court Structure and Insolvency Committee. She is a contributing editor for the ABA publication “Business Law Today” on Dispute Resolution. Ms. Berkoff speaks and writes frequently on topics concerning both Dispute Resolution and Bankruptcy.

Prior to joining Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP, Ms. Berkoff served as a law clerk to the Honorable Jerome Feller, United States Bankruptcy Judge in the Eastern District of New York, from 1991 to 1993 and to the Honorable Allyne R. Ross, Federal Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of New York, from 1990 to 1991.

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Wire Transfers and Checks: Fraud and Loss-Who Pays?

How do your clients pay for goods and services? Wire transfers? Checks? Payment fraud losses worldwide are in the billions of dollars. Losses due to fraud worldwide increased by 14% in 2021. Who gets stuck with the loss when a payment order or a check is fraudulent? This panel will address issues related to several payment systems (wire transfers – UCC Article 4A, and checks – UCC Articles 3 and 4) and the allocation of the risk of loss arising from, among other things, fraud.

PRESENTERS

CARTER H. KLEIN, Jenner & Block LLP

Carter H. Klein is currently Of Counsel with Jenner & Block LLP and has practiced in its Commercial and Corporate Law Departments since 1974 after a two year judicial clerkship. He is liaison for the ABA’s Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Committee to the Permanent Editorial Board of the UCC; Past Chair of ABA’s Payments Law and Letter of Credit Subcommittees and the Chicago Bar Association’s Commercial and Financial Transactions, International & Foreign Law, and Consumer Credit Committees; and for 45 years was co-author of three books on the payment articles of the Uniform Commercial Code.

BEVERLY WEISS MANNE, ESQ, Tucker Arensberg, PC

Beverly Weiss Manne, Esq. Tucker Arensberg P.C. – is an experienced attorney who represents secured and unsecured creditors, lessors, and buyers of assets in bankruptcy cases, non-judicial restructurings and in complex, and distressed business and commercial credit situations and commercial finance matters. Ms. Manne is licensed in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She also is an adjunct professor at University of Pittsburgh School of Law and teaches Payment Systems and Banking, and also taught Secured Transactions for many hears. From 1981 to 1986, she was an attorney with the USDA Office of General Counsel. Ms. Manne obtained her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh as well as her B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. She is a member of the Commercial Law League of America, serves on the Executive Council of its Creditors’ Rights Section and has served on the Executive Council of its Bankruptcy Section. Ms. Manne is Chair of the PBA Business Law Section, a member and ex-officio of the PBA Shale Energy Law Committee, the 2014 Uniform Voidable Transfer Act adoption task force, 2013 Insolvency Law Task Force, UCC Article 9 Revisions Adoption Task Forces in 2000 and 2010, and the Insolvency Law Task Force in 1994-1996. Ms. Manne is a founding member and ex-officio of the Judith K. Fitzgerald Bankruptcy Inn of Court. Ms. Manne frequently is a speaker, panelist and course planner, locally and nationally on bankruptcy, mechanics lien, oil and gas and commercial issues. She is included in the Pennsylvania “Super Lawyers Edition” and “Best Lawyers in America.”

Thursday, May 18, 2023

How to Win An Appeal–Persuasion To An Appellate Court

Bankruptcy appeals present unique challenges. The panel of judges will offer guidance on bankruptcy appellate practice while also providing tips beneficial to all attorneys arguing a matter before a court. The panel will address when an appeal is available, including how to determine whether a bankruptcy order is final. Attendees will learn the factors to consider when choosing a forum, a choice that varies substantially from circuit to circuit. For example, practitioners must determine whether to take a direct appeal to the circuit court or an intermediate appeal to the district court or bankruptcy appellate panel, an option only in the First, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits. The panelists will offer their expertise on how to best present an appeal orally and in writing, including how to address technical issues before a tribunal that lacks bankruptcy expertise, as well as on how to decide whether to take an appeal—including the potential risks that should be considered—and how to handle relations with the client.

PRESENTERS

HON. JOAN FEENEY (Ret.), JAMS

Hon. Judith Fitzgerald (Ret.) Retired U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, Judith K. Fitzgerald served in her home jurisdiction in the Western District of Pennsylvania for nearly 26 years. She sat by designation in the District of Delaware, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the District of the U.S. Virgin Islands. She has been blessed with an exciting, challenging and intellectually stimulating career. As a Judicial Law Clerk, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief Bankruptcy Judge, Professor of Law, Practitioner at Tucker Arensberg, Arbitrator, Mediator, Author and Expert Witness, she has experienced a wide variety of legal disciplines and administrative responsibilities. Judi is a Professor in the Practice of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she teaches Bankruptcy and Advanced Bankruptcy. She is active in national and local professional organizations including the American Law Institute, the American College of Bankruptcy, the American Inns of Court, Commercial Law League of America, and the American Bankruptcy Institute. Among other offices, she has served as President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and as Chair of the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Committee to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Judi has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Commercial Law League’s Lawrence P. King Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy and the American Inns of Court Bankruptcy Alliance Distinguished Service Award. Judi consults and lectures in matters involving trial strategy, professional responsibility, bankruptcy including mass tort bankruptcies, evidence, procedure, and contracts and participates on several committees and boards dedicated to fostering legal education and improving access to justice.

HON. EUGENE R. WEDOFF (Ret.), US Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of IL

Hon. Eugene R. Wedoff (Ret.) was a bankruptcy judge in Chicago from 1987 to 2015, and chief judge from 2002 to 2007. He has served as chair of the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules and president of both the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and the American Bankruptcy Institute. Since 2015, he has engaged in exclusively pro bono representation of clients in bankruptcy appeals.

HON. MARY ANN WHIPPLE, US Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of OH

Hon. Mary Ann Whipple has served as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division, at Toledo, since 2001 and is currently the chief bankruptcy judge of the district. She also served on the Sixth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel.

Judge Whipple grew up in Toledo. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1977 with an A.B. degree in Russian Studies and Stanford Law School in 1981 with a J.D. degree.

Before becoming a bankruptcy judge, Judge Whipple practiced law for twenty years as a commercial, bankruptcy and employment litigator with the Toledo firm Fuller & Henry Ltd. She is admitted to practice in Ohio and Michigan.

Judge Whipple taught Creditor/Debtor Law for more than 20 years as a part-time faculty member at the University of Toledo College of Law. In addition to teaching, she has served her community as a member of the executive boards of the Owens Community College Foundation, American Red Cross-Greater Toledo Area Chapter, Lucas County Mental Health Board, Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce, Family Service of Northwest Ohio and University of Michigan Club of Toledo. She is a master in and past President  ofThe Morrison R. Waite Chapter of the American Inns of Court Foundation. Judge Whipple received The Toledo Bar Association’s 2008 Community Service Award and the Toledo Women’s Bar Association’s 2016 Arabella Babb Mansfield Award.

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Get Real! Real Estate Issues in Uncertain Economic Times

The panelists will address how to approach issues in bankruptcy involving real estate and the impact of uncertainty in the markets. As interest rates and inflation continue their rise and economists struggle to predict what comes next, practitioners must deal with the reverberations in the bankruptcy world and determine how best to resolve valuation fights, cash collateral and adequate protection disputes, and other issues related to leasehold interests, executory contracts, plan confirmation, and § 363 sales. The panel will address the various valuation methodologies and how the typical battle of the experts has evolved to account for economic uncertainty. The panel will also discuss financing options available to distressed companies inside and outside of bankruptcy, the advantages of bankruptcy over other reorganization alternatives (including tax advantages), and what practitioners are likely to see when lenders change practices and/or reorganization efforts fail.

PRESENTERS

JACK ROSE, JR2G, LLC

Jack Rose is the CEO and founder of JR2G, LLC. The firm focuses on purchasing properties in secondary and tertiary markets. Jack is former Managing Director at Kroll LLC in the Restructuring Advisory practice in New York, where he focused his practice on distressed real estate. More than likely you may know Jack from his past life where he spent 30 years as a bankruptcy lawyer with Rosenberg & Estis, Ashurst, White & Case, Rogers & Wells (now Clifford Chance) and Weil Gotshal.

BEVERLY WEISS MANNE, ESQ, Tucker Arensberg, PC

Beverly Weiss Manne, Esq. Tucker Arensberg P.C. – is an experienced attorney who represents secured and unsecured creditors, lessors, and buyers of assets in bankruptcy cases, non-judicial restructurings and in complex, and distressed business and commercial credit situations and commercial finance matters. Ms. Manne is licensed in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She also is an adjunct professor at University of Pittsburgh School of Law and teaches Payment Systems and Banking, and also taught Secured Transactions for many hears. From 1981 to 1986, she was an attorney with the USDA Office of General Counsel. Ms. Manne obtained her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh as well as her B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. She is a member of the Commercial Law League of America, serves on the Executive Council of its Creditors’ Rights Section and has served on the Executive Council of its Bankruptcy Section. Ms. Manne is Chair of the PBA Business Law Section, a member and ex-officio of the PBA Shale Energy Law Committee, the 2014 Uniform Voidable Transfer Act adoption task force, 2013 Insolvency Law Task Force, UCC Article 9 Revisions Adoption Task Forces in 2000 and 2010, and the Insolvency Law Task Force in 1994-1996. Ms. Manne is a founding member and ex-officio of the Judith K. Fitzgerald Bankruptcy Inn of Court. Ms. Manne frequently is a speaker, panelist and course planner, locally and nationally on bankruptcy, mechanics lien, oil and gas and commercial issues. She is included in the Pennsylvania “Super Lawyers Edition” and “Best Lawyers in America.”

HON. THOMAS M. LYNCH, US Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of IL

Hon. Thomas M. Lynch was appointed to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois in January 2013. He is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law. Judge Lynch earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Dayton and M.A. from the University of Chicago.

Prior to joining the bench Judge Lynch practiced law in Chicago. He began his legal career in the litigation and bankruptcy departments of Winston & Strawn. He was a partner at Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon and then at Baker & Daniels (now Faegre Drinker). For nearly thirty years he tried cases throughout the United States, representing clients in business disputes and bankruptcy and commercial matters. Before law school Tom was an economic analyst and executive in the public sector. While a senior executive in the City of Chicago’s Department of Finance during the late 1970’s, he assisted with the formulation and implementation of the city’s financial restructuring.

Judge Lynch has been an adjunct faculty member at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law since 1998. He also served on the faculty of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) for more than two decades, and he frequently lectures on bankruptcy, financial issues, evidence and trial practice to the bench, bar, business organizations and the general public.

PRESENTATIONS

Thursday, November 9, 2023

Cybersecurity, Privacy and Data Protection

In a world where the hybrid of in-office work and remote work from home is the “new” normal, law firms need to build people-centric cybersecurity strategies to protect client and law office electronic data and communication. At least 40 states have adopted a Duty of Technology Competence requirement for lawyers. Florida and North Carolina require some technology training. New York is the first state to mandate Cybersecurity, Privacy and Data Protection education. This program has been designed to enable lawyers to attain an understanding of:

  • fundamental issues of securely sending, receiving, and storing client and law office electronic data and communication
  • cybersecurity features of various technologies to protect client and law office electronic data and communication
  • the threats of cyberattacks and steps to take to prevent those attacks and inadvertent disclosure of confidential client and law office information
  • security measures to protect client and law office electronic data and communication when working remotely or when using personal or business mobile devices

The program will include a discussion of Cyber Incident Response Planning, Law Office Policies and Protocols and related laws and will offer real-life examples and practical steps which may be taken to protect electronic data and thwart cyber-crime.

Wanda Borges, Esq., Borges & Associates, LLC

Wanda Borges, Borges & Associates, LLC For more than forty years, Ms. Borges has concentrated her law practice on commercial litigation and creditors’ rights in bankruptcy matters, representing corporate clients and creditors’ committees throughout the United States in Chapter 11 proceedings, out of court settlements, commercial transactions, and preference litigation. She is a member and Past President of the Commercial Law League of America and has been an Attorney Member of its National Board of Governors, a Chair of the Bankruptcy Section and Creditors’ Rights Section as well as President of the Commercial Law League Fund for Public Education. She is a member of several bar associations, including the American Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers. Ms. Borges serves on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Commercial Collectors, of which her firm is an associate member. She is an internationally recognized lecturer and author on various legal topics which impact trade creditors. She is the Vice-Chair of the Board of Associate Editors for the Commercial Law League of America’s “Commercial Law World” magazine and regularly contributes articles to that magazine as well as her column “Heard and Overheard.” Her treatise Hidden Liens: Who is Entitled to What? was published in the Fall, 1998 Edition of the Commercial Law Journal. She has authored Antitrust, Restraint of Trade and Unfair Competition: Myth Versus Reality, published by the NACM and most recently updated in 2017. Ms. Borges is the lead author and Editor-in-Chief of Enforcing Judgments and Collecting Debts in New York, a treatise updated annually and published by Thomson West Publishing Company. She routinely publishes articles for the National Association of Credit Management “Business Credit” magazine and has published articles for its “Fraud Prevention News.” Upon the passage of the BAPCPA in 2005, Ms. Borges prepared and presents educational programs on this new legislation and co-authored The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 – An Overhaul of U.S. Bankruptcy Law, published by the NACM. Her article titled “Uniform Voidable Transactions Act” was published in Insolvency Intelligence, a law journal published by Thomson West in the UK. Ms. Borges has been included in the New York Super Lawyers – Metro Edition list (Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights) each year since 2009. In November 2010, Ms. Borges received the “Robert E. Caine Award for Leadership” from the Commercial Law League of America. She is listed in Who’s Who in America.

Thursday, November 9, 2023

Artificial Intelligence Usage and Ethics
[Beware the Dangers that Lurk and Be Mindful of Responsibilities]

Artificial Intelligence is here to stay and can be a valuable tool in your law firm practice. AI can assist in the creation of legal documents from contracts through memoranda of law, which may provide attorneys with a false sense of ease having a virtual assistant. Dangers abound; however, and attorneys must be warned of the dangers that lurk therein. The U.S. District Court decision in Mata v. Avianca decision sanctioning individual lawyers and their law firm for abandoning their “gatekeeping role on attorneys to ensure the accuracy of their filings” has caused counsel and courts alike to sit up and take notice of the risks inherent with the use of Artificial Intelligence to create legal documents. As of September, 2023, three U.S. District Court Judges, one Bankruptcy Court Judge and one Judge from the Court of International Trade have adopted rules mandating certifications from attorneys stating whether or not artificial intelligence has been used in any paper, brief, memorandum, etc. and, if so, that the AI has been fact checked and verified as to accuracy. Comment 8 to ABA Model Rule 1.1 requires lawyers to “…keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology…” Judge Stong and Ms. Chin will discuss the Mata v. Avianca decision, the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence and the Ethics involved in such use. In addition, they will discuss the possibility or likelihood that more Bankruptcy Courts and state courts will be adopting AI mandates.

PRESENTERS

Sue Chin, Esq. Borges & Associates, LLC

Sue L. Chin, Esq. is an associate with Borges & Associates, LLC., a boutique law firm in Syosset, New York. She is admitted to practice in the Courts of the States of New York, New Jersey, and Texas as well as the United States District Courts for the Southern District of New York, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Ms. Chin earned a juris doctorate at New York Law School in New York State in 2005 and was part of an award-winning team in the 2004 Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition. She was a John Marshall Harlan Scholar and on the Law School Dean’s List. She obtained her LL.M in Bankruptcy from St. John’s University School of Law in June 2012 where she received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Consumer Bankruptcy while maintaining a Dean’s Academic Scholarship. Prior to law school, Ms. Chin obtained her B.B.A from Baruch College in 2002 with a Minor in Law and was awarded the “Morton Wollman Medal for outstanding achievements in law”.
During her initial years in practice, Ms. Chin served as a Law Clerk to the Hon. Randolph Baxter, (Retired) U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Ohio. Prior to joining Borges & Associates, Ms. Chin was in private practice as an associate with law firms concentrating her practice on bankruptcy and commercial litigation matters in New York and Texas.
Since 2018, Ms. Chin has been a contributing author to Enforcing Judgments and Collecting Debts in New York published by Thomson West Publishing Company and updated annually.
Ms. Chin is a volunteer judge for the Duberstein moot court competition at St. John’s University.

Hon. Elizabeth S. Stong

Hon. Elizabeth S. Stong, U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Eastern District of New York
As of September 2, 2003, Judge Elizabeth S. Stong has been a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of New York, sitting in Brooklyn. Previously, she was a litigation partner and associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, litigation associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and law clerk to U.S. District Judge David Mazzone in the District of Massachusetts.

Judge Stong is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Council of the American Law Institute, and the boards of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the Practicing Law Institute, the New York County Lawyers’ Association, and the New York Law Institute. She is a member of the Advisory Committee of Columbia University’s Committee on Global Thought and the Advisory Board of P.R.I.M.E. Finance, an international dispute resolution and judicial training organization based in The Hague. She regularly serves as a delegate to UNCITRAL’s Working Groups on Arbitration and Conciliation and Insolvency and is an elected member of the European Law Institute. She is the Chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Continuing Legal Education and holds leadership roles in the International Insolvency Institute, the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the ABA Business Law Section, International Law Section, and Judicial Division. Judge Stong is an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School.

Her past positions include President of the Harvard Law School Association, Chair of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges International Judicial Relations Committee, Co-Chair of the New York Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, as well as Co-Chair of the New York City Bar’s Council on the Profession, Vice Chair of its Judiciary Committee, and Chair of its Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee. She also served on the ABA’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, Standing Committee on the American Judicial System, Standing Committee on Federal Judicial Improvements, Standing Committee on Continuing Legal Education, Center for Innovation, Commission on Women in the Profession, and Commission on Homelessness and Poverty. In addition, she served as Vice President of the Federal Bar Council, Vice President of the board of directors of the New York City Bar’s Fund Inc. and City Bar Justice Center, the board of directors of the International Insolvency Institute, and an officer of the ABA Business Law Section. She was also a member of the board of MFY Legal Services, Inc., one of the largest providers of free legal services to low-income residents of New York City.

Judge Stong has trained judges in more than 25 countries on five continents, including North, Central and West Africa, Central Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, and South America with the U.S. Commerce Department Commercial Law Development Program, the World Bank, the ABA-Rule of Law Initiative, and INSOL, among other organizations. She has consulted with the Supreme Court of China and People’s High Courts in Beijing and Guangzhou, the Uganda Registration Services Bureau, and has recently led judicial workshops and consultations in Morocco, Bahrain, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, and Brazil, among other venues.
Judge Stong has received many recognitions for her work. These include the American Bar Foundation’s Outstanding State Chair Award, the ABA Glass Cutter Award, the NYIC Hon. Cecelia Goetz Award, the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors Judicial Service Award, the MFY Legal Services Scales of Justice Award, and the Brooklyn Bar Association’s Freda Nisnewitz Award for Pro Bono Service, among others. She received her A.B. magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Thursday, November 9, 2023

The Role of AI in a Law Firm – The Do’s and Don’ts of ChatGBT

In today’s world, data is growing explosively. While there are massive amounts of data at your fingertips it takes time to analyze it. Learn how to leverage AI technology for your law firm and how to avoid making costly mistakes. You will receive tips on how to best use ChatGBT IT including research, client intake, contract, and legal document analysis but you will also learn how to avoid making serious mistakes.

PRESENTER

Lisa Mirabile, Vertigo Media Group

Lisa Mirabile is President and Founder of Vertigo Media Group in Bohemia, NY. A creative marketing executive with a focus in brand advertising, Mirabile is skilled in developing and executing innovative strategies that achieve results. Over the last 29 years, Mirabile has established herself as an award- winning brand strategist, including recognition as 40 under 40, Power Women of Long Island and Top 100 Businesswomen and a One Show Pencil. Her award-winning commercials for American Express were shot in Latin America were Lisa spent 4 years living in Brazil. In 1995 Lisa was inducted into the global team for Ogilvy and Mather and as such worked to create and launch a new brand for Sears which led to the global recognition with the tagline; “Come see the softer side of Sears.”

In 2004, Lisa Mirabile created Vertigo Media Group, to represent the true meaning of 360 degrees of your brand. Vertigo Media Group has evolved into a full-service agency enjoying 20 years of success. VMG operates as a boutique style agency that allows the company to work closely with clients to unearth its best opportunities. Vertigo’s focus for 2022 has been to leverage new technology and to continually upgrade its integrated services, as well engaging clients who are serious about communicating with a Spanish-speaking audiences.

Most recently, Ms. Mirabile revealed her latest creation in the form of internet radio to bring Women owned Businesses into the world of podcasting and instructional talk radio. It can be found across the internet and around the good as WOMP (putting woman on the map) Each show come with streaming video content. “As a female business owner and a single mom, I want to empower and educate other women. This was my opportunity to create what I want and let the voices of other women be heard no matter what the category.” Say Lisa. Lisa still claims her children to be her greatest accomplishment. She is the mother to Leo, her 23-year-old son and daughter Gianna, 20. Both are attending universities in New York.

Thursday, November 9, 2023

Streamlining Workflow, Improving Efficiency and Staying in Compliance in
your Law Firm through Modern Technology

Our speakers will discuss how modern technology can be used to help maintain compliance with applicable rules concerning privacy and security, streamline our practices, and make us more efficient. We will talk about the integral features in today’s collections software, such as workflow automation, document generation, paperless office options, trust account reconciliation, payment processing, cloud-based accessibility, and more. We will also discuss how free, subscription-based, or purchased software and other technology can help ensure that law firms and collection agencies of all sizes can be as efficient as possible. We will examine various means of accepting payment from debtors and clients (credit card, payment portal, and other electronic options).

PRESENTER

Chris Nall, Case Master Pro

Chris Nall is the President of Case Master, Inc., a dynamic legal software company whose core product, CMPOnline, is a cutting-edge solution tailored to law firms focusing on commercial collections, creditor’s rights, subrogation, and judgment enforcement. For two decades, Chris has worked hand-in-hand with his clients to develop a web-based software solution with an easy-to-learn yet advanced interface that fits the needs of both large and small firms. Using his expertise in software development and knowledge of the industry, Chris has built a world-class team that utilizes an Agile strategy to quickly build client-requested (and often government-mandated) features into their software product while still maintaining superior customer support that can quickly handle any firm question or issue. Under his leadership, Case Master, Inc. has emerged as an industry trailblazer, providing forward-thinking legal professionals with a comprehensive suite of software tools designed to streamline operations, enhance efficiency, and optimize outcomes across various practice areas. The Case Master team works tirelessly to ensure that all client firms are provided with the best software on the market.

In his free time, Chris enjoys spending time with his wife, Cassie, and their son, Curtis (3), visiting Florida’s water parks and beaches and watching live music.

Timothy Wan, Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh, PC

Timothy Wan, Esq. is Senior Partner and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh, a division of the Wan Law Group. Mr. Wan’s areas of expertise include managing the creditor’s rights and collection law practice, serving as General Counsel to various small businesses in the local business community, and spearheading practice in the area of entertainment law, music law, copyright, and intellectual property.

Tim was admitted to the New York State Bar in January 2001, after graduating from Brooklyn Law School for his Juris Doctor where he was a member of the Moot Court Honor Society, and from Vassar College with a double B.A. in Political Science and Theatre in 1997.

As most of you know, Tim is a Past Chair of the Eastern Region of the Commercial Law League of America, a Past Chair of the CLLA Young Member’s Section, past member of the Board of Governors, and served as the first ever two-consecutive-term CLLA President from 2019-2021. He has also served as the President of the New York State Creditors Bar Association since 2010. Mr. Wan is a two-time Past President of the Infinite Exchange Chapter of BNI, and a member of the International Association of Commercial Collectors. Mr. Wan is a published author of the New York chapter of the textbook, Judgment Enforcement published by Wolters Kleuwer Publishing, and is a featured columnist and on the Board of Associate Editors for Commercial Law World. If you have never heard Tim speak, he apologizes in advance for any motion sickness, buckle up, and please keep your arms and legs inside the moving vehicle.

Friday, September 8, 2023

Enforcing International, Canadian and Sister-State Judgments and Judgments in Foreign Currency

Are you an attorney or agency collecting on a judgment from another state, another country, or suing on an invoice in a foreign currency? If so, there are uniform laws that your jurisdiction has enacted, or will be enacting, that affect your case. Learn what you need to know about the Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act, the Uniform Registration of Canadian Money Judgments Act, the Uniform Foreign-Money Claims Act. Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, and the fun issues that arise under those laws. This interactive presentation will discuss the juicy issues that arise under those laws.

PRESENTERS

PETER DUBOWSKY, Dubowsky Law Office, Chtd.

Peter Dubowsky, Esq. is an attorney, comedy performer, and history lecturer. He has been a collection litigator in Nevada since his admission to the Nevada Bar in 1993. He frequently speaks and writes throughout the United States on topics including commercial collections, ethics, judgment and foreign judgment enforcement, solo practice, forum selection clauses, and “Pay When Paid” provisions of a construction subcontract, among others.

He is a founding officer of the CREDITOR RIGHTS ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION OF NEVADA, INC. and a Law League member since 1995.

Peter has been serving as a Las Vegas Justice Court Small Claims Judge Pro Tempore since 1998. In 2011, the Nevada Supreme Court appointed Mr. Dubowsky as a mentor to newly admitted attorneys in the “Transition Into Practice” Program.

Peter has also been adjunct law faculty at the College of Southern Nevada Paralegal Degree Program, and a Nevada Certified Collection Agency Manager.

He graduated from Florida International University in Miami, Florida, and attended Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, California.

MARTIN GREENBAUM, Greenbaum Law Group, LLP

Martin B. Greenbaum attended UCLA for both his undergraduate and law degrees. He acquired intensive trial experience while serving as Deputy District Attorney with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office for almost five years. Since then, he has been engaged in collection, enforcement of judgments, debt recovery, and construction cases. Mr. Greenbaum is the senior attorney with the law firm of Greenbaum Law Group, LLP and limits his practice to collection and loss recovery. Mr. Greenbaum is rated “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, the highest rating given by the most prestigious attorney rating directory in the United States. Mr. Greenbaum has served as an instructor and presenter for seventeen California Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) programs on Enforcement of Judgments and Post-Trial Practice. He has served as an instructor for multiple Lorman and NBI seminars, Bar Association seminars, and specialty group presentations. He has served as a University of California Extension Instructor for legal assistance courses concerning Obtaining and Enforcing Money Judgments and Mechanics Liens, at Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego and Santa Barbara campuses. He has been a chairperson of the Orange County Bar Association Creditors’ Rights Section. Mr. Greenbaum has lectured widely to trade and business groups on the topics of credit, collection, and construction collection. He provides expert witness services on collection and collectability issues. He is admitted to practice law in California, Colorado and New York.

 

Friday, September 8, 2023

Developments in State Laws and FTC Regulations Governing Automatic-Renewal Laws

Michael Jaeger will discuss recent developments in the regulation of automatic-renewal and continuous-subscription contracts and programs, including existing state laws, recent amendments to those state laws, and a new proposed comprehensive rule from the Federal Trade Commission.

PRESENTER

MICHAEL JAEGER, Mayer Brown LLP

Michael Jaeger represents clients in class actions and complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country with a particular focus on privacy and consumer protection defense. Michael’s experience includes claims brought under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), Florida’s Security of Communications Act (FSCA), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL), California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, among others. Michael also has significant experience in a broad range of business disputes and related litigation, including in the areas of COVID-19 liability, sports and entertainment, false advertising, product liability, labor and employment, RICO, construction defect, ERISA, and franchising.

Michael also counsels clients on compliance and litigation avoidance in the areas of privacy and data protection, online terms and conditions, arbitration provisions, class action waivers, and automatic renewal/continuing subscription programs, is the author of Practical Law’s guidance on state automatic renewal laws, and is a part of the Uniform Law Commission’s Recurring Service Charges Drafting Committee. He has also written and presented on risk management and liability issues related to autonomous vehicles.

 

Friday, September 8, 2023

Private Eyes – They are Watching You: Updating the California Consumer Privacy Act

California’s Legislature enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act in 2018, to avoid an initiative. However, the California Consumer Rights Act was enacted by Californians in 2020. Most of the provisions went into effect in January 2023. Find out what changes went into effect and how that impacts collection efforts from Californians.

PRESENTER

JUNE COLEMAN, Messer Strickler

June D. Coleman, Managing Attorney for the California Office of Messer Strickler, Ltd., is a defense litigator with about 25 years of experience. Her areas of emphasis include defense of consumer rights actions involving the FDCPA, TCPA, and FCRA. She has a deep understanding of permissible debt collection conduct and how best to defend claims and minimize liability in the collection industry. She is also familiar with governmental investigations and prosecutions, including those conducted by AGs and the CFPB, as well as defending collection attorneys before the California State Bar.

Since 2008, Ms. Coleman has been voted by her peers as one of the top lawyers practicing in Northern California and Sacramento, earning her a spot on the Northern California Super Lawyers list; the “Best of the Bar” list by the Sacramento Business Journal, and the “Top of the Bar” list by the Sacramento Magazine. Ms. Coleman has also been recognized by Accounts Recovery as one of the leading attorneys in the collections field for her defense work. Ms. Coleman is a Martindale Hubbell AV Preeminent rated attorney.

Friday, September 8, 2023

Client Trust Accounting and Recent Updates

Deborah will be talking about Rule 9.8.5 of the California Rules of Court, and Rules of Professional Conduct 1.4 and 1.15; who has to report and certify their client trust accounts and by when, as well as who is exempt from reporting; what the above states Rules mean in terms of everyday practice; how to avoid commingling funds; applicable case law; what to do with unclaimed funds; and best practices to follow in order to avoid State Bar discipline.

PRESENTER

DEBORAH A. WOLFE, Wolfe Legal Solutions, PC

Wolfe Legal Solutions, PC, established by Deborah A. Wolfe, a civil trial lawyer in California since 1981, is designed to help attorneys to practice at the highest levels in helping their clients.

Deborah is a Certified Legal Specialist (“CLS”) in two areas of practice: Legal Malpractice Law (State Bar of California) and Civil Trial Law (National Board of Trial Advocates).

Deborah is an experienced trial attorney who has served on the State Bar of California Legal Malpractice Law Advisory Commission, and has been a member of the San Diego County Bar Association’s Legal Ethics Committee since 2006. She is a past president of CASD, and a two-time recipient of the Trial Lawyer of the Year award, as well as numerous Outstanding Trial Lawyer awards. In 2017, Deborah received the Daniel T. Broderick, III award for civility, integrity and professionalism. She frequently testifies as an expert witness in ethics and standard of care in legal malpractice/breach of fiduciary duty cases, in addition to assisting lawyers with ethics consulting, trial strategy and support.

FRIday, May 19, 2023

Understanding the Basics of Crytocurrency and Digital Assets

While the recent bankruptcies of crypto currency exchanges such as FTX, Celsius, and BlockFi have kept creditors’ rights and bankruptcy attorneys especially busy, the cryptocurrency and digital assets space remains an ever-evolving labyrinth of confusing concepts and technologies for most lawyers. This program is designed to provide practitioners a basic understanding of the concepts underlying technologies such as cryptocurrencies, NFTs, digital tokens, and other digital assets. The panel will also discuss the panoply of collection, regulatory, and bankruptcy issues that remain pervasive in this space.

PRESENTERS

OWEN G. HARE, ESQ., Friedman, Framme & Thrush PA

Owen G. Hare, Esq. received his Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University in 2006 where he graduated with a Major in Political Science and a Minor in History. Mr. Hare attended the Tulane University Law School and obtained his Juris Doctorate in 2009. He also received a Certificate in Admiralty and Maritime Law and worked for the Tulane University Domestic Violence Clinic. Mr. Hare worked as the Managing Attorney of Florida Bankruptcy at a large national law firm for several years handling a wide spectrum of creditor rights and bankruptcy matters for secured and unsecured creditors. Mr. Hare also worked as the managing partner of a firm he started handling creditor’s rights and bankruptcy work for creditors before joining Friedman, Framme & Thrush. P.A., in April, 2016. Mr. Hare is a Principal of Friedman, Framme & Thrush. P.A., a law firm based in Owings Mills, MD. His practice has a primary focus on Commercial Bankruptcy, Commercial litigation, Banking and Finance, Commercial Creditor’s rights, and Complex Consumer Bankruptcy. Mr. Hare is an active member of the CLLA serving on the Marketing Subcommittee and Young Members Section Executive Council. Mr. Hare is licensed to practice in state, federal, and bankruptcy courts in Maryland, Florida, and the District of Columbia.

BRAD COUNCIL, Slovin & Associates Co., LPA

Brad A. Council is a partner in the Cincinnati based law firm of Slovin & Associates Co., LPA. His practice covers all areas of commercial litigation, creditor’s rights including compliance with federal and state consumer credit and collection laws, and landlord-tenant matters. He frequently represents national banking associations, finance companies, medical service providers, debt-buyers, and other credit grantors in the areas of creditor’s rights and account receivables management. He also regularly advises and counsels these organizations on issues related to compliance with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), as well as similar state law acts and regulations. Brad also represents manufacturers, sub-contractors, and material suppliers involving actions under the Uniform Commercial Code relating to sales, leases, and secured transactions.

Brad is a past chair of the Midwest Region for the Commercial Law League of America and is currently the Secretary of the Young Members Section and member of the Creditor’s Rights Executive Council. The CLLA is North America’s oldest Creditor’s Rights Organization and has been operating since 1895. Brad is also the co-chair of the Ohio Legislative Committee for RMA International, the nation’s premier trade association for companies that purchase receivables on the secondary market.

Brad received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2003 and his Juris Doctor from the Northern Kentucky University, Salmon P. Chase College of Law in 2006. During law school Brad served as the Symposium Editor for the Northern Kentucky Law Review.

Brad is licensed to practice law in the States of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. He is also licensed to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio and Indiana.

 

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Piercing the Corporate/
LLC Veil Is A Reality: You Can Make It Happen!

Creditors’ attorneys are faced with an increasing demand for asset location, judgment enforcement, and debt recovery, all while debtors are attempting to shield their assets. Effectively using the tools to pierce the corporate/LLC veil and find alter ego liability is essential to satisfy debts and judgments. Learn the strategies, tactics, and methods, in four specific real-life case studies which led to a seemingly uncollectible debt being collected. The application of litigating against corporate/LCC shells, navigating complex corporate liability issues, applying Successor-in-Interest, De Facto Merger, and Alias Theory will be discussed.

TIMOTHY WAN, Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh

Timothy Wan, Esq. is Senior Partner and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh. Mr. Wan’s areas of expertise include managing the creditor’s rights and collection law practice, serving as General Counsel to various small businesses in the local business community, and spearheading practice in the area of entertainment law, music law, copyright, and intellectual property. Mr. Wan was admitted to the New York State Bar in January 2001, after graduating from Brooklyn Law School for his Juris Doctor where he was a member of the Moot Court Honor Society, and from Vassar College with a double B.A. in Political Science and Theatre in 1997. This background has fostered Mr. Wan’s trial and courtroom skills; throughout his career, he has successfully tried several hundred litigation matters, as well as successfully brought and defended appeals on healthcare-related matters to the appellate courts in the State of New York. Mr. Wan is admitted to the United States District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts, and a member of the New York State and Suffolk County Bar Associations. Mr. Wan is a Past Chair of the Eastern Region of the Commercial Law League of America, a Past Chair of the CLLA Young Member’s Section, past member of the Board of Governors, and served as the first ever two-consecutive-term President from 2019-2021. He also serves as the President of the New York State Creditors Bar Association. Mr. Wan is a two-time Past President of the Infinite Exchange Chapter of BNI, and a member of the International Association of Commercial Collectors. Mr. Wan is a published author of the New York chapter of the textbook, Judgement Enforcement published by Aspen Publishing, and is a featured columnist and on the Board of Associate Editors for Commercial Law World. He is also the attorney advisor to the Commack High School Mock Trial team, and regularly lectures on topics regarding creditor’s rights, collection law, business change management, improving business efficiency, and legal strategy.

Prior to founding ONE400, Allen was the Director of Attorney Services at LegalZoom. While there, his work contributed to a substantial portion of overall revenue at the company and helped LegalZoom move from a provider of “do-it-yourself” legal services to a comprehensive legal solutions provider, incorporating attorney-fulfilled work across all U.S. jurisdictions. Allen’s immersion in the legal industry began running operations at the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral Service. While there, his marketing knowledge, operational developments, and leadership helped generate millions of dollars in revenue for the association.

Allen is also an adviser to legal tech startups and a board member of the Group Legal Services Association, a member of the Chicago Bar Foundation’s National Advisory Council for their Sustainable Practice of Law Initiative and a former California State Bar Task Force member on the Access Through Innovation of Legal Services (ATILS) panel. Allen Rodriguez is also a proud veteran of the United States Army.

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Mediating Bankruptcy Disputes: A Ghost-Runner On Second Or Need A New Game?

Bankruptcy practice relies on mediation from preferences to chapter 11 plan formulation and confirmation, and many other claims and litigation disputes in a wide variety of settings, including appeals. The use and practice of mediation has generated some debate among academic and practitioner commentators, suggesting the issue is well developed for discussion. What are the pros/cons of current practices for mediating bankruptcy settlements for plan confirmation purposes? Is mandatory mediation akin to a “tax” for parties, i.e., in preference actions and chapter 11 plan disputes, does mediation provide real value? What other mediation and ADR models should be considered, including the use of staff mediator programs? Among observers and practitioners, what best practices and opportunities for reform are worth highlighting? For example, is recourse to mediation appropriate if what is being mediated is a potentially unconfirmable plan? If mediation drags on, are there any mechanisms that could encourage efficiency? Who decides which players should have a seat at the table in the mediation? What about discovery and confidentiality complications? Is there value to transparency and accountability, or is that overrated? How does transparency and accountability dove-tail with confidentiality requirements?

PRESENTERS

CANDICE KLINE, Saul Ewing LLP

Candice Kline is a partner at Saul Ewing LLP focusing on bankruptcy and restructuring situations and litigation. She serves in leadership at various bar and trade associations and is a member of the CLLA’s Bankruptcy Section Executive Council. Candice has an MBA and JD and began her legal career after many years in global commercial banking and business, including startups. She practices in Illinois and Ohio with a nationwide docket in complex commercial matters.

HON. JUDITH FITZGERALD (Ret.), Tucker Arensberg, PC

Hon. Judith Fitzgerald (Ret.) Retired U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, Judith K. Fitzgerald served in her home jurisdiction in the Western District of Pennsylvania for nearly 26 years. She sat by designation in the District of Delaware, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the District of the U.S. Virgin Islands. She has been blessed with an exciting, challenging and intellectually stimulating career. As a Judicial Law Clerk, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief Bankruptcy Judge, Professor of Law, Practitioner at Tucker Arensberg, Arbitrator, Mediator, Author and Expert Witness, she has experienced a wide variety of legal disciplines and administrative responsibilities. Judi is a Professor in the Practice of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she teaches Bankruptcy and Advanced Bankruptcy. She is active in national and local professional organizations including the American Law Institute, the American College of Bankruptcy, the American Inns of Court, Commercial Law League of America, and the American Bankruptcy Institute. Among other offices, she has served as President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and as Chair of the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Committee to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Judi has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Commercial Law League’s Lawrence P. King Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy and the American Inns of Court Bankruptcy Alliance Distinguished Service Award. Judi consults and lectures in matters involving trial strategy, professional responsibility, bankruptcy including mass tort bankruptcies, evidence, procedure, and contracts and participates on several committees and boards dedicated to fostering legal education and improving access to justice.

LESLIE BERKOFF, Morritt Hock & Hamroff, LLP

Leslie A. Berkoff is a Partner with Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP where she serves as Chair of the firm’s Dispute Resolution Practice Group and is the former Co-Chair of the firm’s Creditors’ Rights and Restructuring Department. Ms. Berkoff splits her practice between these two Practice Groups. In the restructuring space, she concentrates her practice in chapter 11 cases, bankruptcy litigation and corporate workouts, where she represents a variety of corporate debtors, trustees, creditors, and creditor committees both nationally and locally. Ms. Berkoff is an experienced commercial litigator. Ms. Berkoff’s Dispute Resolution practice has her frequently serving as an ad hoc and panel mediator; she is on the Mediation Panel for the Eastern and Southern Districts of the United States Bankruptcy Courts in New York, the United States Bankruptcy Courts in Delaware, and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, as well as the Commercial Mediation Panel for Nassau County and the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”). Ms. Berkoff also serves as a member of the Second Circuit United States Court of Appeals Pro Bono Appellate Mediation Panel and as a Special Master in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department Mediation Program.Ms. Berkoff is also a trained arbitrator and is a member of the AAA panel.

Ms. Berkoff is the immediate past Co-Chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s (ABI) Mediation Committee and is a contributing editor of the quarterly column “Mediation Matters.” She has also served as Co-Editor and contributing author of the ABI’s Bankruptcy Mediation Manual. Ms. Berkoff also serves as the American Bar Association (“ABA”) Business Law Section’s representative on the Dispute Resolution Advisory Council, and is the Chair of the Dispute Resolution Committee, the Vice Chair of Programming for the Business Bankruptcy Committee of the Business Law Section and the Vice Chair of the Bankruptcy Court Structure and Insolvency Committee. She is a contributing editor for the ABA publication “Business Law Today” on Dispute Resolution. Ms. Berkoff speaks and writes frequently on topics concerning both Dispute Resolution and Bankruptcy.

Prior to joining Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP, Ms. Berkoff served as a law clerk to the Honorable Jerome Feller, United States Bankruptcy Judge in the Eastern District of New York, from 1991 to 1993 and to the Honorable Allyne R. Ross, Federal Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of New York, from 1990 to 1991.

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Wire Transfers and Checks: Fraud and Loss-Who Pays?

How do your clients pay for goods and services? Wire transfers? Checks? Payment fraud losses worldwide are in the billions of dollars. Losses due to fraud worldwide increased by 14% in 2021. Who gets stuck with the loss when a payment order or a check is fraudulent? This panel will address issues related to several payment systems (wire transfers – UCC Article 4A, and checks – UCC Articles 3 and 4) and the allocation of the risk of loss arising from, among other things, fraud.

PRESENTERS

CARTER H. KLEIN, Jenner & Block LLP

Carter H. Klein is currently Of Counsel with Jenner & Block LLP and has practiced in its Commercial and Corporate Law Departments since 1974 after a two year judicial clerkship. He is liaison for the ABA’s Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Committee to the Permanent Editorial Board of the UCC; Past Chair of ABA’s Payments Law and Letter of Credit Subcommittees and the Chicago Bar Association’s Commercial and Financial Transactions, International & Foreign Law, and Consumer Credit Committees; and for 45 years was co-author of three books on the payment articles of the Uniform Commercial Code.

BEVERLY WEISS MANNE, ESQ, Tucker Arensberg, PC

Beverly Weiss Manne, Esq. Tucker Arensberg P.C. – is an experienced attorney who represents secured and unsecured creditors, lessors, and buyers of assets in bankruptcy cases, non-judicial restructurings and in complex, and distressed business and commercial credit situations and commercial finance matters. Ms. Manne is licensed in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She also is an adjunct professor at University of Pittsburgh School of Law and teaches Payment Systems and Banking, and also taught Secured Transactions for many hears. From 1981 to 1986, she was an attorney with the USDA Office of General Counsel. Ms. Manne obtained her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh as well as her B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. She is a member of the Commercial Law League of America, serves on the Executive Council of its Creditors’ Rights Section and has served on the Executive Council of its Bankruptcy Section. Ms. Manne is Chair of the PBA Business Law Section, a member and ex-officio of the PBA Shale Energy Law Committee, the 2014 Uniform Voidable Transfer Act adoption task force, 2013 Insolvency Law Task Force, UCC Article 9 Revisions Adoption Task Forces in 2000 and 2010, and the Insolvency Law Task Force in 1994-1996. Ms. Manne is a founding member and ex-officio of the Judith K. Fitzgerald Bankruptcy Inn of Court. Ms. Manne frequently is a speaker, panelist and course planner, locally and nationally on bankruptcy, mechanics lien, oil and gas and commercial issues. She is included in the Pennsylvania “Super Lawyers Edition” and “Best Lawyers in America.”

Thursday, May 18, 2023

How to Win An Appeal–Persuasion To An Appellate Court

Bankruptcy appeals present unique challenges. The panel of judges will offer guidance on bankruptcy appellate practice while also providing tips beneficial to all attorneys arguing a matter before a court. The panel will address when an appeal is available, including how to determine whether a bankruptcy order is final. Attendees will learn the factors to consider when choosing a forum, a choice that varies substantially from circuit to circuit. For example, practitioners must determine whether to take a direct appeal to the circuit court or an intermediate appeal to the district court or bankruptcy appellate panel, an option only in the First, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits. The panelists will offer their expertise on how to best present an appeal orally and in writing, including how to address technical issues before a tribunal that lacks bankruptcy expertise, as well as on how to decide whether to take an appeal—including the potential risks that should be considered—and how to handle relations with the client.

PRESENTERS

HON. JOAN FEENEY (Ret.), JAMS

Hon. Judith Fitzgerald (Ret.) Retired U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, Judith K. Fitzgerald served in her home jurisdiction in the Western District of Pennsylvania for nearly 26 years. She sat by designation in the District of Delaware, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the District of the U.S. Virgin Islands. She has been blessed with an exciting, challenging and intellectually stimulating career. As a Judicial Law Clerk, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief Bankruptcy Judge, Professor of Law, Practitioner at Tucker Arensberg, Arbitrator, Mediator, Author and Expert Witness, she has experienced a wide variety of legal disciplines and administrative responsibilities. Judi is a Professor in the Practice of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she teaches Bankruptcy and Advanced Bankruptcy. She is active in national and local professional organizations including the American Law Institute, the American College of Bankruptcy, the American Inns of Court, Commercial Law League of America, and the American Bankruptcy Institute. Among other offices, she has served as President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and as Chair of the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Committee to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Judi has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Commercial Law League’s Lawrence P. King Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy and the American Inns of Court Bankruptcy Alliance Distinguished Service Award. Judi consults and lectures in matters involving trial strategy, professional responsibility, bankruptcy including mass tort bankruptcies, evidence, procedure, and contracts and participates on several committees and boards dedicated to fostering legal education and improving access to justice.

HON. EUGENE R. WEDOFF (Ret.), US Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of IL

Hon. Eugene R. Wedoff (Ret.) was a bankruptcy judge in Chicago from 1987 to 2015, and chief judge from 2002 to 2007. He has served as chair of the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules and president of both the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and the American Bankruptcy Institute. Since 2015, he has engaged in exclusively pro bono representation of clients in bankruptcy appeals.

HON. MARY ANN WHIPPLE, US Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of OH

Hon. Mary Ann Whipple has served as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division, at Toledo, since 2001 and is currently the chief bankruptcy judge of the district. She also served on the Sixth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel.

Judge Whipple grew up in Toledo. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1977 with an A.B. degree in Russian Studies and Stanford Law School in 1981 with a J.D. degree.

Before becoming a bankruptcy judge, Judge Whipple practiced law for twenty years as a commercial, bankruptcy and employment litigator with the Toledo firm Fuller & Henry Ltd. She is admitted to practice in Ohio and Michigan.

Judge Whipple taught Creditor/Debtor Law for more than 20 years as a part-time faculty member at the University of Toledo College of Law. In addition to teaching, she has served her community as a member of the executive boards of the Owens Community College Foundation, American Red Cross-Greater Toledo Area Chapter, Lucas County Mental Health Board, Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce, Family Service of Northwest Ohio and University of Michigan Club of Toledo. She is a master in and past President  ofThe Morrison R. Waite Chapter of the American Inns of Court Foundation. Judge Whipple received The Toledo Bar Association’s 2008 Community Service Award and the Toledo Women’s Bar Association’s 2016 Arabella Babb Mansfield Award.

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Get Real! Real Estate Issues in Uncertain Economic Times

The panelists will address how to approach issues in bankruptcy involving real estate and the impact of uncertainty in the markets. As interest rates and inflation continue their rise and economists struggle to predict what comes next, practitioners must deal with the reverberations in the bankruptcy world and determine how best to resolve valuation fights, cash collateral and adequate protection disputes, and other issues related to leasehold interests, executory contracts, plan confirmation, and § 363 sales. The panel will address the various valuation methodologies and how the typical battle of the experts has evolved to account for economic uncertainty. The panel will also discuss financing options available to distressed companies inside and outside of bankruptcy, the advantages of bankruptcy over other reorganization alternatives (including tax advantages), and what practitioners are likely to see when lenders change practices and/or reorganization efforts fail.

PRESENTERS

JACK ROSE, JR2G, LLC

Jack Rose is the CEO and founder of JR2G, LLC. The firm focuses on purchasing properties in secondary and tertiary markets. Jack is former Managing Director at Kroll LLC in the Restructuring Advisory practice in New York, where he focused his practice on distressed real estate. More than likely you may know Jack from his past life where he spent 30 years as a bankruptcy lawyer with Rosenberg & Estis, Ashurst, White & Case, Rogers & Wells (now Clifford Chance) and Weil Gotshal.

BEVERLY WEISS MANNE, ESQ, Tucker Arensberg, PC

Beverly Weiss Manne, Esq. Tucker Arensberg P.C. – is an experienced attorney who represents secured and unsecured creditors, lessors, and buyers of assets in bankruptcy cases, non-judicial restructurings and in complex, and distressed business and commercial credit situations and commercial finance matters. Ms. Manne is licensed in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She also is an adjunct professor at University of Pittsburgh School of Law and teaches Payment Systems and Banking, and also taught Secured Transactions for many hears. From 1981 to 1986, she was an attorney with the USDA Office of General Counsel. Ms. Manne obtained her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh as well as her B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. She is a member of the Commercial Law League of America, serves on the Executive Council of its Creditors’ Rights Section and has served on the Executive Council of its Bankruptcy Section. Ms. Manne is Chair of the PBA Business Law Section, a member and ex-officio of the PBA Shale Energy Law Committee, the 2014 Uniform Voidable Transfer Act adoption task force, 2013 Insolvency Law Task Force, UCC Article 9 Revisions Adoption Task Forces in 2000 and 2010, and the Insolvency Law Task Force in 1994-1996. Ms. Manne is a founding member and ex-officio of the Judith K. Fitzgerald Bankruptcy Inn of Court. Ms. Manne frequently is a speaker, panelist and course planner, locally and nationally on bankruptcy, mechanics lien, oil and gas and commercial issues. She is included in the Pennsylvania “Super Lawyers Edition” and “Best Lawyers in America.”

HON. THOMAS M. LYNCH, US Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of IL

Hon. Thomas M. Lynch was appointed to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois in January 2013. He is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law. Judge Lynch earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Dayton and M.A. from the University of Chicago.

Prior to joining the bench Judge Lynch practiced law in Chicago. He began his legal career in the litigation and bankruptcy departments of Winston & Strawn. He was a partner at Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon and then at Baker & Daniels (now Faegre Drinker). For nearly thirty years he tried cases throughout the United States, representing clients in business disputes and bankruptcy and commercial matters. Before law school Tom was an economic analyst and executive in the public sector. While a senior executive in the City of Chicago’s Department of Finance during the late 1970’s, he assisted with the formulation and implementation of the city’s financial restructuring.

Judge Lynch has been an adjunct faculty member at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law since 1998. He also served on the faculty of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) for more than two decades, and he frequently lectures on bankruptcy, financial issues, evidence and trial practice to the bench, bar, business organizations and the general public.

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CLLA Southern Region Conference 2025

February 14-16, 2025 in New Orleans, LA

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