Key Employee Compensation Outside the Ordinary Course of Business and the Code Prior to and After the BAPCPA
by Susan M. Cook
Lambert, Leser, Isackson, Cook & Giunta, P.C.; Bay City, Mich.
There are many and diverse motivations a business entity may have in offering a key employee retention, severance or other incentive plan regardless of the financial condition of the entity. These motivations are almost always more compelling where there is uncertainty regarding the financial success or life of the business. When the economy is good, which it is almost everywhere but Michigan, employees look to new opportunities where the job tenure is more certain and the new employer is either more willing or able to improve or even simply maintain compensation levels. As a result, such programs have become commonplace in bankruptcy reorganizations.
Read the full article. (Materials from the 2006 Central States Bankruptcy Workshop)
Small-Business Chapter 11s under the 2005 Bankruptcy Amendments
by Hon. Phillip J. Shefferly
U.S. Bankruptcy Court, E.D Mich.; Detroit
Leslie Stein
Seyburn, Kahn, Ginn, Bess & Serlin, P.C.; Southfield, Mich.
This paper focuses only on BAPCPA provisions specifically applicable to “small-business cases” and “small-business debtors” under the Bankruptcy Code (11 USC §101(51)(C) and (D)). We refer you to “The New Rules of Bankruptcy for Small-Business Debtors,” written by George Singer of Lindquist & Vennum, PLLP (available online at www.lindquist.com on the attorney page for George Singer as a white paper) for a succinct summary of the small-business provisions. For additional reading on the small-business provisions, see “The Small Business Provisions of the 2005 Bankruptcy Amendments,” an article which appeared in the summer 2005 edition of the American Bankruptcy Law Journal, by Thomas Carlson and Jennifer Hayes.
Read the full article. (Materials from the 2006 Central States Bankruptcy Workshop)
Minutes from 2006 Annual Spring Meeting
The Business Reorganization, Public Companies & Claims Trading and Financial Advisors Committees held a joint meeting at ABI’s 24th Annual Spring Meeting this April in Washington, D.C.
The meeting began with an introduction of the committee co-chairs:
Public Companies & Claims Trading:
Glenn Siegel
Dechert, LLP
New York
Geoffrey Groshong
Miller Nash LLP
Seattle
Financial Advisors:
David M. Powlen
Western Reserve Partners
Philadelphia
Rebecca A. Roof
AlixPartners LLC
New York
Business Reorganization:
Jo Ann J. Brighton (New Co- Chair)
Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman, LLP
Charlotte, N.C.
Bradley Sharp
Development Specialists, Inc.
Los Angeles
Ms. Brighton is replacing Bob Keach as co-chair of the Business Reorganization Committee, as Bob has assumed the role of ABI’s Vice President Education.
After the introductions, the committees attended a panel presentation titled “The Power of Information: Who Gets What and How Can They Use It?” which focused on dissemination and control of information during a chapter 11 case. The panel was moderated by Mr. Sharp and included William Weintraub of Pachulski, Stang, Ziehl, Young, Jones & Weintraub LLP in New York, and Daniel Golden of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, also in New York. The panel discussed a wide range of issues but focused on the intent of the new code §1102(b)(3) and its practical implications. The panel essentially agreed that most new cases are looking to establish communication protocols to limit the sharing of sensitive information.
The panel also discussed the efficacy of trading walls and the appropriateness of committee members trading in securities of the debtor.
The committees would like to thank the panelists and all in attendance for an interesting and informative presentation.