Vermont

There have been a number of recent bankruptcy filings by large and high profile healthcare providers, such as the filings of Verity Health System of California, Inc., in Los Angeles (the second largest hospital bankruptcy case in American history), Hospital Acquisition LLC and 25 related debtors d/b/a Promise Health and American Academic Health System (Hahnemann University Hospital and St. Christopher Hospital in Philadelphia) in Wilmington, Delaware, and Astria Health in Yakima, Washington.

Oftentimes lawyers must deal with people in vulnerable positions- and there are a whole host of rules that govern our behavior in those instances. Cheating (misrepresentation, rule 4.1 and 3.3), Preying (deceptive practices, rule 8.4), and Shoving (fairness to opposing parties and counsel, rule 3.4) are prohibited by the attorney ethics rules...and why not learn about them with a little humor?

How do judges view the various types of committees–official statutory committees (including unsecured creditor, equity, retiree and tort claimant committees) and ad hoc committees? Is the makeup of the committee (trade/landlords/noteholders/bondholders/litigation claimants) relevant? What is Jevic’s impact on the ability of unsecured creditors’ committees to obtain recoveries for their constituents—do committees representing deeply out-of-the-money creditors have anything left in their toolboxes? This panel will discuss these questions and more relating to official and ad hoc committees.

This session will cover a number of recent confirmation hot topics, including pre-packaged reorganization (In re FullBeauty Brands Holding Corp.), make-whole provisions (In re Ultra Petroleum Corp.), reorganization through rights offerings (In re Pacific Drilling SA), and the ‘one day’ confirmation issue (Pacific Western Bank v. Fagerdala USA-Lompac Inc.).

The relaxation of marijuana statutes in many states may present financial opportunities for investors, with high rates of return and better-paying job opportunities for individuals. As with any emerging industry, consolidation and competition will create winners and losers. Whether investors, landlords, trade vendors and employees involved in the cannabis industry can restructure their debts in bankruptcy court, or even participate in a bankruptcy plan, depends on the extent of their connection to the cannabis industry.