Events
Speaking Engagement

Views from the Bench: Mass Torts

Insolvency 2020


Virtual Event

Blank Rome Partner Michael B. Schaedle will serve as a facilitator at American Bankruptcy Institute’s (“ABI”) Insolvency 2020: Restructuring, Insolvency & Distressed Debt Virtual Summit, being held September 16 through October 27, 2020, as an online event providing a flexible schedule of sessions, creative optional events, and virtual networking opportunities. Format features:

  • Live speaker sessions
  • Interactive panel discussions
  • Online Q&A
  • Networking and sharing
  • Virtual exhibit hall

Mike will facilitate the “Views from the Bench: Mass Torts” session, taking place on Thursday, October 22, from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. EDT. The panel will focus on the removal and consolidation of tort claims, including those against nondebtors (e.g., Imerys); the aggressive estimation of tort claims for voting purposes (e.g., PG&E and the one-dollar estimation effort); third-party releases (e.g., the effort we are likely to see in BSA to get releases for local councils); channeling injunctions outside of the asbestos context (being used increasingly, but will the bench eventually push back?); the impact of criminal proceedings on a mass tort debtor’s ability to reorganize (e.g., PG&E and some pharma cases); the need for multiple committees (e.g., creditors + victims in BSA; the UCC and TCC in PG&E; and the failed effort to appoint a public entities committee in cases); notice and due process issues (e.g., notice to fire victims in PG&E); proposed trust structures; class actions in chapter 11; and Garlock.

Panelists include:

  • Julie A. Manning, Hon. U.S. Bankruptcy Court (D. Conn.)
  • Melanie L. Cyganowski, Hon. (ret.) Otterbourg P.C.
  • Michael B. Kaplan, Hon. U.S. Bankruptcy Court (D.N.J.)
  • Robert E. Grossman, Hon. U.S. Bankruptcy Court (E.D.N.Y.)
  • Shelley C. Chapman, Hon. U.S. Bankruptcy Court (S.D.N.Y.)

CLE/CPE credit is available.