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Asbestos Bankruptcy Conference in Chicago on June 20

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Kirk Hartley

Asbestos bankruptcies are down in number, but the current cases present some great issues with significant ramifications for future cases. Accordingly, Perrin Conferences and Chicago will once again be the hosts for a June Asbestos Bankruptcy Conference. This year's seminar is on Monday June 20 at the Peninsula on Michigan Avenue.

The conference agenda is here, and also is pasted below. The roster of speakers is strong, despite including me. To register, click here.

See you in Chicago on Monday, June 20 ?

Event Agenda

Continental Breakfast and Registration Opening Remarks

John D. Cooney, Esq.,

Cooney & Conway, Chicago, IL Michael K. Rozen, Esq., Feinberg Rozen, LLP, New York, NY National Update on Chapter 11 Asbestos Bankruptcy Proceedings New filings, confirmations and dismissals: overview of Quigley, W.R. Grace, G-I Holdings, Pittsburgh Corning, NARCO, Lloyd Mitchell, Plant and other bankruptcy cases

Leslie Davis, Esq.,

Crowell & Moring LLP, Washington, DC
Robert Goodman, Esq.,
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, New York, NY
Kirk Hartley, Esq.,
Childress Duffy, Ltd., Chicago, IL Peter A. Kraus, Esq., Waters & Kraus, LLP, Dallas, TX Perry Weitz, Esq., Weitz & Luxenberg P.C., New York, NY
9:45 AM-
Using a 468B QSF to Facilitate a Settlement


 Why would this help in negotiations?

 Create a discount situation for the Defense in certain jurisdictions

 Make lien resolution easier?

 Medicare Compliance
Creation of the 468B QSF
-

 Properly used 468B QSF finally makes structured settlements an option for claimants?

 Allows the Plaintiff attorney to structure/defer their fees
Satisfaction of Medicare reimbursement obligation
Michael Angelides, Esq.,
Simmons Browder Gianaris Angelides & Barnerd LLC, Alton, IL B.J. Etscheid, Partner, Brook Hollow Financial, Chicago, IL Steven Hart, Esq., Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney, Ltd., Chicago, IL Jason Wolf, President, Garretson Resolution Group, Charlotte, NC
10:15 AM –

Sponsored by: Brook Hollow Financial
Break
10:30 AM –
Staking Your Claim: How to Successfully File an Asbestos Bankruptcy Trust Claim
 Establishing the medical and exposure requirements needed for a valid trust claim – testimony, depositions, site matches, affidavits, and other forms of documentation

 Knowing what your claim is worth under the trust distribution procedures

 Expedited versus the individual review process – what criteria are needed to qualify for individual review

 Contribution claims – can defendants really recover from indirect claims to the trusts?

Deborah Greenspan, Esq.,
Dickstein Shapiro LLP, Washington, DC Steve Baron, Esq., Baron & Budd, P.C., Dallas, TX
11:15 AM -
The Role of 524(g) Trust Discovery in Asbestos Tort, Coverage and Bankruptcy Cases


 Update on past and ongoing cases requesting discovery of trust data
Relevancy of discovery of trust data for bankruptcy estimation purposes
Philip Bentley, Esq.,
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, New York, NY
Natalie Ramsey, Esq.,
Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, LLP, Philadelphia, PA
12:00 PM-

Sponsored by: RecordTrak
Networking Lunch
1:00 PM -
Deciphering the Bankruptcy Code: Understanding Section 524(g) and the Bankruptcy Trust System


 Stepping into the shoes of the reorganized debtor - the establishment of the trust system for current claims and future demands

 How have bankruptcy courts interpreted 524(g) in moving cases from filing to confirmation?

 The role of the futures claim representative in 524(g) cases

 Voting rights under 524(g) for creditor classes

 Trust distribution procedures (TDP)
Congressional intent: the history behind the enactment of 524(g)
Jacob Cohn, Esq.,
Cozen O’Connor, Philadelphia, PA Elihu Inselbuch, Esq., Caplin & Drysdale, New York, NY David Killalea, Esq., Gilbert LLP, Washington, DC
2:00 PM-
The Complications of MMSEA: The Plaintiffs’ and Defendants’ Perspective
 What mandatory Insurer Reporting obligations exist in bankruptcy settings

 Most effective (accurate and compatible) means of exchange

Kathy Burne, Esq.,
Cooney & Conway, Chicago, IL Victoria Vance, Esq., Tucker Ellis & West LLP, Cleveland, OH
Jason Wolf,
President, Garretson Resolution Group, Charlotte, NC
2:30 PM-
Break
2:45 PM-
Trial Courts & Bankruptcy Trusts


 Rights of plaintiffs, defendants and insurers – the debate over whether trust exposure claim information should be mandated by state courts

 MDL 875 - the new battleground over the bankruptcy trust issue

 Offsets, contribution and other avenues to recovery

 CMO’s and legislation – how are courts and legislatures currently coordinating trust payments with underlying tort cases? Are they?

 Picking up the several shares: what are current solvent defendants and insurers doing to quantify trust recoveries and assign liability to the trusts?

 Point/Counter-Point: understanding the bankruptcy rules and obligations regarding statute of limitations, deferrals and the timing of tort and trust claims
Overview of recent cases involving trust claims and discovery of trust claim forms
Moderator: John D. Cooney, Esq.,
Cooney & Conway, Chicago, IL
Charles Bates, Ph.D.,
Bates White, LLC, Washington, DC Nathan Horne, Esq., Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney, Ltd., Austin, TX James Stengel, Esq., Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, New York , NY Perry Weitz, Esq., Weitz & Luxenberg P.C., New York, NY
4:30 PM-
From the Bench: Judicial Roundtable on Bankruptcy Trusts
Moderators: John D. Cooney, Esq.,
Cooney & Conway, Chicago, IL Michael K. Rozen, Esq., Feinberg Rozen, LLP, New York, NY
Hon. Peggy L. Ableman
, Superior Court of Delaware, Wilmington, DE
Hon. Mark Davidson
, 11th Civil District Court of Texas, Harris County, TX
Hon. Judith K. Fitzgerald
, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA
Hon. Rosemary Gambardella
, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for District of New Jersey, Trenton, NJ
5:30 PM-

Sponsored by: Cooney & Conway & Feinberg Rozen, LLP
Cocktail Reception

8:45 AM –

8:00 AM -



 Overview of current trust assets and payments

 Update on Garlock and Bondex – contested v non-contested bankruptcy cases

 Emerging trends in asbestos bankruptcy law

8:30 AM -

Tags: Seminars

# 2 - Want More on the Interplay Between Asbestos Trusts and Litigation ? Attend the Lexis/Nexis International Asbestos Seminar - London- 9/29- 30

Posted on August 13, 2009 by Kirk Hartley

(Caveat - the following includes shameless self-promotion.)

Asbestos litigation, and asbestos trust issues, are no longer uniquely American issues. To the contrary, asbestos litigation and asbestos trusts are growing rapidly outside the US.

Really ? Yes. Due to soaring mesothelioma rates that will not peak until 2020 or so, asbestos litigation is climbing rapidly across the EU (especially in the UK) and in Australia. There also are a close to a couple of hundred asbestos claims pending in Japan and a handful starting in Korea. Future claims are a certainty because asbestos use has for years been rising rapidly across Asia and Russia, not to mention ship-breaking and other activities in which asbestos is often removed in terribly primitive and unsafe conditions.

Asbestos trusts also are global, in at least three way. First, Manville and other trusts take claims from around the world and are receiving materially increasing amounts of claims. Second, as part of the Federal-Mogul bankruptcy, a trust was set up under UK law for claims arising from Turner & Newall. Third, private trusts have been set up by entities hoping to limit or avoid litigation. The trusts take claims arising from Cape, James Hardie and Eternit, among others.

Multinationals, insurers, Wall Street and lawyers are missing a significant part of the asbestos picture if less than a global view is being taken. The answer? Attend the Lexis/Nexis seminar on 29 and 30 September in London on International Asbestos Claiming. Yours truly is chairing the seminar. I think an excellent panel of lawyers is on tap from around the world, including David Miller, an authority on asbestos litigation in Australia, and Rod Freeman, an authority on product liability and asbestos litigation in the EU. And, because the US litigation s part of the world view, Motley Rice's Anne Kearse and Shook Hardy's Mark Behrens will speak from their divergent perspectives. I will speak on international asbestos trust issues and hopefully will challenge other speakers with some good questions. And, finally, Selvyn Seidel of Burford Advsiors will speak about third-party litigation funding - a topic everyone should know about because it's going to change the world of litigation in a big way.

The general website for the seminar is here, the agenda is here, and the roster of speakers is here.

Tags: Asbestos Bankruptcy, Global Tort Litigation, Seminars

Want More on the Interplay Between Asbestos Trusts and Judicial Proceedings ? Go to the HB Asbestos Seminar in San Francisco 9/23-9/25

Posted on August 13, 2009 by Kirk Hartley

As posts on this blog reflect, there are in my view enormous issues out there regarding the interplay between asbestos trusts (mainly chapter 11 trusts) and the state court tort system. Happily, asbestos litigation seminars are paying an increasing amount of attention to the issues arising from the two parallel compensation systems. Two upcoming seminars offer great opportunities to learn more about the asbestos bankruptcy issues and much more.

Here are some specifics for the first of the two seminars:

1) HB Asbestos Litigation Conference Sept. 23-25 in San Francisco

The HB group took over from Mealey's and is running an upcoming 3 day asbestos litigation seminar. The program in general is excellent and is of special interest to me because of its focus on asbestos bankruptcy issues and because one of the chairs is fomer Chicagoan, Joe O'Hara, a lawyer who has tried asbestos cases for years for Owens-Illinois. Joe is now the Asssociate General Counsel for Owens-Illinois and a great lawyer I've known for more years than I want to admit. Joe and OI are very tuned in to the asbestos bankruptcy issues, and so the seminar program includes two Sept. 23 sessions focused on asbestos trusts and asbestos bankruptcy issues. In addition, numerous state court judges will be there and will end up hearing and/or saying a lot about these issues. Despite lots of other competing life events at that time, the sessions look so good to me that I'm flying out for just that day.

The specifics for the two asbestos trust and bankruptcy sessions are as follows; the speakers are quite knowledgeable:

2:30 Asbestos Claims Processing

•What bankruptcy trusts are operating and what are they paying?
• Timing of claims filing
• Best Practices - efficient methods for claim submissions
• Avoiding mistakes - areas of concern for claimant processing & payment
• W-9 forms, tax issues, 1099's to clients
• TDP's and processes within that may benefi t defendants
• Accounting for the money still in trust, the value of average mesothelioma claims & future projections on claims vs. assets and funds availability in trust

Francis McGovern, Esq., Professor of Law, Duke University School of Law
Larry Haden, President, Claims Resolution
Nicholas Vari, Esq., K&L Gates

3:45 The Surge in Bankruptcy Trust Payouts: Can You Make Everyone Happy? Maximizing Recoveries and Creating Fair Credit Allocation

• What adjustments should be made in the tort system to account for the bankruptcy payouts?
• What disclosure obligation should exist regarding pending trust claims, actual payouts, and expected future trust fi lings?
• Should the tort system encourage or leverage plaintiffs to file claims with the Trusts before the claims leave the system?
• Third party practice and the Defendants' interaction with the Trusts

Moderator: Joseph O'Hara, Jr., Esq., V.P. & Associate G.C., Owens-Illinois
Hon. Richard Aulisi, Supreme Court Justice, 4th Judicial District of New York
Hon. Ken Kawaichi, (Ret.), JAMS
Hon. James McBride, Superior Court of California
Joseph Belluck, Esq., Belluck & Fox LLP

To register, the HB home page is here. The entire asbestos agenda is here. In this tough yuear for budgets, note that inside counsel from corporations and insurers are invited to attend free of charge.