Bankruptcy Forums Helping Creditors to Understand New Rules' Impact

Executives and Operations leaders from a diverse group of Creditors, Agencies and Attorney firms attended the second of three Bankruptcy Educational Forums for Creditors at the Renaissance Philadelphia Hotel on June 22, 2005, presented by Resource Management Services, Inc.

Central to the forum was the morning general session with Henry E. Hildebrand, Standing Trustee for Chapter 13 matters in the Middle District of Tennessee, and Richardo Kilpatrick, President of Kilpatrick & Associates, P.C. detailing the changes to chapter 7 and chapter 13 Bankruptcy Law as a result of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. The afternoon breakout sessions explored the operational strategies for creditors, with Hilary Bonial, Chief Bankruptcy Counsel and Director of Bankruptcy Quality Assurance with Brice, Vander Linden & Wernick, P.C. addressing strategies for the Secured Creditors; and a review of strategies for the Unsecured Creditors lead by Alane Becket, Managing Partner of Becket & Lee, LLP, and Frank Cuoco, Senior Attorney and Director of Weinstein & Reily, P.S.

While the changes to the bankruptcy code appear to reduce the recoveries for unsecured creditors, the challenge for creditors will be to learn the ways you can take advantage of the changes in the bankruptcy law, legally and operationally, and boost your overall recoveries. Doing so will require strategic decisions and solid planning. Keys to success will involve making use of operational and technological enhancements now available to streamline your bankruptcy operations, and developing litigation strategies based on the enhanced opportunities in the new Code.

Additionally, Creditors can expect a significant increase in consumer litigation as debtor attorneys look for additional revenue based on an expected decrease in bankruptcy filers Creditors must be prepared to address the litigation in both content and strategy to avoid becoming a repeat target for lawsuits.

What don’t we know yet?

1. What will the effect of credit counseling be on the number of filings?
2. How will the Means Test affect the number of chapter 13 filings?
3. What will the quality of chapter 13′s be?
4. What will the effect of the enhanced disclosures be on chapter 13 and chapter 7 recoveries?

The complete effect of the new Bankruptcy Law on the above isn’t clear yet but strategies and contingency plans will still need to be explored to be properly prepared for the environment after October 17, 2005.

The remaining session of this forum is scheduled for July 28, 2005 at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott. For further information, please contact Resource Management Services, Inc. at (562) 906-1101 or http://www.resourcemanagement.com/bkedforums/.