176850544On October 22, 2013, Chadbourne & Parke hosted its seventh annual bankruptcy and restructuring conference at its offices in Rockefeller Plaza. This year, the event focused on the emerging roles for bankruptcy examiners in contested Chapter 11 mega-cases, and the panel brought together individuals with different viewpoints and past experiences working with (or as) examiners.

The panel was moderated by Howard Seife, Chadbourne partner and Global Chair of the firm’s Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group. The panel consisted of the following individuals:

  • Honorable Arthur J. Gonzalez, Senior Fellow at New York University School of Law and former Chief Judge of the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York;
  • David Dunn, Counsel, Distressed Opportunities, Arrowgrass Capital Partners;
  • Chérie Schaible, Managing Director and Associate General Counsel, AIG Investments and Financial Services;
  • Ralph Tuliano, Chief Executive Officer, Mesirow Financial Consulting; and
  • John Verrill, Partner, Chadbourne & Parke LLP (London).

The panel discussed the strategic use of examiners in some of the largest and most complex Chapter 11 cases, including ResCap, Tribune, Lehman and Enron, and explored the ever-increasing use of examiners to investigate and analyze potential causes of action, proposed settlements and other contentious issues. The program also addressed how independent bankruptcy investigations are conducted internationally and compared them with the examiner process in the United States.

A copy of the event materials, which review the standards for appointing examiners, the strategic use of examiner appointments, and several examiner case studies, is available here.