Candice L. Kline, Partner at Saul Ewing, will be speaking in an upcoming live video webinar, "Intersection of Bankruptcy and ADR: Issues for Creditors, Counterparties, and Plan Proponents" scheduled for Friday, February 16, 1:00pm-2:30pm EST.
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) issues arise in bankruptcy in primarily two ways. First, the debtor may be a party to a pre-petition arbitration clause, and the bankruptcy court must determine whether it must or should be enforced. Second, disputes and impasses arise in the bankruptcy case, and the parties may wish to have a third party to assist.
With no Supreme Court decisions on point, lower courts have been left to develop their own jurisprudence about the bankruptcy court's discretion to stay or require arbitration and on what types of issues, the preclusive effect of arbitrated facts and cases, the effect of filing a proof of claim, the effect of assumption and assignment of contracts, and other emerging issues.
At the same time, mediation has become a well-accepted option in bankruptcy cases as an alternative to expensive and public litigation. Mediation offers the parties enormous flexibility on a wide range of issues but can become unwieldy when large numbers of stakeholders are involved or even give rise to other disputes. Counsel must be aware of all the issues.
Our panel will offer guidance to bankruptcy lawyers contending with delays, additional costs, and confusion that can result when bankruptcy and ADR intersect. The program will discuss how bankruptcy courts analyze the enforceability of pre-petition arbitration clauses, mediation of disputes that arise during the case, and the unforeseen challenges of mediating large cases.
We will consider these and other key issues:
- Does a bankruptcy court have discretion to deny enforcement of a contractual arbitration provision?
- In what instances does the use of mediation arise and where can it perhaps be most useful, including in the context of plan mediation?
- What are best practices and tools for a successful mediation?
After the presentations, there will be a live question and answer session so we can answer your questions about these important issues directly.
