Contact:  John Hartgen 
              Phone: (703) 739-0800
              Email: [email protected]

ABI ANNUAL SPRING MEETING SET FOR APRIL 20-23

FEBRUARY 6, 2006, Alexandria, Va. --More than 1,000 bankruptcy professionals will attend the American Bankruptcy Institute's (ABI) 24th Annual Spring Meeting, to be held April 20-23, 2006, at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C. The conference features a number of programs to address a wide array of timely insolvency issues.

The special guest speaker at this year's meeting will be Kathleen Ligocki, president and CEO of Tower Automotive, who will discuss the problems U.S. manufacturers currently face at a special plenary session on Friday morning. Also featured will be political pundit Morton Kondracke, executive editor of The Weekly Standardand co-host of “The Beltway Boys” on Fox News. Mr. Kondracke is the luncheon keynote on Friday, April 21.

In addition to the 19 hours of CLE credit, ABI will also hold Bankruptcy Fundamentals: Nuts and Bolts for Young Practitioners on Thursday, April 20. At this special seminar, an outstanding faculty of judges and practitioners will explain the fundamentals of bankruptcy in separate consumer and business tracks.

The conference educational program begins on April 21 with ABI's Tenth Annual Great Debates, moderated by ABI's Vice President of Education Neil P. Olack of Duane Morris LLP (Atlanta). The event consists of three debates.  In Debate No. 1, 'A Chapter 11 Case Should Be Dismissed if it Would Only Benefit Secured Creditors,' Judy A. O’Neill of Foley & Lardner LLP (Detroit)will debate Debra I. Grassgreen of Pachulski, Stang, Ziehl, Young, Jones & Weintraub PC (San Francisco).

In Debate No. 2, ' Installment Redemption Is No Longer Available in Consumer Cases,'Richardo I. Kilpatrick of Kilpatrick & Associates, PC (Auburn Hills, Mich.) will debate Ford Elsaesser of Elsaesser, Jarzabek, Anderson, Marks, Elliot & McHugh, Chtd. (Sandpoint, Idaho).

In Debate No. 3, ' The New Legislation Is Unconstitutional,'Deborah D. Williamsonof Cox Smith Matthews Incorporated (San Antonio)will debate Mark M. Maloneyof King & Spalding LLP (Atlanta).

Expert panels have been organized in concurrent sessions, allowing conference attendees to choose the one that most interests them.  Speakers include bankruptcy judges, accountants, attorneys, turnaround managers, law professors, trustees and others.

In 'New World of International Insolvencies: Chapter 15 and Beyond,' George M. Kelakos of   Kelakos Advisors LLC (Greenwich, Conn.) will moderate a panel featuring Judge Charles G. Case, II (Phoenix), Steven G. Golick of Osler, Hoskins & Harcourt LLP (Toronto), Timothy P. O'Connor of Jefferies & Company, Inc. (New York) and Ian G. Williams of Geldards LLP (Nottingham, England).

William A. Brandt, Jr. of Development Specialists, Inc. (Chicago), Melissa Kibler Knoll of Mesirow Financial Consulting LLC (Chicago) and John Tittle, Jr. of LECG LLC (Dallas) will take part in the plenary session on 'Can the Problems Facing U.S. Manufacturers Be Fixed?'

Judge Eugene R. Wedoff of U.S. Bankruptcy Court (Chicago) will moderate a “Judges’ Roundtable” session with Judge Colleen A. Brown (Rutland, Vt.), Judge Robert R. Gerber (New York), Judge Jeffrey P. Hopkins (Cincinnati) and Judge Marjorie Rendell (Philadelphia).

Brian L. Shawof Shaw Gussis Fishman Glantz Wolfson & Towbin LLC (Chicago) will moderate the 'More Mouths to Feed: Professional Compensation in the Post– BAPCPA Environment' and joined on the panel by Judge Stephen W. Rhodes (Detroit), Prof. Stephen J. Lubben of Seton Hall Law School (Newark, N.J) and David S. Miller of Giuliani Capital Advisors LLC (Atlanta).

In 'Implementing BAPCPA: More Rules and New Roles,'  LawrenceR. Ahern, III, of Greenebaum Doll & McDonald PLLC (Nashville, Tenn.) will moderate a panel featuring Judge Bruce A. Markell (Las Vegas) and Felicia S. Turner with the U.S. Trustee's Office (Atlanta).

Nancy A. Petermanof Greenberg Traurig, LLP (Chicago) will moderate 'Anatomy of a Health Care Insolvency' and joined by panelists Sarah B. Foster of Haynes and Boone, LLP (Austin, Texas), David Hillman of Verrill Dana LLP/Innolex (New York), Paul J. Ricotta of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, PC (Boston) and Guy Sansone of Alvarez & Marsal, LLC (New York).

Rebecca A. Roofof AlixPartners LLC (New York) will moderate 'Turnarounds after BAPCPA: Should We All Become Liquidators?' The panel will also features Mitchell H. Cohen of Gordon Brothers Group, LLC (Boston), Steven N. Cousins of Armstrong Teasdale, LLP (St. Louis), Cynthia Nelson of FTI Consulting, Inc. (Los Angeles) and Judge Mary F. Walrath (Wilmington, Del.).

'Asset Protection after BAPCPA: Testing the Limits' will be moderated by Rudy J. Cerone of McGlinchey Stafford, PLLC (New Orleans) and featuring a panel of Howard Brod Brownsteinof NachmanHaysBrownstein, Inc. (Narberth, Pa.) and Thomas O. Wells of Berger Singerman PA (Miami).

Michael P. Richmanof Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP (New York) will moderate a plenary session titled 'Effective Appellate Practice: A Mock Presentation' and will be joined by Judge Joan N. Feeney (Boston), Judge James D. Gregg (Grand Rapids, Mich), Judge Jennie D. Latta (Memphis, Tenn.) and Daniel W. Sklar of Nixon Peabody LLP (Manchester, N.H.).

'New Case Law Developments and Other Hot Topics' will be moderated by Christopher F. Graham of Thacher Proffitt & Wood, LLP (New York) and be joined by a panel featuring ABI Resident Scholar Prof. John D. Ayer of the UC Davis School of Law (Chico, Calif.), Jo Ann J. Brighton of Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman, LLP (Charlotte, N.C.), Daniel F. Dooley of Morris-Anderson & Associates, Ltd. (Des Plaines, Ill.) and Judge C. Ray Mullins (Atlanta).

David J. Doyaga(Brooklyn, N.Y.) will be joined by Judge Catharine R. Carruthers (Winston Salem, N.C.) and Beth Roberts Derrick of the Office of the U.S. Trustee (Nashville, Tenn.) on the panel titled 'Consumer Lawyer vs. Client: The Ethics of Disclosure after BAPCPA.'

Prof. Jack F. Williamsof Georgia State University/BDO Seidman, LLP (Atlanta) will moderate 'Business: Ethics and the Plan Process– When is the Client a Fiduciary, and What Does That Mean?' and be joined on the panel by Daniel C. Cohn of Cohn of Whitesell & Goldberg LLP (Boston), Dawn Ragan of XRoads Solutions Group (Dallas, TX) and Judge Linda B. Riegle (Las Vegas).

The Annual Spring Meeting has consistently been ABI's biggest conference. It is one of two annual conferences where ABI committees and subcommittees meet. More than 20 such committees will hold programs for CLE credit. The four-day conference offers approximately 19 hours credit, including three hours of ethics.The conference also provides attendees with numerous opportunities to network with their colleagues. 

Those who register by March 24 will receive a $20 discount on the late registration rate.

The American Board of Certification (ABC) will offer its Consumer Bankruptcy, Business Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights exams on Thursday, April 20, from 9:00 a.m.­5:00 p.m. at The JW Marriott. For details please visit the ABC web site at www.abcworld.org or e-mail [email protected].

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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes more than 11,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abiworld.org/events.html.