Fall 2018 Meeting Recap

This past November, BCLC presented three CLE programs at the Fall CLE Meeting in Washington, DC, on November 16, 2018.  The day started with “Bankruptcy for Breakfast,” which discussed significant insolvency cases from the prior year.  Katherine Good of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLC in Wilmington, Delaware moderated the program.  The panelists were Judge Elizabeth Stong of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York, Michael Rubenstein of Liskow & Lewis in Houston and Erin Diers of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP in New York.  Christopher Samis of Whiteford, Taylor was the program chair.

At 10:30 am was “The Future of Class Actions.”   This program considered recent case law from the Supreme Court that has significantly altered the contours of class action litigation.  It examined and considered the implications of decisions such as Spokeo, Tyson, Campbell-Ewald, Epic and Cyan, which will reverberate through the legal system, as will the appointment of a new Justice.  George Calhoun of Ifrah LLC in Washington, DC moderated the program and chaired it.  On the panel were Judge Heather Welch of Indiana Superior Court, Richard Shevitz of Cohen & Malad LLP in Indianapolis, Bradley Bondi of Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP in Washington, DC and Tracey Roman of Crowell & Moring LLP in Washington, DC.

The perennial favorite Supreme Court program, “A tour of the Ivory Tower,” was presented after lunch.  Kendyl Hanks of Greenberg Traurig in Austin chaired and moderated the program.  The panelists – all located in Washington DC -- were Beth Brinkmann of Covington & Burling LLP, Brianne Gorod of the Constitutional Accountability Center and Robert Barnes of the Washington Post.  The program focused on cases of interest to the business community from the Supreme Court’s prior term.