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9:30am – 10:30am: 1 Hour MCLE Recognition and Elimination of Bias in the Legal Profession and Society

Time for a New Trail: Confronting the Blaze of Sexual Harassment, Abuse and Assault in Our Society
In recent months, sexual harassment and assault claims against politicians, news anchors and Hollywood celebrities have been heavily publicized. Of course, such behavior is not limited to those industries, and it is important that we remain focused on eliminating discrimination in our workplaces and in society as a whole. This panel will discuss the current climate, what we can do to try to prevent sexual harassment from occurring, and how to effectively respond to claims when they arise.

KELLY POPE
Downey Brand; Sacramento

CATHY TA
Best Best & Krieger LLP; Riverside

HON. DEBORAH SALTZMAN
U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Central District;
Los Angeles

KAYE STEINSAPIR
Bryan Cave; Los Angeles

10:45am – 11:45am: 1 Hour MCLE Ethics Credit

Who’s Your Client and What Should You Do? Navigating the Right Path When You Receive Competing Instructions or Instructions with Questionable Motives
What should you do when your client is suffering from corporate deadlock and you receive competing instructions? What happens when the chief restructuring officer receives instructions from the board of directors that are at odds with the fiduciary duties owed to the estate? How do you ensure your closely held corporate debtor client fulfills its fiduciary duties? Learn how to handle these and other difficult situations that arise when it’s not crystal clear where your instructions are coming from or how best to respond.

ANTHONY BISCONTI
Bienert Miller & Katzman PLC; San Clemente

MEGHANN TRIPLETT
Margulies Faith LLP; San Luis Obispo

HON. VICTORIA KAUFMAN
U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Central District;
Woodland Hills

WHITMAN HOLT
Klee Tuchin Bogdanoff & Stern LLP; Los Angeles

MATTHEW D. SEDIGH
Conway MacKenzie; Los Angeles

12:30pm – 1:30pm

Climbing the Peak of Appellate Victory: Best Practices Before the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel
An interactive discussion between two sitting BAP judges and two appellate experts covering best appellate practices and avoiding pitfalls at trial. Topics will include the critical distinctions between the roles of the trial court and the appellate court, building a record, and tips on effective appellate advocacy.

LISA TORRES
Gates O ’Doherty Gonter & Guy LLP; San Diego

VALERIE BANTNER PEO
Buchalter; San Francisco

HON. JULIA BRAND
U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Central District;
Los Angeles

HON. WILLIAM LAFFERTY
U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Northern District;
Oakland

SUSAN FREEMAN
Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP; Phoenix

ROBBIN ITKIN
DLA Piper LLP (US); Los Angeles

1:30pm – 2:15pm

Judges’ Roundtable: Evidence
Rappel and traverse through evidentiary issues in a lively discussion with bankruptcy judges from throughout California. Participants will have a unique opportunity to discuss best practices and hot topics with regard to admissibility of evidence, objections to evidence, and evidentiary issues on appeal, as well as other topics of practical interest.

IVO KELLER
SSL Law Firm LLP; San Francisco

COREY WEBER
Brutzkus Gubner Rozansky Seror Weber LLP;
Los Angeles

2:45pm – 3:45pm

The Role and Importance of Financial Advisors and Investment Bankers in Ensuring a Successful Climb Out of the Valley of Debt
With retail bankruptcies expected to continue and the number of distressed companies expected to increase, the role of financial advisors, valuation experts, and investment bankers becomes integral to the process. This panel will discuss the importance of a proper valuation, the sale process, the difficulties that arise with intellectual property assets, purchase price adjustments, and strategic versus financial buyers.

GEORGE DEMOS
GlassRatner; Bakersfield

BETH GASCHEN
Weiland Golden Goodrich LLP; Costa Mesa

HON. THEODOR ALBERT
U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Central District;
Santa Ana

CHARLES DOYLE
Business Capital; San Francisco

TERI STRATTON
Piper Jaffray & Co; Los Angeles

RICK WYNNE
Jones Day; Los Angeles

4:00pm – 5:00pm

Debate Night: Mining for Gold in Recent Bankruptcy Cases
It’s another election year! Our expert “candidates” will debate and discuss hot bankruptcy topics ranging from equitable tolling to the definition of “initial transferee” under section 550(a), and our moderator-judges will tell us which candidate wins the day.

MAGGIE SCHROEDTER
Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP;San Diego

KELLY ANN TRAN
Mulvaney Barry Beatty Linn & Mayers LLP;
San Diego

HON. ROGER EFREMSKY, CHIEF JUDGE
U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Northern District; Oakland

HON. NEIL BASON
U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Central District;
Los Angeles

PENELOPE PARMES
Parmes Law; Irvine

MARC LEVINSON
Orrick; Sacramento

8:30am – 9:30am

Concentration: Round Two
A battle of memory between contestants will ensue when Judge Bluebond returns as the beloved game show host for a game of Concentration. This interactive format will cover recently decided bankruptcy cases and offer timely insights.

MONIQUE JEWETT-BREWSTER
Hopkins & Carley; San Jose

BRIAN OSBORNE
Rust Omni; Los Angeles

HON. SHERI BLUEBOND, CHIEF JUDGE
U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Central District;
Los Angeles

10:15am – 11:15am

Keynote Speaker : Cara Hale Alter, Author of The Credibility Code
Credibility. Leadership presence. Personal power. We know these qualities when we see them, but what are the cues that lead us to these impressions? Cara Hale Alter deconstructs what it takes to carry yourself like a leader. She emphasizes the power of the “sub-textual” conversation and identifies the specific “codes of conduct”—for posture, gestures, vocal skills, eye contact, and more—that influence the perception of credibility. Individually, these behaviors are easy to implement; together they form a skill set that can transform your career.

As founder and president of SpeechSkills, Cara has provided training to some of the world’s best-known companies, including Allianz, Caterpillar, eBay, Gap Inc., Google, IDEO, and Williams-Sonoma. A guest lecturer at UC Berkeley, Harvard University, Stanford University, and UC Hastings College of Law, Cara has also worked with numerous top-100 law firms, including DLA Piper, Morgan Lewis, O’Melveny & Myers, and White & Case. She is a frequent media resource, with appearances in Forbes.com, The Globe and Mail, USA Today, and countless other media outlets. In addition to penning The Credibility Code: How to Project Confidence and Competence When It Matters Most, Cara has produced award-winning educational videos on public speaking and managing nervousness.

11:15am – 12:15pm

Judges’ Roundtable: It’s Your Turn to Crack the Code
Now it’s your turn to use the skills of the Credibility Code to provide a compelling argument to the presiding judge at your table during our lively roundtable activity.

SUMMER SHAW
Doling Shaw & Hanover APC; Palm Desert

THOMAS RUPP
McNutt Law Group LLP; San Francisco

SATURDAY MAY 19, 1:30pm – 5:00pm



1:30pm – 2:30pm

Hiding in the Valley or Shouting from the Mountain – Debtors’ Schedules and Full Disclosure
What meets the standard of full disclosure in debtors’ schedules? How do you address non-filing spouse separate property, valuation and other property which may not be property of the estate? Our panel discusses relevant case law on this balancing act between too much and not enough information in debtors’ schedules and provides practical tips to avoid the many pitfalls.

LISA HOLDER
Klein DeNatale Goldner; Bakersfield

MICHAEL DAVIS
Brutzkus Gubner Rozansky Seror Weber LLP;
Los Angeles

HAGOP BEDOYAN
Klein DeNatale Goldner; Fresno

JENNY DOLING
Doling Shaw & Hanover APC; Palm Desert

M. JONATHAN HAYES
Simon Resnik Hayes LLP; Los Angeles

ED HAYS
Marshack Hays LLP; Irvine

3:00pm – 4:00pm

The Travails of the Western Homestead – Section 724 and Priority Non-dischargeable Debt
Trustees are using Section 724 to sell debtors’ residences, not pay homestead exemptions and may be leaving debtors homeless with priority non-dischargeable debt. Learn what you need to know when your debtors have tax liens on their family home.

RICHARD GOLUBOW
Winthrop Couchot Golubow Hollander LLP; Newport Beach

BRAD SMITH
GlassRatner; Los Angeles

HON. GREGG ZIVE
District of Nevada; Reno

LESLIE COHEN
Leslie Cohen Law PC; Los Angeles

MORGAN KING
The Morgan King Company; Dublin

SEAN O’KEEFE
O’Keefe & Associates Law Corporation PC; Newport Beach

4:00pm – 5:00pm

Strategies to Avoid the Darkness of the Mountain Shadows – Jacobson Revisited
Jacobsen requires reinvestment of homestead exemption proceeds within 6 months. Our panel will explore realistic compliance concepts for poor credit clients in the overpriced California housing market.

DAVID GOODRICH
Weiland Golden Goodrich LLP; Costa Mesa

BRIAN LANDAU
SLBiggs, a Division of SingerLewak; Los Angeles

HON. SCOTT CLARKSON
U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Central District;
Santa Ana

LYNDA BUI
Shulman Hodges & Bastian LLP; Irvine

MISTY PERRY ISAACSON
Pagter & Perry Isaacson APLC; Santa Ana

SATURDAY MAY 19, 12:30 – 3:40pm



The Young Insolvency Professional (YIP) programming is geared toward providing YIPs with the tools and support they need to further their professional development in the fields of bankruptcy and insolvency. The CBF envisions its YIP constituents as being either within their first five to eight years of practice, generally, or within their first five to eight years of practice in the insolvency industry.

12:30pm – 1:30pm

Keynote & Judicial Luncheon: The Peaks of Practice Excellence
Following the keynote address, this judicial roundtable will match judges with groups of young attorneys attempting to ascend the peaks of practice excellence. Discussion questions will elicit concrete and practical advice on professional advancement, trial practice, courtroom technology, oral argument, tentative rulings, local rules (and “local, local rules”) and other hot topics.

RENO FERNANDEZ – YIP Co-Chair
Macdonald Fernandez LLP; San Francisco

MATT SORENSON
Development Specialists, Inc; Los Angeles

HON. M. ELAINE HAMMOND
U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Northern District;
San Jose

1:35pm – 2:35pm

Discovery 101: Basics of Discovery for the Young Professional
This program will provide attendees with the “nuts and bolts” on the basics of discovery, including best practices for propounding and responding to discovery, common pitfalls to avoid, and practical pointers for young professionals. The presentation will be followed by a mock motion to compel to illustrate these newly-learned strategies.

CLAIRE WU – YIP Co-Chair
SulmeyerKupetz; Los Angeles

CHAD HAES
Marshack Hays; Irvine

HON. MARTIN BARASH
U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Central District;
Los Angeles

DIANE STANFIELD
Alston & Bird LLP; Los Angeles

AUTUMN SPAETH
Smiley | Wang-Ekvall; Costa Mesa

2:40pm – 3:40pm

How to Build a National Bankruptcy Practice from California
The reality of today’s corporate bankruptcy practice is that most significant chapter 11 cases are filed outside of California. This panel will explore what young California lawyers can do to practice meaningfully in chapter 11 cases on the East Coast and other jurisdictions and discuss some practical tips and highlight the differences in appearing before other bankruptcy courts.

JANE KIM – YIP Co-Chair
Keller Benvenutti LLP; San Francisco

YI SUN KIM
Greenberg & Bass LLP; Los Angeles

GREGG FICKS
Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP; San Francisco

ANDREW HINKELMAN
FTI Consulting; San Francisco

ORI KATZ
Sheppard Mullin; San Francisco

METTE KURTH
Fox Rothschild LLP; Los Angeles, Wilmington