Can bankruptcy protection ever be an option for cannabis and cannabis-related businesses? This panel examines the current state of the law for businesses that operate in the cannabis industry, whether any of those can be eligible for bankruptcy relief, the rights, remedies, and the mechanics of bankruptcy alternatives such as receiverships or assignments for the benefit of creditors available to restructure or liquidate a distressed cannabis business.

The demands and costs of e-discovery in bankruptcy litigation continue to grow. Most bankruptcy litigation involves some level of e-discovery, and it is essential to know how to effectively and fairly handle the many issues that can arise. This panel will provide an assessment of the current state of e-discovery practice. It will provide tips and strategies for avoiding pitfalls, and discuss important ethical issues in light of court decisions imposing discovery sanctions and outlining the duties of clients, outside and in-house counsel.

Limited liability companies are outpacing corporations as the preferred business form. But the Bankruptcy Code does not deal specifically with these popular entities. This panel will discuss the rapidly evolving law addressing many of the unique issues that LLCs present, such as the interaction between the Bankruptcy Code and state law relating to member-managed and manager-managed LLCs, single- member LLCs, LLCs as assets of an estate, charging liens, restrictions on attachment or transfer of membership interests, and forced insolvencies.

Creditors and trustees frequently face the challenge of seizing hard-to-reach assets that debtors either fail to disclose or identify as being unavailable to pay creditor claims. Last year’s conference discussed the standards that meet the full disclosure requirement in bankruptcy. This year, our panel will discuss investigative measures to discover hidden assets, “consent directives,” and other rights and remedies available to overcome debtors’ creative attempts to shield estate property from the reach of creditors and trustees.

You’ve heard the usual reasons given for filing bankruptcy cases outside of California. This panel will move beyond those and examine divergent case law that debtors and their advisors should consider when determining where to file a chapter 11 business case, as well as legal factors that courts consider when evaluating requests to transfer cases to venues that are arguably more convenient to creditors, employees and other stakeholders.