ABA Business Law Section to host Fall Meeting, Nov. 17-18 in D.C.

Government officials from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the chief judge of the Delaware Supreme Court, federal bankruptcy judges, as well as leading national and international business law experts and practitioners will be among the speakers at the American Bar Association Business Law Section Fall Meeting, Nov. 17-18 in Washington, D.C. The conference will cover such topics as bankruptcy, government investigations and enforcement action and recent Supreme Court decisions that impact major business cases.

Featured speakers will include Dalia Blass, director of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management, who will discuss the current priorities with the division during her presentation on Friday from 9:30-10:30 a.m. in Ritz Ballroom Salon 111B, Ballroom Level.

Later in the day at the section luncheon, Simon Lorne, vice chairman and chief legal officer for Millennium and the former general counsel of the SEC from 1993-1996, will deliver the keynote address from 12:30-2 p.m. Lorne also serves as the chairman of the Alternative Investment Management Association.

Other program highlights include:

• “Bankruptcy for Breakfast” — Panelists, which will include federal judges Elizabeth S. Stong, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, and Christopher Sontchi, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington, will focus on developments in business bankruptcy in 2017. The panelists will provide an overview of statistical filing information from the courts, analysis of recent significant cases, trends in international insolvencies and cross-border cases, and predictions for the bankruptcy and insolvency industry in 2018.

• “Know Your Business Partners:  A Must to Managing Money Laundering, Trade Sanctions, and Corruption Risks” — Moderator Suhuyini Abudulai, a partner with Cassels Brock in Toronto, Ontario, will guide panelists as they provide an international overview of money laundering, trade sanctions, and corruption laws and trends, applying the laws to an international business operation — how to identify the risk to your client, and practical solutions to coordinate compliance across borders.

• “Dialogue with Former Directors of the Division of Corporation Finance” — This panel of former directors of the SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance will discuss current finance compliance and disclosure interpretations and related issues and look ahead to 2018. Speakers are Meredith B. Cross, partner, WilmerHale, Washington, D.C.; Keith F. Higgins, chair, Securities & Governance Practice, Ropes & Gray, Boston; and John W. White, partner, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, New York, N.Y.

• “Tour of the Ivory Tower:  Developments in the U.S. Supreme Court for Business Lawyers and Clients” — Panelists will discuss major developments in the U.S. Supreme Court over the last term, with an emphasis on major business cases. The panel will cover significant decisions from the October 2017 term, and important cases pending for decision in the next term.  The panel will also discuss recent changes in the court’s composition (including the confirmation of Justice Gorsuch), and where the court is headed in the broader context of Supreme Court jurisprudence. Moderator Kendyl Hanks, shareholder; Greenberg Traurig, Austin, Texas, will be joined by speakers: Neal Katyal, partner, Hogan Lovells; Washington, D.C.; William Joy; partner and co-chair, Appellate Litigation, Goodwin, Washington, D.C.; Brianne Gorod, chief counsel, Constitutional Accountability Center, Washington, D.C.; and Robert Barnes; Supreme Court correspondent, The Washington Post; Washington, D.C.

• “Fiduciary Challenges and Revenue Opportunities in Managing Investment Portfolio-Related Litigation as an Asset” — Investors have exposure to hundreds of securities and market fraud cases yielding billions of dollars in payouts globally. Often neglected by investors, these cases implicate risk given their management is outside most investors’ core competencies.  We will explore opportunities to improve returns and minimize cost and risk in their management as an asset. Speakers are Daniel Sommers, partner; Cohen Millstein Sellers & Toll PLLC; Washington, D.C.; and Brian Bartow, general counsel/chief compliance officer, California State Teachers Retirement System, Sacramento, Calif.