Debt's Grip and Perspectives From the Bankruptcy Community

This seminar will begin with a moderated discussion of Professor Robert M. Lawless’s Debt’s Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy. The discussion will use the book’s research as a starting point to explore consumer financial distress and broader issues of diversity, access, and fairness in the bankruptcy system, including patterns in who files for bankruptcy, chapter selection, the financial pressures that lead individuals and families to seek bankruptcy relief, and the role and practical limits of the bankruptcy system.

The second half will feature a panel discussion drawing on the speakers’ professional experiences, insights, and perspectives, including how these issues arise in day-to-day bankruptcy practice and what judges and practitioners are seeing in the cases before them. Panelist David K. Welch will add a small-business perspective, discussing how themes raised in the consumer-bankruptcy context can also intersect with the financial challenges experienced by small-business debtors, particularly Subchapter V debtors.

Panelists

• Robert M. Lawless, Professor of Law and Co-Director, Illinois Program on Law, Behavior and Social Science, University of Illinois
• Chief Judge Jacqueline P. Cox, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• Judge Deborah L. Thorne, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• David K. Welch, Partner and Restructuring, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Chair, Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella, P.C.

Moderator

• Jade Edwards, Manager, Counsel, Capital One

One hour of Illinois MCLE credit is available for confirmed registrants who provide their ARDC number via the online registration form. All guests must register in advance to attend.