Contact: Rali Mileva    
                (703) 739-0800
                rmileva@abiworld.org

ABI’s Popular Central States Bankruptcy Workshop
Scheduled for June 16 – 19

April 6, 2005, Alexandria, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute’s (ABI) Twelfth Annual Central States Bankruptcy Workshop will be held June 16 – 19 at the Grand Traverse Resort in Traverse City, Mich. More than 300 will attend. This year’s conference offers attendees the opportunity to earn 10 hours of CLE credit.  Sheryl L. Toby of Dykema Gossett PLLC (Detroit, Mich.) is the program chair. Judicial co-chairs are Hon. Steven W. Rhodes (Detroit, Mich.) and Hon. Phillip Shefferly (Detroit, Mich.). Sponsorship chair is Michael P. Thomas of BBK Ltd. (Southfield, Mich.).

Coverage of the coming new bankruptcy law will be incorporated into the relevant workshop topics.

Judge Mary Ann Whipple will moderate a breakfast panel on “Winning the Battleof Experts: A Demonstration.” She will be joined by Judge Pamela S. Hollis (N.D. Illinois), Judge Marci B. McIvor (E.D. Michigan) and Louis P. Rochkind of Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer & Weiss PC (Southfield, Mich.).

Donald S. MacKenzie of Conway, MacKenzie & Dunleavy (Birmingham, Mich.) will moderate the panel “Everything You Need to Know About the Auto Supplier Industry.” Kimberly Davis Rodriguez of Stout Risius Ross Inc. (Farmington Hills, Mich.), Neil A. Sitko of Sitko & Co. (Rochester, Mich.) and Bettina M. Whyte of AlixPartners LLC (New York) will join as panelists.

The panel Post-Petition Transfers: Let’s Get It Back will be moderated by Judge James D. Gregg (W.D. Michigan). Accompanying him as panelists will be Richard S. Lauter of Seyfarth Shaw LLP (Chicago), Deborah L. Thorne of Barnes & Thornburg LLP (Chicago) and Steven B. Towbin of Shaw Gussis Fishman Glantz Wolfson & Towbin LLC (Chicago).

Hon. Phillip J. Shefferly (E.D. Michigan) will serve as moderator for the panel The Ten Evidence and Procedure Rules You Don’t Know About But Should. Ronald R. Peterson, of Jenner & Block LLP (Chicago), Michael P. Richman of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP (New York) and Louis P. Rochkind of Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer & Weiss PC (Southfield, Mich.) will join in as panelists.

Moderator Robert D. Gordon of Clark Hill PLC (Detroit) will be joined by panelists Robert B. Millner of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP (Chicago), Timothy F. Nixon, of Godfrey & Kahn SC (Green Bay, Wisc.) and Judge Susan Pierson Sonderby (N.D.  Illinois) in the discussion Preclusion Issues: Been There, Done That.

Winnifred P. Boylan of Lambert, Leser, Isackson, Cook & Giunta PC (Bay City, Mich.), David R. Shook (Flint, Mich.) and   Joel Alan Schechter (Chicago) will serve as panelists in the discussion Secured Property in Chapter 7. Judge Susan V. Kelley (E.D. Wisconsin) will moderate.

Client Control & Education in Consumer Cases: Law, Ethics & Reality will be discussed by Judge Robert D. Martin (W.D. Wisconsin), Karen E. Evangelista (Auburn Hills, Mich.) and  Lawrence A. Friedman, current director of the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees (Washington, D.C.).

Judge A. Benjamin Goldgar (N.D. Illinois) will serve as moderator for the panel Claims: Objections, Estimation, Tardy Claims, Subordination, Recharacterization, Administration, Mediation and Preferences as Claims Objections. He will be joined by Elias T. Majoros of Gold Lange & Majoros PC (Southfield, Mich.), Anne B. Miller of Novare Inc. (Crystal Lake, Ill.) and Alex D. Moglia of Alex D. Moglia & Associates Inc. (Schaumburg, Ill.).

The panel Case Administration: How to Set Up Mid-size and Large-size Cases will be moderated by Judge Thomas J. Tucker (E.D. Michigan). Richard Cohen of GCG (New Albany, Ohio), Timothy R. Pohl of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (Chicago) and David K. Welch of Crane, Heyman, Simon, Welch & Clar (Chicago) will serve as panelists.

Timothy J. Curtin of Varnum, Riddering, Schmidt & Howlett LLP (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Daniel F. Gosch of Dickinson Wright PLLC (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and Janice F. Murray of Amherst Partners LLC (Birmingham, Mich.) will join moderator William Jonathan S. Green of Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone PLC (Detroit) for the panel Forbearance Agreements: Negotiation and Enforcement.

Judge Carol A. Doyle (N.D. Illinois) will be joined by panelists Robert S. Hertzberg of Pepper Hamilton LLP (Detroit), Tracy L. Treger of Gardner Carton & Douglas LLC (Chicago) and Timothy G. Weed of Plante & Moran LLP (Southfield, Mich.) in the discussion Disguised Financing: Lease or (Unperfected) Security Interest?

The Consumer Credit & Mortgage Industries: Looking Ahead will be moderated by Melyssa R. Barrett of Visa USA Inc. (San Francisco). She will be joined by panelists Bob Caruso of Bank of America (Charlotte, N.C.) and L.V. “Gus” Patterson of Citizens Bank (Saginaw, Mich.).

Judge Steven W. Rhodes (E.D. Michigan) will moderate a discussion on Conversion Issues: Between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 (With Maybe a Little Chapter 11 Thrown in Too, for Laughs). Accompanying him as panelists will be Robert J. Adams of Robert J. Adams & Associates (Chicago), Christopher P. Reilly of the Office of Krispen Carroll, Chapter 13 Trustee (Detroit) and Norman C. Witte (Lansing).

Judge Arthur I. Harris (N.D. Ohio) will serve as moderator for the breakfast panel  Supreme Court, Sixth Circuit & Seventh Circuit Case Review. Judge Carol A. Doyle (N.D. Illinois), Judge Philip Klingeberger (N.D. Indiana) and Judge Phillip J. Shefferly (E.D. Michigan) will join as panelists.

Participants in the Judges Roundtable Discussion include Judge James D. Gregg (W.D. Michigan), Judge Susan V. Kelley (E.D. Wisconsin), Judge Philip Klingeberger (N.D. Indiana), Judge Robert D. Martin (W.D. Wisconsin), Judge Phillip J. Shefferly, (E.D. of Michigan), Judge John H. Squires (N.D. Illinois) and Judge Mary Ann Whipple (N.D. of Ohio).

The American Board of Certification (ABC) will offer its business bankruptcy, consumer bankruptcy and creditors’ rights exams on  June 16 from 9:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m.  Details on the certification process, exam composition and a sample exam can be obtained by calling ABC at (703) 739-1023, by e-mailing abc@abbcworld.org or by visiting the ABC web site at http://www.abcworld.org.

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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, non-partisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes over 10,600 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit ABI World. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html.