ABI Podcast

Does Debtor Financial Education Matter
ABI Resident Scholar Laura Bartell (Wayne State University Law School) visits with Prof. Katherine Porter (University of Iowa College of Law) and Prof. Deborah Thorne (Ohio University) about their recent empirical study concerning debtors' perception of the financial management course requirement mandated by BAPCPA. The study found that while many debtors express optimism about the future benefits of financial education, only about one in three debtors believes financial education could have prevented their bankruptcy. The findings have implications for designing financial education curricula and for understanding the causal relationship between financial distress and financial knowledge.

Examining Distress in the Commercial Real Estate Market
With $1.4 trillion in commercial property loans coming due over the next four years, lenders are expected to face overwhelming demand to refinance existing borrowings. ABI's Executive Director Sam Gerdano talks with Paul Melville and Sandy Reese, both principals in Grant Thornton LLP's Corporate Advisory & Restructuring Services and authors of the white paper titled Commercial Real Estate: Why a Rising Tide Won't Lift All Boats. The white paper found that opportunities to refinance existing commercial real estate (CRE) loans may be limited as capital continues to be tough to come by.

Foreclosures Rise Despite Govt Programs
The massive Wall Street and Consumer Protection Act is billed as Washington's solution to prevent a recurring financial meltdown. But the law doesn't do much to address the housing finance nightmare at the root of the weak economy. In the latest ABI Podcast, Executive Director Sam Gerdano discusses what's next for the mortgage industry with Gibran Nicholas, the CEO of the Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist Institute and a home mortgage expert. How will the new law impact underwriting guidelines and interest rates? Will strategic defaults continue? Should Congress reconsider using chapter 13 to modify the mortgage principal down to current market values, as a way to save homes?

Examination of the Poverty Business
ABI Executive Director Sam Gerdano talks with Gary Rivlin, the author of BROKE, USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc. – How the Working Poor Became Big Business. Rivlin's book features his research into the 'poverty business,' examining how payday lenders, check cashers and other subprime lenders target those consumers that are most economically susceptible to financial shocks.

Beware Labor Law Traps When Restructuring a Workforce
Prominent management-side labor lawyer Mark DeBernardo (Jackson Lewis; Washington) provides tips for restructuring professionals needing effective and legally sound ways to downsize a workforce. He identifies the most common and costly mistakes made by employers in implementing layoffs and describes the evidence needed to make a business justification for reductions-in-force.

Reforming Small Business Bankruptcy
The latest ABI Podcast is a conversation between ABI Resident Scholar Juliet Moringiello and Melissa Jacoby, the George R. Ward Prof. of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, discussing potential reforms to small business bankruptcy. Prof. Jacoby discusses why chapter 11 is a difficult fit for many financially distressed small businesses and some of the potential fixes to the Bankruptcy Code that would be more suitable to a small business looking to file for bankruptcy

Chapter 9 Experts Discussing Municipal Distress
The latest ABI Podcast features a panel discussion led by ABI Resident Scholar Prof. Juliet Moringiello and Patrick Darby of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, Daniel Egan of DLA Piper LLP, Marc Levinson of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and George South of DLA Piper LLP to discuss municipal distress. As four of the five authors of Municipalities in Peril: The ABI Guide to Chapter 9, Darby, Egan, Levinson and South discuss their book and some of the unique problems that arise under chapter 9. They also discuss recent chapter 9 filings, including Vallejo, Calif. and cities reportedly said to have considered a chapter 9 filing, including Jefferson County, Ala. Click here to listen to the podcast.

The Critical Role of Private Equity
ABI Executive Director Samuel G. Gerdano talks with Peter S. Kaufman and Henry F. Owsley, the co-founders of the Gordian Group LLC, an investment bank specializing in distressed investments. Kaufman and Owsley discuss some of the current challenges for private equity firms looking to invest in distressed companies during the current economic downturn.