Every autumn for the past eight years, attorneys, judges, trustees and other bankruptcy professionals come together for The Annual Bankruptcy Conference (hereinafter referred to as the “Conference”) presented by the Connecticut Bar Association (hereinafter referred to as the “CBA”). The CBA has been “advancing the legal profession and the principles of law and justice since 1875.” The yearly event is “a critical overview of best practices and ethical considerations in both commercial and consumer bankruptcy.”
The first Conference was held at Water’s Edge Resort & Spa in Westbrook, Connecticut in 2018. The big topic that year was the then-new Local Bankruptcy Rules of Procedure. I vividly remember eagerly attending very clearly, and hanging on every word the guest speaker, Dr. Deborah Thorne, of the University of Idaho, had to say in her presentation. Dr. Thorne, the Co-Principal Investigator of the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, presented her “observations and ponderings” of a long-term study, which concluded with her “most compelling findings…[that] consistently the leading causes of bankruptcy are job loss (decline in income) and medical expenses.” She opined that “households typically struggle for years in the ‘sweatbox’ before they file bankruptcy.” She has gone on to co-author “Debt’s Grip” which was just published this year.
In 2019, the Conference moved to Saint Clements Castle & Marina, a more centralized location in Portland, Connecticut. Topics that year included discharge of taxes, preserving the family business during the owner’s bankruptcy, representing the self-employed debtor engaged in business in Chapter 13, how to confirm a contested Chapter 11 plan, ethical considerations in cyber security and the most interesting topic: The U.S. Supreme Court and Bankruptcy, which led me to read Ronald J. Mann’s book on the subject.
In 2020, the Bankruptcy Court didn’t miss a beat, pivoting extremely quickly to telephonic and remote proceedings due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the Conference followed suit.
The Conference was held virtually again in 2021, and topics included how to cure and maintain a mortgage after a foreclosure judgment, Sub Chapter V issues, the assumption of personal and real property leases in Chapter 13 and the exercise of options to purchase and §363 sales.
In November of 2022, the Conference returned to an in-person event and every year since has been held at St. Clements Castle. It is “attended by experienced bankruptcy professionals throughout the region,” notes the CBA on their website. Over the years, many Bankruptcy Judges from other states come to the Conference and it is interesting to hear their perspectives at the Judges’ Roundtable which is the second plenary presentation after the three local Connecticut Bankruptcy Judges report the “State of the Court.”
Saint Clements Castle was built in 1898 for Howard Taylor, an attorney (coincidentally). Construction on the castle was completed on November 23rd which is the feast of Saint Clement, a Pope and Martyr in the Catholic Church, and that is how it received its name. It is located on a 90-acre site that includes a marina, stables and an art gallery. It is mostly used as a wedding venue and sometimes corporate event space.
During the Conference we are given breakfast, lunch, desert, snacks (like a German pretzel bar), unlimited coffee and at the of the day, a cocktail reception. It’s quite a fun event at a beautiful location on the banks of the Connecticut River. It is especially stunning in the Fall with all of the colorful foliage. But the best part of all is commiserating with my fellow bankruptcy colleagues, especially since COVID, as most of our work now takes place in our individual offices and on Zoom.gov so the Conference does offer a unique opportunity to actually see each other.
The 2022 Conference offered plenary and concurrent consumer and commercial sessions on topics such as the impact of Bankruptcy on real estate transactions, value allocation in Chapter 11, non-consensual third-party releases, modern issues of diversity and bankruptcy court practice, appreciation and depreciation of bankruptcy assets, trial practice in bankruptcy court, collateralization of digital assets and what to do when you’ve been hacked.
The sixth annual Conference in 2023 gave us a primer on the Department of Justice’s Student Loan Bankruptcy Litigation Guidance, as well as sessions about Good Faith issues in Consumer Bankruptcies, Stealth Objections to Exemptions, litigation funding, elder fraud, and cannabis and insolvency.
Unfortunately, in 2024, I was unable to attend the Conference because I was on trial but the Conference went on without me and my colleagues attended and learned about such things as mediation and state tax claims in bankruptcy proceedings.
The 8th and most recent Conference, was held on October 9, 2025, at Saint Clements Castle once again. I was fortunate to attend. My favorite part was The Judges’ Roundtable and the conversation about the Automatic Stay.
Every year the Conference offers plenary sessions where all attendees come together for presentations on general topics and then they split off into two tracks: Consumer and Commercial. This year’s Commercial Track attendees learned about director and officer liability and insurance issues, and appellate issues in bankruptcy. The Consumer Track attendees learned about managing distressed clients and avoiding disputes with difficult litigants. I am a consumer (not commercial) bankruptcy attorney, and frankly, I was disappointed with the Consumer Track offerings this year. Hopefully, in the future it will return to more substantive topics such as how to defend clients in Adversary Proceedings or a line-by-line breakdown of the Means Test.
But overall, the Conference is something I look forward to year after year.