The American Bankruptcy Institute recently published the fifth edition of its Creditors' Committee Manual.  The Manual, which is intended to assist members of creditors' committees in carrying out their duties, is the product of a Task Force co-chaired by Joseph Bodoff.  Over 40,000 copies of the Manual are in print.  Originally published in 1994, it is regularly distributed by U.S. Trustees to newly-formed creditors' committees.   The current edition, which was updated by Mr. Bodoff, contains changes necessitated by the enactment of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005.

Joseph Bodoff was appointed as co-chair of the newly-formed American Bankruptcy Institute Task Force on Bankruptcy Rules.  The Task Force initially will be studying the proposed Bankruptcy Rules and forms implementing the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 and making recommendations to the Rules Advisory Committee.  In the longer term, the Task Force will continue to examine bankruptcy rules and forms after the adoption of the new rules implementing BAPCPA.

Joseph Bodoff recently participated on a panel addressing developments under the new bankruptcy law, since it became effective on October 17, 2005.  Mr. Bodoff addressed developments in the areas of creditors' committees and small business bankruptcies.  The program was sponsored by the Bankruptcy Section of the Boston Bar Association. 

Joseph Bodoff taught a seminar on the topic Ten Things You Should Know About the New Bankruptcy Law in connection with the NACM Eastern Region Credit Conference, held in Boston.  The program focused on the most important areas of the new law for credit professionals, with an emphasis on the things they might be able to do independently of legal counsel inconnection with their extensions of credit and the way they participate in bankruptcy proceedings.

Joseph Bodoff participated on a panel sponsored by the Boston Bar Association on the changes affecting business bankruptcies contained in the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005.  He was joined on the panel by six other lawyers and two bankruptcy judges.  Mr. Bodoff's portion of the program covered the new small business provisions and a variety of changes in the law that affect pre-filing planning and the early stages of Chapter 11 cases.  The program was attended by approximately 200 bankruptcy lawyers.

Bodoff & Associates is pleased to announce that Ryan Duffy Sullivan has joined the firm as an associate.  Mr. Sullivan has significant experience in the areas of bankruptcy litigation and commerical litigation, including construction-related litigation.  The addition of Mr. Sullivan is the result of significant expansion in the firm's overall practice.

Joseph Bodoff moderated a panel titled Involuntary Cases: The Pitfalls and Guidance on Best Practice at the 12th Annual Northeast Bankruptcy Conference, sponsored by the American Bankruptcy Institute.  Mr. Bodoff regularly uses the involuntary bankruptcy petition as a way of protecting the interests of his creditor clients.   He discussed the practical reasons why he files involuntary bankruptcy petitions, alternatives to the filing of an involuntary petition, and strategies to make the most out of the involuntary bankruptcy.  Mr. Bodoff co-chaired the Northeast Bankruptcy Conference during its first seven years.  It is the largest of ABI's regional bankruptcy conferences.

Joseph Bodoff was the featured speaker at a seminar on the new bankruptcy law sponsored by NACM-New England.  The program focused on those provisions of the recently enacted bankruptcy amendments that most affect credit professionals.

Joseph Bodoff particpated on a panel on the new bankruptcy amendments at a program sponsored by NACM-Oregon.  The program focused on both business and consumer amendments to the new law, with an emphasis on those provisions that most affect the credit professional.

Joseph Bodoff participated on a program on Credit Fraud at a meeting of the National Forest Products Group.  This was the third time that Mr. Bodoff presented this popular program to a group of credit professionals.  The program covers such topics as discovering fraud, reducing the chances that a credit grantor will be defrauded, the remedies that may be pursued by a defrauded creditor, and ways in which the defrauded creditor can increase its chances of winning at trial.

On April 20, 2005, President Bush signed into law the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005.  That Act makes significant changes to both business and consumer bankruptcy law, including the so-called preference law.  Changes to the preference provisions came, in part, from recommendations made in a study undertaken by the American Bankruptcy Institute under Joseph Bodoff's leadership.  The changes to the preference law are:

• It sets a $5,000 threshold for bringing a preference action.
• It provides for all preference actions of less than $10,000 to be brought where the defendant is located.
• It sets a more liberal standard as to what payments to creditors are deemed in the ordinary course of business and thus excluded from recovery by the bankruptcy trustee. 

For more information about the preference law, see Defending Bankruptcy Preference Claims.

Joseph Bodoff taught a seminar titled Critiquing Credit Applications to a group of credit professionals in a program sponsored by NACM-New England.  The seminar included practical tips for the creation and use of credit applications, as well as insight into the role of credit applications in the credit granting and monitoring processes, and in collection activities.  Each of the attendees conducted a self-evaluation of the credit applications used in their businesses, which were also critiqued by Mr. Bodoff.

Joseph Bodoff was appointed to serve on the Chapter 11 Professional Fee Study Practitioner Advisory Panel of the American Bankruptcy Institute.  The Fee Study is the largest project of its knd to date.  The central objective of the study is to gather data from a large number of Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases across the United States and to use that data to draw conclusions concerning practices and procedures used by bankruptcy courts in awarding fees in bankruptcy cases.

Joseph Bodoff participated on a panel on executory contracts at a Bankruptcy Law Conference sponsored by Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education.

Joseph Bodoff recently was a speaker at the Pacific Northwest Credit Conference in Portland, Oregon.  Attended primarily by credit managers, Mr. Bodoff spoke on creditor defense tactics and on the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act.  In addition, he was a panelist in an open forum on bankruptcy issues, where the audience posed to the panel a wide range of questions on bankruptcy topics.

Joseph Bodoff is teaching a course titled Business Credit Principles for the New England affiliate of the National Association of Credit Management. This 12-week course covers such diverse subjects as the laws of security interests and negotiable interests, antitrust laws bearing on the extension of credit, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and other regulatory statutes, bankruptcy, credit applications, financial analysis and the establishment and organization of a credit department.  This is the second time Mr. Bodoff has taught this course. 

Joseph Bodoff participated in a panel on Fraud: Detection and Remedies at a meeting of the National Apparel and Footwear Credit Association.  Mr. Bodoff moderated the panel and spoke on the topic of dealing with claims of fraud in a bankruptcy case.

Joseph Bodoff gave a seminar titled Creating Credit Applications at a meeting of the Worcester Chapter of NACM-New England.

On April 14, 2004, the firm filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court in the case of Eagle Insurance Company v. BankVest Capital Corp.  The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that the usual rule that defaults in executory contracts and unexpired leases be cured when they are assumed did not apply where the default is nonmonetary.  The decision is of particular significance because it is in direct conflict with a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  A decision on whether the Supreme Court will take the case is expected in June.  To view a copy of the petition, click here.

Joseph Bodoff participated on a panel at the annual meeting of NACM-New England.  The program addressed issues of avoiding, detecting and responding to credit fraud.  Materials on the subject are available on this web site.

Joseph Bodoff was successful in convincing the Massachusetts Bankruptcy Court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the Chapter 7 trustee and the debtor's major secured creditor against his California-based client.  Mr. Bodoff argued that, while the trustee was a named plaintiff, the suit was really for the benefit of the secured creditor.  The Court agreed and dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, forcing the secured creditor to file suit in the California courts.

Richard O'Neil wrote an article for the Cracking the Code column of the American Bankruptcy Institute's website.  The article, titled Not So Secret: Limitations on Attorney/Client Privilege for Individual Debtors In Possession, discusses a recent Bankruptcy Court decision, where it was held that a Chapter 7 trustee could force disclosure of conversations between an individual Chapter 11 debtor and her attorney prior to the conversion of the case to Chapter 7.

Joseph Bodoff taught a 12-week course to credit managers and other credit professionals titled "Principles of Business Credit."  The course, which is sponsored by the National Association of Credit Management, covers the legal and business components of extending and managing credit by suppliers of products and services.  The course covers such topics as the components of extending and monitoring credit, financial statement analysis, fair credit laws, antitrust, the Uniform Commercial Code and the Bankruptcy Code.

Joseph Bodoff participated in a discussion with the national leadership of the French judicial administrators and trustees, Conseil National des Administrateurs de Justice et de Mandataires de Justice, and with representatives of the French Ministry of Justice as part of an information gathering process to assist the French legislature in revising the bankruptcy laws of France.

Joseph Bodoff was the featured speaker at a meeting of NACM New England held on September 23, 2003, where he spoke on the topic Defending Bankruptcy Preference Claims.

Joseph Bodoff spoke on three programs at the Pacific Northwest Credit Conference held in Eugene, Oregon from September 17-20, 2003. The topics included Introduction to Bankruptcy and Bankruptcy Preferences. Mr. Bodoff also participated in a roundtable discussion on various bankruptcy topics.

Joseph Bodoff gave a seminar to the National Forest Products Group at a meeting in Montreal on the subjects of Critical Trade Vendors in chapter 11 cases and Involuntary Bankruptcies.