The American College of Bankruptcy 2022 of Class 33 Induction Ceremony and Educations Sessions will be held March 31-April 2, 2022 in Denver, Colorado. WilmerHale Partner Philip Anker will be a featured speaker during the April 2 panel titled "Strategy and Gamesmanship in Bankruptcy: Incompatible or Part of the Process?"

The Bankruptcy Code contains a number of technical requirements that apply both at the beginning and the end of the case. This panel hopes explore the question whether those requirements should be construed in a “literal” or “purposive” manner. Is it sufficient to obtain technical compliance even where the underlying purposes may be subverted? The panel will address issues that have arisen in involuntary cases, will address the requirement in chapter 11 that a plan include an accepting impaired class, will discuss issues such as vote designation and other devices affecting creditor votes such as the use of the “deathtrap,” and will discuss the strategic use of the equitable mootness doctrine. Does any unifying principle emerge from the caselaw about the propriety of “strategic behavior” in bankruptcy? Should there be such a principle?