Mass-Tort Bankruptcies Bench-Bar Leadership Summit (2026)

Mass-Tort bankruptcies Bench-Bar Leadership Summit

Co-Hosted by Wilmington University, Restructuring Institute — November 19, 2026

The Center will hold a Bench-Bar Leadership Summit on Mass-Tort Bankruptcies co-hosted by the Wilimington University Restructuring Institute on November 19, 2026. Five panels of more than ten federal judges and 30 practitioners will examine pressing issues within mass-tort bankruptcies.

Two of the panels will review preliminary best practices developed after the Center’s summit at Cleveland State University College of Law on November 13, 2025. The draft suggests guidance on dealing with unreasonable and excessive contingency fees of individually retained plaintiff attorneys who entered into retainer agreements after the bankruptcy petition was filed. A second best practice offers alternatives to the uniform $1 valuation for estimating tort claims for voting purposes.

Additional panels will examine three high-profile topics. The first will examine the potential feasibility of prepackaged mass-tort bankruptcies, other than asbestos claims. The second looks to the pivotal role played by insurance companies, exploring ways to facilitate successful negotiations with the debtor and creditors. A third panel will address a key successor-liability question from the Whittaker, Clark & Daniels case: do these tort claims belong to the bankruptcy estate, or do they stay with the individual plaintiffs?

We invite all attorneys to register for the upcoming summit. To ensure a productive dialogue, we strive for a balanced attendance of plaintiff and defendant as well as creditor and debtor attorneys. This balance is particularly important to the participating judges, who look forward to hearing from both sides. We encourage all participants to come prepared to join the conversation.

The Center will apply for CLE credit from the New Jersey state bar for attending the summit.

CHATHAM HOUSE RULE

The summit will be held under the Chatham House Rule: “[P]articipants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), or that of any other participant, may be revealed.”

Registration

The registration fee for the summit is $950, which includes conference materials, a continental breakfast, coffee breaks, lunch, and grab-and-go snacks at adjournment. Two or more lawyers registering from the same law firm receive discounts (single registrant – $950; second registrant – $750; and third and each additional registrant – $600). Discounted registration fee of $250 for Center advisory-council members and in-house counsel.

CLE

The Center will apply for CLE credit from New Jersey state bar for attending the summit.

Summit Details

Agenda

Mass-Tort Bankruptcies Bench-Bar Leadership Summit

Co-Hosted by Wilmington University Restructuring Institute

Wilmington University School of Law

Wednesday, November 18

6:00 pm — 6:30 pm Reception: 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm Dinner (Rubris, Inc. — Sponsor)

Thursday, November 19

Location: Wilmington University School of Law

7:45 am — 8:30 am: Continental Breakfast

8:30 am – 8:40 am: Opening Remarks — John Rabiej

8:40 am – 10:15 am: Panel 1 – Piercing the Veil of Successor Entities – Claims Owned by the Estate or Tort Claimants (Whittaker, Clark & Daniels)?

Moderator: David Molton — Brown & Rudnick LLP

Anthony Saccullo – A.M. Saccullo Legal LLC
Kevin Davis — Caplin & Drysdale LLP
Matt Diaz – FTI Consulting Inc.
Sander Esserman – Stutzman, Bromberg, Esserman & Plifka PC
Joseph Belluck — Belluck Law LLP
Kathryn Harrison — Campbell & Levine LLC
Sam Husman — Greenberg Traurig LLP
Justin DeCamp — Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Hon. Craig Goldblatt – United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware
Hon. Michael Kaplan – United States Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey

10:15 am – 10:30 am: Break

10:30 am – 12:00 pm: Panel 2 – Review of Draft Best Practices on Estimates of Tort Claims for Voting and Confirmation Purposes and Oversight of Master Balloting

Moderator: Edwin Harron — Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP

Anthony Casey — The University of Chicago Law School
Kim Posin – Latham & Watkins LLP
Conor Tully – FTI Consulting Inc.
Mark Hurford — M. Saccullo Legal LLC
Michael Merchant – Richards, Layton & Finger PA
William Beausoleil — Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
Jessica Liou – Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
Hon. Robert Gerber – Southern District of New York, Bankr. (ret.); Zaiger Linden Roberti & Pepe LLC
Hon. Philip Bentley – United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York
Hon. Brendan Shannon — United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware

12:00 pm — 12:45 pm: Lunch (Restructuring Institute Luncheon Speaker)

12:45 pm – 1:45 pm: Panel 3 – Judge Panel — Which Procedure that You Adopted in a Mass-Tort Bankruptcy Would You Have Changed in Hindsight?

Moderators: Edwin Harron — Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP and David Molton — Brown & Rudnick LLP

Hon. Judith Fitzgerald – Western District of Pennsylvania (ret.) – Tucker Arensberg PC
Hon. Jerold Poslusny — United States Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey
Hon. Brendan Shannon — United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware
Hon. Michael Kaplan – United States Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey
Hon. Robert Drain — United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (ret.) — M3 Partners LP
Christopher Seeger — Seeger Weiss LLP

1:45 pm – 2:00 pm: Break

2:00 pm – 3:30 pm: Panel 4 – (i) Feasibility of Prepackaged Mass-Tort Bankruptcies; and (ii) Role of Insurance Companies in Mass-Tort Bankruptcies

Moderator: Edwin Harron — Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP

Greg Gordon – Jones Day
Sheila Birnbaum – Dechert LLP
Dan Prieto – Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Natalie Ramsey – Robinson & Cole LLP
Lisa Busch – Simmons Hanly Conroy LLP
Kami Quinn – Gilbert LLP
George Calhoun – Plevin & Turner LLP
Eric Goodman – Brown & Rudnick LLP
Hon. Melanie Cyganowski – Eastern District of New York, Bankr. (ret.); Otterbourg
Hon. Shelley Chapman – Southern District of New York, Bankr. (ret.); Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

3:35 pm – 5:05 pm: Panel 5 – Review of Draft Best Practices Addressing Unreasonable and Excessive IRPAs’ Contingency-Tort Claim Fees

Moderator: David Molton, Brown & Rudnick LLP

Paul Doolittle — Poulin | Willey | Anastopoulo, LLC
Jen Alpert – Rubris Inc.
Erin Edwards — Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP
Steve Baron — Baron & Budd PC
Annesley DeGaris — DeGaris Law
Ann Saucer – Nachawati Law Group
Hon. Judith Fitzgerald—Western District of Pennsylvania, Bankr. (ret.); Tucker Arensberg PC
Hon. Jerold Poslusny — United States Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey
Hon. Bernice Donald — Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (ret.); Burch, Porter & Johnson PLLC
Hunter Shkolnik – Napoli Shkolnik PLLC

5:05 pm: Adjournment Grab-and-Go Snacks

Attendees

Attendees

Hon. Bentley, Philip – United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York
Hon. Chapman, Shelley – Southern District of New York, Bankr. (ret.); Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Hon. Cyganowski, Melanie – Eastern District of New York, Bankr. (ret.); Otterbourg
Hon. Donald, Bernice — Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (ret.); Burch, Porter & Johnson PLLC
Hon. Drain, Robert — United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (ret.) — M3 Partners LP
Hon. Fitzgerald, Judith – Western District of Pennsylvania (ret.); Tucker Arensberg PC
Hon. Gerber, Robert – Southern District of New York, Bankr. (ret.); Zaiger Linden Roberti & Pepe LLC
Hon. Goldblatt, Craig – United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware
Hon. Kaplan, Michael – United States Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey
Hon. Poslusny, Jerold — United States Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey
Hon. Shannon, Brendan — United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware
Baron, Steve — Baron & Budd PC (tentative)
Beausoleil, William — Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
Belluck, Joseph — Belluck Law LLP
Birnbaum, Sheila – Dechert LLP
Busch, Lisa – Simmons Hanly Conroy LLP
Calhoun, George – Plevin & Turner LLP
Casey, Anthony — The University of Chicago Law School
Cicero, Gerard — Brown & Rudnick LLP
Davis, Kevin — Caplin & Drysdale LLP
DeCamp, Justin — Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Devens, Harry — Rocade Capital
Diaz, Matt – FTI Consulting Inc.
Edwards, Erin — Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP
Esserman, Sander – Stutzman, Bromberg, Esserman & Plifka PC
Goodman, Eric – Brown & Rudnick LLP
Gordon, Greg – Jones Day
Harrison, Kathryn — Campbell & Levine LLC
Harron. Edwin — Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP
Hurford, Mark — A. M. Saccullo Legal LLC
Husman, Sam — Greenberg Traurig LLP
Liou, Jessica – Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
Merchant, Michael – Richards, Layton & Finger PA
Mekus, John — NextClaims Solutions
Molton, David — Brown & Rudnick LLP
Posin, Kim – Latham & Watkins LLP
Prieto, Dan – Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Quinn, Kami – Gilbert LLP
Ramsey, Natalie – Robinson & Cole LLP
Saccullo, Anthony – A.M. Saccullo Legal LLC
Seeger, Christopher — Seeger Weiss LLP
Shkolnik, Hunter – Napoli Shkolnik PLLC
Sweitzer, Jen — NextClaims Solutions
Tully, Conor – FTI Consulting Inc.

Materials

SUMMIT MATERIALS

PANEL 1 — Successor Entities

In Re: Bard Implanted Port Catheter, MDL No. 3081, Joint Memorandum Re: Issues to be Addressed at Initial Management Conference, Doc. 102, pp. 16-26 (November 9, 2023) (parties’ positions on successor liability) — Download
AI Responses to Questions Regarding In Re: Whittaker Clark & Daniels Inc., Rabiej Litigation Law Center (August 2026) — Download
In Re: Whittaker Clark & Daniels Inc., Third Circuit Court of Appeals, Nos. 24-2210 & 24-2211 (April 27, 2026) — Download
Official Committee of Talc Claimants v. Whittaker, Clark & Daniels, Inc., petition for writ of certiorari (August 25, 2026) — Download

PANEL 2 — Estimates of Tort Claims and Master Ballots

Best Practices Addressing Estimation of Tort Claims, Rabiej Litigation Law Center (2026) — Download
In Re River Talc LLC, Bank. S. D. Texas, 24-90505, Exhibit K-Adjusted Scheduled Point Value for Tort Claims, Doc. 24-11, pp. 28-35 (Sept. 20, 2024) (Table for injury and severity Download
In Re: Quigley Company, Inc., Bank. S.D.N.Y., No. 04-15739, Memorandum Decision and Order Estimating Asbestos PI Claims for Voting Purposes Only, Doc. 897 (August 9, 2006) — Download
In Re: Quigley Company, Inc., Bank. S.D.N.Y., No. 04-15739, Objection of Ad-Hoc Committee, Doc. 450 (September 15, 2005) — Download
Bankruptcy By Another Name, The Yale Law Journal Forum, Anthony Casey & Joshua Macey, Criticizing Uniform $1 Valuation for Voting Purposes, pp. 1047-1050 (April 16, 2024) — Download
In Re: Imerys Talc America, Inc., D. Del., No. 19-10289, Opinion, Doc. No. 4239 (October 13, 2021) (Master ballots, changing votes) Download
In Re: AIO US, Inc., Bank. D. Del., No. 24-11836, Memorandum Opinion, Doc. No. 1125 (June 6, 2025) (Pages 6, 21-28 discussion of tort claim estimates and master ballots) — Download
Framework for Estimating Tort Claims, Rubris, Inc. (2026) — Download
Best Practices Requiring Threshold Proof of Injury and Use in Mass-Tort Bankruptcies and Mass-Tort MDLs, Rabiej Litigation Law Center (2026) — Download

PANEL 4 — Prepackaged Mass-Tort Bankruptcies and Insurance Issues

In Re: Red River Talc LLC, Bank. S.D. Tex., No. 24-90505, Memorandum Decision and Order, Doc. No. 1425 (March 31, 2025) (prepackaged mass-tort bankruptcy) — Download
Judicial Management of Mass Tort Bankruptcy Cases, Elizabeth Gibson, Excerpt Dealing with Prepackaged Mass-Tort Bankruptcy Issues, pp. 114-122 (Federal Judicial Center 2005) — Download
Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum Co., Inc., 602 U.S. 268 (June 6, 2024) — Download
In Re: AIO US, Inc., Bank. D. Del., No. 24-11836, Memorandum Opinion, Doc. No. 1125 (June 6, 2025) (Pages 1-21 discussion of standing of insurance company to object to plan) — Download
Best Practices Dealing with District Court Withdrawal of Reference, Rabiej Litigation Law Center (2026) — Download
Judicial Management of Mass Tort Bankruptcy Cases, Elizabeth Gibson, Excerpt Dealing with Insurance Issues, pp. 122-127 (Federal Judicial Center 2005) — Download

PANEL 5 — IRPAs’ Contingency Fees

Best Practices Dealing with IRPAs’ Contingency Fees, Rabiej Litigation Law Center (2026) — Download
In Re: Boys Scouts of America, and Delaware BSA, LLC, Bank. D. Del., No. 20-10343, Opening Brief of Former Slater Clients Regarding their Motion Denying Fees, Doc. 13443 (February 13, 2026) — Download
In Re Flint Water Cases, No. 16-10444, Opinion and Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Plaintiffs’ Motion for an Award of Attorney Fees, ECF No. 2105 February 4, 2022) — Download
Schlesinger and Hensler v. Teitelbaum, 475 F.2d 137 (3rd Cir. 1973) (court authority to set IRPAs’ contingency fees) — Download

Registration

Regular Registration — $950.

Multiple Registrations —Two or more lawyers registering from the same law firm receive discounts (single registrant – $950; second registrant – $750; and third and each additional registrant – $700).

Advisory-Council Member and In-House Counsel Discount —The registration fee for in-house counsel whose company does not provide a budget for continuing education and training is $250.

Please check the “Other Registration” box under “Registration Type” and insert the discounted fee amount.