Total Credits: 6.0 MCLE, 1.0 Ethics, 1.0 Elimination of Bias, 6.0 Kansas Credit, 1.0 Kansas Ethics
Click HERE to view or download a PDF of the brochure.
Moderator: Hon. Dennis R. Dow, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Missouri
8:30 – 9:00 AM | Registration
9:00 – 9:50 AM | Case Law Update & Current Developments
Speaker: Hon. Dennis R. Dow and Nicolette L. Robovsky, Pletz & Reed, PC, Jefferson City
9:50 – 10:05 AM | Break
10:05 – 10:55 AM | Stay Violations & Discharge Injunctions – post Taggart
Speakers: Rachel L. Foley, Foley Law, PC, Independence; Jonathon D. Nicol, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, LLP, Kansas City
10:55 – 11:45 AM | New Bankruptcy Legislation
Speakers: John C. Reed, Pletz & Reed, PC, Jefferson City; Adam E. Miller, Office of the United States Trustee, Western District, Kansas City
11:45 AM – 1:00 PM | Lunch | included with program
1:00 – 1:50 PM | Advocacy Skills
Speakers: Margaret “Meg” Reuter, Associate Clinical Professor & Director of Field Placement Programs, University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Law, Kansas City; Sharon L. Stolte, Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard PC, Kansas City
1:50 – 2:40 PM | Chapter 13 Issues
Speakers: Joseph C. Jeppson VI, Jeppson Law Office, LLC, Kansas City; Lisa C. Billman, SouthLaw, PC, Overland Park, KS; Sarah M. Tidrick, Office of the Chapter 13 Trustee for the Western District of Missouri, Kansas City
2:40 – 2:55 PM | Break
2:55 – 3:45 PM | #MeToo, Bias & Bullying
Speaker: Hon. Cynthia A. Norton, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Missouri, Kansas City
3:45 PM | Adjourn
| 9:00 AM - Case Law Update & Current Developments (629.8 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| 10:05 AM - Stay Violations & Discharge Injunctions - Post Taggart (799.8 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| 10:55 AM - New Bankruptcy Legislation (5.3 MB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| 1:00 PM - Advocacy Skills (877.6 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| 1:50 PM - Chapter 13 Issues (12.1 MB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| 2:55 PM - #MeToo and Related Ethics Issues (435 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| Faculty Bios (258.2 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| Agenda | MCLE Form - Columbia (125.1 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| MoLAP Information (1.2 MB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| MoLAP Information (1.2 MB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| Missouri Lawyers' Assistance Program - Together We've Got This Video (13.8 MB) | Available after Purchase | ||
Judge Dow was appointed a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Missouri by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on November 10, 2003.
Prior to joining the bench, Judge Dow was a partner with the firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P. Judge Dow was listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the area of bankruptcy law continuously from 1995.
Judge Dow is a member of the Missouri Bar, the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association and the American Bankruptcy Institute.
Judge Dow is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, inducted in March 2013 and was selected in November 2014 to become a conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference.
He is a member of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges.
He is Chief Judge of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. He served a term as Chair of the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules
Judge Dow received his B.A., with honors, from the University of Wyoming in 1975 and his J.D. in 1978 from Washburn University School of Law, where he was Notes Editor of the Washburn Law Journal.
Rachel Foley began her bankruptcy career with the United Auto Workers representing GM and Ford employees in Chapter 13 and 7’s. Rachel was the only bankruptcy attorney for the Missouri auto workers and it was not unusual for her to manage 3 – 4 times the regular attorney caseload at any given time. This provided a vast array of case scenarios, experience and knowledge that Rachel continues to pull from today. Where ever the client was located, the Union ensured the auto worker would have representation, including but not limited to being incarcerated in Leavenworth Federal Prison.
Rachel has been recognized for her constant commitment to the representation of debtors. Rachel is the inaugural winner of the K. Colleen Nunnelly Award by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys and recognized by her peers as being the Best of the Kansas City Bar in the area of bankruptcy. These recognitions are in addition to being named to the Pro Bono Wall of Fame by the Missouri Bar Association.
Adam E. Miller has been a trial attorney with the Office of the United States Trustee in Kansas City, Missouri since 2007 where he is involved in administering and litigating cases under all Chapters of the Bankruptcy Code. Previously, he served on detail in the Office of General Counsel for the Executive Office of United States Trustees where he advised program leadership and field offices on numerous issues of bankruptcy law. Currently, he serves on the program’s working group responsible for supervising the collateralization and safekeeping of more than $3 billion in bankruptcy estate assets.
Before joining the United States Trustee Program, he was in private practice with the consumer bankruptcy firm of Morgan, Allen and King in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and clerked for the Hon. Yvonne Kauger on the Oklahoma Supreme Court. He has a B.A. degree from Oklahoma State University; a J.D. degree from Oklahoma City University (summa cum laude) where he served as the Acting Managing Editor of the Oklahoma City University Law Review; and an LL.M. degree from the Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law at the Boston University School of Law where he served as the Graduate Editor of the Review of Banking and Financial Law. He is a member of the bars of the state of Oklahoma and Missouri; the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the 8th and 10th Circuits and the United States Supreme Court and also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law where he teaches classes in Bankruptcy and Banking Law.
Jonathon Nicol practices in the Commercial Disputes and the Employment and Labor groups, and is part of the firm’s Appellate Group. He focuses his practice on commercial litigation and business disputes before state and federal courts from pre-trial assessments through trial and appeal. Mr. Nicol’s litigation experience includes all aspects of the litigation process, including case strategy, discovery and depositions, dispositive motion practice, court hearings and oral arguments, jury and bench trials, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and a nationwide appellate practice.
Hon. Cynthia A. Norton received her law degree in 1984. She was appointed to the bench on February 1, 2013. She is the recipient of the Michael R. Roser Excellence in Bankruptcy Award, and the Robert L. Gernon Award for Outstanding Contribution to CLE.
Meg Reuter is associate clinical professor at University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she runs the field placement program. She previously taught at Indiana University, Brooklyn Law School, and New York Law School. She has co-authored books on experiential curriculum design and conducted empirical research on lawyering skill development.
Sharon is a shareholder and leader of Sandberg Phoenix’s bankruptcy and creditor rights group. She brings more than 25 years of experience in business law and business and commercial litigation. Her legal practice focuses on bankruptcy, Chapter 11 debtor and creditor issues, as well as Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 debtor matters.
Sharon has represented creditors in all aspects of creditor rights litigation, claim objection litigation, collateral realization, mechanic liens, collections, foreclosures, and replevin litigation. Sharon has also assisted financial institutions, lenders, and large suppliers with consumer and commercial restructuring of troubled credits and other business matters. In addition to representing clients before both state and federal courts, she has served as national counsel for several Kansas City-based construction industry firms. As a result of the breadth of her practice and her years of experience, Sharon is well-known and highly-regarded in the Kansas City legal community.
Sharon is licensed to practice in the Kansas Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, and the Missouri Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. She also appears before the U.S. District and Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, the U.S. District and Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri, and the U.S. District and Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas. Sharon is authorized to electronically file in most federal bankruptcy courts in the United States.
Sharon received her Juris Doctor from the University of Kansas School of Law.
Sarah M. Tidrick is a Staff Attorney for Richard V. Fink, the Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the WDMO. She has been with the trustee’s office since March 2013. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.
Daniel J. Casamatta, in his 33rd year with the U.S. Trustee Program (USTP), is the Acting U.S. Trustee in Region 13 and the Assistant U.S. Trustee in Kansas City. He had previously managed the Grand Rapids office and served as Chief of the USTP's national training center in South Carolina.
With close to 35 years in the practice of law, Dana has served in several positions of bar leadership during her career, including being the first woman of color elected as president of The Missouri Bar, in 2016. Her numerous bar-related awards include the 2020 Eighth Circuit Richard S. Arnold Award for Distinguished Service; three President’s Awards from The Missouri Bar; a President’s Award from the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association; the Ronda F. Williams Spirit of Diversity Award; and the Sly James Diversity and Inclusion Award, just to name a few. She has been recognized as one of the Top 30 Education Law attorneys in Missouri; a Missouri Super Lawyer since 2014; and was honored as the 2018 Woman of the Year by Missouri Lawyers Weekly at their Annual Women’s Justice Awards Luncheon. Dana has tried more than twenty bench and jury trials.
She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English, with honors, from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
When not practicing law, Dana, along with her husband and law partner Keith Cutler, are co-judges on the two-time Emmy-nominated, nationally syndicated daytime television courtroom show “Couples Court with the Cutlers.” The show is seen daily on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Before becoming a bankruptcy judge on August 31, 2017, Brian T. Fenimore led the bankruptcy team at Lathrop Gage LLP for more than 20 years, representing debtors, creditors, and many other parties in interest. He graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1988 with a degree in Agricultural Economics, and the University of Michigan Law School in 1990. After graduating from law school, he clerked for the Honorable Arthur B. Federman.
Sarah E. (Shay) Tomlinson is a litigation associate with Summers Compton Wells. Shay concentrates her practice on business litigation including employment matters, restructuring, bankruptcy, and government compliance.
Shay earned her law degree from Saint Louis University School of Law. Following graduation, Shay served as a judicial law clerk in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and served as a Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice. She is a contributing author to the ABI Journal and The Wyoming Lawyer.
