Total Credits: 7.2 MCLE, 1.2 Ethics, 6.0 Kansas Credit-General, 1.0 Kansas Ethics
8:30-9 a.m. | Registration and continental breakfast
9-10 a.m. | Case law updates and recent developments
This panel will address several recent decisions and other developments that impact bankruptcy professionals in the Western District of Missouri and the District of Kansas.
Learning objectives:
Speakers: Hon. Mary E. Lopinot, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Illinois, Benton, IL; D. Matthew Edwards, Burns, Taylor, Heckemeyer, Green, Edwards & Graham, LLC, Sikeston; David Warfield, Thompson Coburn, LLP, St. Louis
10-10:10 a.m. | Break
10:10-11:10 a.m. | Debtors on the fringe: Strategies for dealing with vulnerable clients
Looking at problems where debtor is incompetent, powers of attorney, victims of scams, and undocumented immigrants.
Learning objectives:
Speakers: Hon. Kathy A. Surratt-States, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Missouri, St. Louis; Tracy A. Brown, Law Office of Tracy Brown, PC, St. Louis; Bryan T. Voss, Westbrook Law Group, LLC, St. Charles
11:10-11:20 a.m. | Break
11:20 a.m.-12:20 p.m. | Lien-o-rama: Everything you always wanted to know about liens but were afraid to ask
This practical session demystifies the complex world of liens in both state law and bankruptcy practice. We’ll walk through how liens are created, perfected, prioritized, enforced, and ultimately affected by a bankruptcy filing. Using real-world examples and leading cases, the session equips practitioners with a clear framework for spotting lien issues, understanding creditor rights, and navigating the pitfalls that commonly arise in litigation, transactions, and insolvency proceedings.
Speaker: Hon. Brian C. Walsh, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Missouri, St. Louis; Adam G. Breeze, Millsap & Singer, LLC, St. Louis; Sarah E. Tomlinson, Summers Compton Wells, St. Louis
12:20-1:20 p.m. | Lunch (included)
1:20-2:20 p.m. | Evidence: Adventures with expert witnesses for first-day motions
First-day hearings move fast, the record is thin, and the stakes are enormous. Yet parties increasingly try to tee up expert testimony—formal or informal—to support emergency relief such as DIP financing, cash collateral use, critical vendor payments, wage and benefit motions, utilities, and expedited sale milestones. This CLE focuses on the practical and strategic use of expert witnesses in first-day motion practice, including when expert input is truly necessary, how to present it effectively under compressed timelines, and how to challenge it when the other side is trying to smuggle merits evidence into an emergency hearing. By the end of the session, participants will have a practical checklist for deploying experts (or neutralizing them) in first-day hearings, with a focus on building a defensible record that will hold up as the case moves from emergency relief to confirmation.
Speaker: Hon. Bonnie L. Clair, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Missouri, St. Louis; Matthew S. Layfield, Polsinelli PC, St. Louis
2:20-2:30 p.m. | Break
2:30-3:30 p.m. | Chapter 13 hot topics
A discussion of timely Chapter 13 topics including the new plan exhibit and how to keep cases alive.
Learning objectives:
Speaker: Diana S. Daugherty, Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee for the Eastern District of Missouri, St. Louis; Kimber H. Baro, Baro Law Firm, Florissant; David R. Keesee, Keesee & Associates, St. Louis
3:30-3:40 p.m. | Break
3:40-4:40 p.m. | Who DOES that?: Forty years of ethics adventures (1.2 Ethics hours)
A look at pressing ethical issues over the last forty years, including changes in ethics guidelines, standards, and the profession.
Learning objectives:
Speaker: Hon. Cynthia A. Norton, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Missouri, Kansas City
4:40 p.m. | Adjourn
Opinions and positions stated by presenters of MoBarCLE programs are those of the presenters and not necessarily those of The Missouri Bar. This program is intended as information for lawyers in Missouri, in conjunction with other research they deem necessary, in the exercise of their independent judgment.
Kimber practiced family law for ten years and specialized in bankruptcy law for the last 20 years. She is a member of NACBA and licensed in the U.S. District Court for the EDMO, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Tracy A. Brown has managed her own firm for over 25 years and is licensed in Missouri and Texas. She specializes in Bankruptcy and Tax Resolution. In 2003 she was appointed as a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Panel Trustee in the Eastern District of Missouri. She has a Texas CPA license.
Bonnie L. Clair is the Chief Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Missouri. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Conference News and serves on the NCBJ-UST Liaison Committee for the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, but people only want to hear about her appearance on Jeopardy! in 2006.
Diana Daugherty was appointed Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the Eastern District of Missouri on March 1, 2017, and served as staff attorney for John V. LaBarge, Jr., the prior Standing Chapter 13 Trustee. Diana was the 2008 recipient of the Missouri Bar's Roser Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy Practice.
D. Matthew Edwards practices primarily in the areas of workers’ compensation, personal injury and bankruptcy law. In 2014, he was appointed as a member of the panel of Chapter 7 Trustees for the Eastern District of Missouri.
He lives in Sikeston with his wife, Abbie, and their three children.
Hon. Mary E. Lopinot was appointed as a bankruptcy judge for the Southern District of Illinois in 2024. Prior to her appointment, Judge Lopinot practiced bankruptcy, tax and business law. Judge Lopinot attended Southern Illinois University (B.S. 1995) and St. Louis University School of Law (J.D. 1998).
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Cynthia A. Norton was appointed to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the W.D. of Missouri on Feb. 1, 2023. She currently serves as Chief Judge and as a member of the Eighth Circuit's Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. Judge Norton is a frequent speaker and writer on ethics topics. |
Judge Surratt-States was sworn in as U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri on March 17, 2003 and appointed Chief Judge on February 1, 2013.
Judge Surratt-States received her B.A., cum laude, from Oklahoma City University and her J.D. from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.
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.
Bryan T. Voss is an attorney at Westbrook Law Group in St. Charles, Missouri since July 2021. He represents consumer debtors in bankruptcy. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and his law degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.
Brian Walsh was appointed as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri in January 2023. Before taking the bench, he practiced for more than 25 years in Atlanta and St. Louis. He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.
David Warfield is a partner in Thompson Coburn's Financial Restructuring & Bankruptcy Practice Group. He is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and is a former 8th Circuit Regent for the College.
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