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Presented by Thomas Salerno

Provides an overview of executory contracts and unexpired leases in bankruptcy

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Executory Contracts

Thomas Salerno, a lawyer with over 40 years of experience in bankruptcy and restructuring, discussed executory contracts in bankruptcy. He explained that executory contracts are unique to U.S. bankruptcy law and can be both assets or burdens. Congress has amended Section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code multiple times to address various types of contracts, including shopping center leases and intellectual property contracts. Lerna outlined the three options for dealing with executory contracts: assumption, assumption and assignment, or rejection, each with specific legal and economic consequences. He also highlighted special provisions for debtor-landlords, timeshares, and intellectual property licenses to protect counterparties.

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31 minutes 35 seconds

Bio :

Thomas J. Salerno is a partner in the Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights practice at Stinson LLP in Phoenix, where he helps private and publicly traded companies in a broad range of industries continue operations as they negotiate restructuring plans. Mr. Salerno has advised lenders, distressed companies, committees and asset-acquirers in bankruptcies and out-of-court settlements. He works with a global roster of clients from an array of industries, including casinos, hotels, real estate, sports, tech, power-generation, agribusiness, construction, health care, manufacturing, airlines and franchising. He also is an adjunct professor and prolific author and lecturer, writing for both practitioners and corporate executives. Mr. Salerno has represented parties in insolvency proceedings in 30 states and five countries. He has been involved in restructurings in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Switzerland, and the Czech and Slovak Republics. In addition, Mr. Salerno taught comparative international insolvency at the University of Salzburg and Gray’s Inn School of Law in London, and he has been a guest lecturer at the Eller MBA Program for the University of Arizona. Mr. Salerno has served as an expert witness on U.S. insolvency law in litigation in Germany, and represented Coyote Hockey LLC, the owners of the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL), in historic bankruptcy proceedings that resulted in an unprecedented solution: the NHL purchasing one of its own teams for the first time in the league’s 90-year history. He also has served as restructuring counsel for a national drug store chain, a nationwide operator of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, a publicly traded owner/operator of fire and ambulance services, and Industrias Nucleares do Brasil S/A, the Brazilian nuclear regulatory agency in the bankruptcies of Nuexco Exchange (U.S. and Switzerland). In addition to serving as an expert witness on U.S. insolvency law in litigation in Germany, Mr. Salerno has advised numerous foreign governments on revamping their laws, and he has taught comparative international insolvency at the University of Salzburg. A frequent writer, lecturer and presenter, he is active in ABI leadership and is a past chair of the Bankruptcy Section of the State Bar of Arizona. Mr. Salerno received his B.A. summa cum laude from Rutgers University and his J.D. cum laude from Notre Dame Law School, where he served as an editor of the Notre Dame Law Review.

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