Bankruptcy Shark Tank: Testing the Marketplace of Bankruptcy Ideas with an Expert Panel
Saturday, October 10th, 2026 – 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM
Moderator:
Hon. Martin R. Barash
Speakers:
Hon. Robert Drain
Douglas G. Baird
Dennis F. Dunne
Pamela Foohey
Ronit Berkovich
Description:
Experts with proposals for changes in bankruptcy law or practice will try to convince a panel of skeptics that their proposals should be adopted. Proposals may include, among others, possible Bankruptcy Code amendments impacting business and consumer cases and narrowing specific appellate holdings.
Bios:
Bankruptcy Judge Martin R. Barash serves in the Central District of California, sitting in Woodland Hills and Santa Barbara, CA. Prior to his appointment, from 2001 to 2015, Judge Barash was a partner at Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP (now KTBS Law) in Los Angeles, where he represented debtors and other parties in chapter 11 cases and bankruptcy litigation.
Douglas Baird is the Harry A. Bigelow Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago and Chair, National Bankruptcy Conference. Baird received his undergraduate degree from Yale University summa cum laude and his J.D. from Stanford. He joined Chicago’s faculty in 1980 and served as its Dean from 1994 to 1999.
Dennis Dunne is the Global Chair of Milbank’s Financial Restructuring Group. He also serves on the Firm’s Executive Committee. He is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, a member of the International Insolvency Institute, and a conferee at the National Bankruptcy Conference.
Pamela Foohey is a Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. She specializes in bankruptcy, commercial law, consumer finance, and business law. She is a co-investigator on the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, a long-term research project studying persons who file bankruptcy. Her work in business bankruptcy mainly focuses on how non-profit entities use reorganization.
Ronit J. Berkovich is Co-Chair of the Restructuring Department at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. A member of the National Bankruptcy Conference, she advises Congress on bankruptcy legislation and has led landmark cases including General Motors and Lehman Brothers. A preeminent authority on complex restructurings, mass torts, and cryptocurrency insolvency, she was named Euromoney’s 2025 Restructuring & Insolvency Lawyer of the Year.