In a comprehensive report issued last week, the American Bankruptcy Institute Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy proposed recommendations that would allow student loans to be easier to discharge in bankruptcy, citing the staggering $1.5 trillion in student loan debt held in the United States and the current difficulties with discharging this type of debt in bankruptcy.

Insolvency & Restructuring partner Cecily Dumas recently moderated a panel on special bankruptcy issues in connection with LLCs during the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Bankruptcy 2017: Views from the Bench event at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC. During the panel, Dumas and four bankruptcy court judges discussed the viability of bankruptcy-remote LLC structures and the fiduciary duties of members. The group also explored derivative claims, special concerns regarding single-member LLCs, and sales of LLC interests.

Recent court filings highlight the need for health care providers to protect patient privacy by implementing specific procedures when filing claims in bankruptcy cases of their patients, as a matter of federal bankruptcy and other law. Last year, WakeMed, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based health care system, asserted a claim for $553.00 for unpaid medical services in a chapter 13 consumer bankruptcy case.