Business/Disrupted

We ask a lot of service-members, and they give far more than they are asked. For many, what they bring back from their service complicates the rest of their lives. Whether it’s supporting a family on a military salary or navigating the difficult transition to civilian life after service, our vets and service-members are often left alone, uneducated and unprepared for a complex financial existence, complicated by medical issues, the itinerant nature of life in the military, and all the complexities of keeping a family and raising kids. Our laws, sadly, haven’t been much help. What’s happening right now that might help vets and service-members’ financial lives?.

Bankruptcy comes in many forms and is used for many reasons. Companies and individuals turn - sometimes voluntarily, sometimes not - to Title 11 of the United States Code - the bankruptcy code - for relief. How that relief comes and its true cost depends on a lot of variables. Bankruptcy is both easy to explain and maddeningly complex. As a lawyer once said - the thing about code-based sections of the law is this: if you want to get something done, you have to find a loophole.Join us with our guest, HoganLovells attorney Hon. Kevin Carey (Retired), former Chief Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, as we discuss the finer points of being broke, seeking relief, and chasing the fresh start that bankruptcy promises.

Carlo Pietro Giovanni Guglielmo Tebaldo Ponzi rode to riches in the early twentieth century on the promise of exponential returns. Naysayers who pointed out how he couldn’t be telling the truth were ignored or shouted down. In the end, the fundamental flaw of the successful Ponzi scheme brought his “Securities Exchange Company” down. Ponzi wasn’t the first - he certainly wasn’t the last.Miller, Ponzi, Madoff - why do we keep falling for Ponzi schemes?

Planning a major party political convention is an eighteen month labor of love, persistence, money, brute force, money, patience, money, logistics and the kindness of strangers. And a lot of money. We’ll explore the planning that went into the 2020 conventions, including what happened when a pandemic changed everyone’s expectations, and redefined what a political convention could (and, perhaps, should) be.

How did a sleepy retail store that sells video games see its stock price soar from near pennies per share to more than three hundred dollars a share? And what does a message board have to do with this? And how did a hedge fund lose almost half its value because of activist day traders? What the hell happened here? We walk to Bloomberg Law reporter Daniel Gill and Bloomberg Government reporter Megan Wilson about how this happened and what it all means.

Sovereign citizens are proponents of the belief that the proper and lawful U.S. Government was long ago secretly replaced by a government formed under Admiralty law (yes, the law of the sea) and is being held prisoner by banks for the benefit of international commerce. Therefore, they believe, they are subject to no authority other than themselves. And the county sheriff. But the sovereign citizen ideology exists largely to sell (literally) a worldview in which its proponents are free from the obligation to obey the government, and do not have to pay taxes. Those selling “legal” resources to sovereigns make money - the sovereigns usually end up in interactions with law enforcement that end badly.What kind of business is this?

Comedy is a grueling field. It used to be that you struggled, you worked the clubs, you did bit parts and maybe, just maybe, you got the brass ring and made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. If Johnny called you over to sit on the couch after your set, chances are you had made it. Not so much anymore. Johnny’s long gone, there are more late-night shows, more clubs, more radio shows, more podcasts, more, more, and more competition. But that also means more jobs for comedy writers.What happens, however, when you take an incredibly competitive environment, and then add a global pandemic that closes the comedy clubs, stops entertainment production, and leaves the gig-workeriest of gig-workers out on the streets to fend for themselves? Join us with our panel of working comedians as we talk about a business built on a funny way of being serious.

Department stores are boring. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is boring. So, what needs to happen to turn the chapter 11 of one of America’s least storied department stores into a tale involving a Navy Seal, a fund manager, and a smack-talking FBI Special Agent? Join us as we and our guest, bankruptcy expert Michael Richman, Esq. talk about the craziest thing to come out of Neiman Marcus since a $250 chocolate chip cookie recipe.How did a fund manager, who relentlessly pursued justice for years, finally getting the result he sought, end up facing a jail sentence?