The Windy City, AI Pitfalls, and Bankruptcy: Our 2025 NACTT Recap
In mid-July, Shareholder & Bankruptcy Recovery Group Chair Scott Fink and Director of Bankruptcy Heather Schneider traveled to Chicago, IL and proudly represented Weltman at the 2025 National Association of Chapter 13 Trustee’s Annual Seminar – now Scott is sharing his top takeaways!
This event serves as a wonderful way to interface with, not only Chapter 13 Trustees and their staff from across the country, but also bankruptcy judges, attorneys, and staff from many of our fellow bankruptcy firms who form our national and local counsel network.
We learned a great deal, not only about issues facing the chapter 13 bar (beware of AI!), but we also took home a few interesting facts about the city of Chicago we’d like to share with you:
- First, did you know that the Chicago River is the only active river in the United States which has had its flow permanently reversed by man, causing it to flow away from Lake Michigan instead of into the lake? This was accomplished in the late 19th century by digging a canal at the other end of the river (deeper than the Chicago River) connecting it to the Des Plaines River.
- Next, do you know how Chicago got its name, The Windy City? The phrase was coined, not as a result of the windy weather, but as a dig at Chicago’s “long-winded” politicians!
The conference itself placed significant emphasis on the emerging issues that Artificial Intelligence is presenting to the legal profession and the Bankruptcy bar. Of note, attorneys who choose to use AI to assist with legal research should use caution, as “hallucinations” are quite prevalent, causing AI platforms to sometimes create fictitious case law, provide incorrect case citations or provide inaccurate summaries of the legal rulings in cases.
This issue was laid bare recently by a ruling out of the Northern District of Illinois, where the Bankruptcy Court in In re Martin sanctioned a bankruptcy attorney and his law firm jointly for filing a brief that relied upon the use of an AI Platform for legal research and which included fictitious legal citations. The court not only issued monetary sanctions, but also required the law firm to have two of its attorneys attend an educational seminar on the perils of Artificial Intelligence.
Our team is constantly staying up-to-date on the current trends in the industry. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about Weltman’s bankruptcy recovery solutions, connect with Scott and/or Heather at any time.
This blog is not a solicitation for business, and it is not intended to constitute legal advice on specific matters, create an attorney-client relationship or be legally binding in any way.
