Asserting the Fifth Amendment: A Chapter 13 Trustee’s Perspective

Kathleen A. Laughlin is the Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the District of Nebraska since 1986.

Desperate people do desperate things, and bankruptcy proceedings prove to be no exception. Protecting the desperate from criminal prosecution has become a developing issue for bankruptcy counsel. Accordingly, Trustees, as presiding officers, may experience situations when routinely competent bankruptcy counsel neglect to properly advise their clients concerning when and how to respond to potentially harmful questions. Understandably, there is a glaring conflict between the Bankruptcy Code’s requirement for full disclosure and an individual’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination supporting silence . . .

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