A Day in the Life of a Chapter 13 Trustee

By Margaret A. Burks, Esq., Chapter 13 Trustee (Cincinnati, OH)

I was recently asked to expound on a “Day in the Life of a Chapter 13 Trustee.” Then Regina (Logsdon, Executive Director of ConsiderChapter13.org) asked me to write an article for the Academy. I believe in fate so here goes.

Please see ‘Effective Communication Guide.’ It came out about four or five years ago. Joyce Babin, Jan Sensenich and I served on this sub-committee. It’s a very useful document . . .

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Legal Aid and Who Are Our Chapter 13 “Customers”

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By Rachel Jones, Staff Attorney to Chapter 13 Standing Trustee Chris Micale, Western District of Virginia (Roanoke) The events of 2020 have had a devastating impact on the very low-income population. The working poor are struggling, particularly those working in sectors such as hospitality and tourism. State and Federal funding and local programs such as food banks and community action...

Critical Case Comment – Fee Wars: The Battle Over Debtor Attorney Compensation

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

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Debtors’ attorney’s fees can be calculated as a percentage of the presumptively reasonable “no-look” fee for cases involuntarily dismissed prior to confirmation and is an allowed administrative claim which can be paid under § 1326(a)(2).

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Meet an AO Trustee

February 24, 2019

On June 26, 2017, Bradford W. Caraway was appointed as the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Northern District of Alabama, Southern Division. He replaced D. Sims Crawford who had been appointed as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Alabama. Trustee Caraway maintains his office in Birmingham. At the time of his appointment as Standing Trustee,...

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Herb Beskin – A Proclamation

Angela M. Scolforo

October 22, 2023

Upon this auspicious occasion, seeing before us this eloquence of attorneys, let us recount the mighty deeds of one Herbert Lee Beskin. WHEREAS, Herbert was born and began his legal career in the last century (or we presume); and WHEREAS, a double Hoo, Herbert graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in 1972, and stayed in Charlottesville to...

The Effect of “Success” (or the Lack of It) on Attorneys’ Fees Part 2: In re Village Apothecary, Inc.

Lawrence R. Ahern, III

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Introduction In In re Village Apothecary, Inc.,1 the Sixth Circuit recently cut an attorney's fee by half, where the services were not successful. The panel held that the results obtained (or, actually, the lack of results) justified the dramatic reduction of the fees of attorneys for a Chapter 7 trustee. In Part 1, we looked at . . . It...

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Critical Case Comment – What About a Zero Value Junior Lien?

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

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Bankruptcy Court has authority to compel implementation of a confirmed Chapter 13 plan which, at its end required the release of a junior lien which had been given no value; attorney’s fees would be awarded to debtors’ counsel for pursuing the release.

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Critical Case Comment – Listing a Debt “Just in Case”

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

October 29, 2023

An interesting decision – one we would like for you to weigh in on. Did the Judge get it right? Is this a win for Creditors? Is this yet another case that requires more work from Debtors’ Counsel? Let us hear from you.

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ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy – Introduction

April 21, 2019

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee (Nashville, TN) Introduction In 2016, the American Bankruptcy Institute’s president, Eugene Wedoff, retired bankruptcy judge from the Northern District of Illinois, proposed to the ABI Board that a commission be established to examine the current status of consumer bankruptcy laws, rules, and cases with the goal of its making general suggestions...

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When the Trustee Gets Subpoenaed

August 15, 2021

By Karin N. Amyx, Staff Attorney to Chapter 13 Trustee Carl Davis (Wichita, KS) Trustees possess a variety of sensitive information that could be useful to litigants in contract disputes, divorce and child custody matters, insurance litigation or criminal prosecution. Additionally, debtors, creditors or third parties may be interested in the trustee’s internal operating procedures or legal position on disputes...

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Critical Case Comment – Present Tense in § 544(b)

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

February 19, 2023

When case converts from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7, the Chapter 7 trustee is not limited to the valuation of the debtor’s home as stated on the original schedules and may capture the increase in equity resulting from the property’s appreciation. (Dales) In re Adams, 2022 WL 2079725 (Bankr. W.D. Mich. June 9, 2022) Case Summary Matthew and Katherine Adams...

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