Lilian G. Tsang was appointed as Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Eastern District of California on September 1, 2023. Lilian is successor to retired trustee, Russell D. Greer in the Modesto and Sacramento divisions. On January 1, 2024, Lilian took on the Fresno and Bakersfield divisions, succeeding retired trustee, Michael H. Meyer. In March of 2024, Lilian was appointed as Chapter 12 Trustee for the Eastern District of California and District of Nevada.

Lilian has many years of experience as trustee’s counsel under belt. She was staff attorney for David Burchard, Chapter 12 and 13 Trustee for the Northern District of California for over twelve years. From 2019 until her appointment as trustee in 2023, she served as staff attorney for Russell Greer in Modesto. She was also staff attorney for Michael H. Meyer in Fresno. 

Lilian is an active member of the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees, Bay Area Bankruptcy Forum, and prior to appointment as trustee, she was the co-chair of the Consumer Practices Subcommittee for the Bench Bar Liaison Committee of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California.

Lilian grew up in San Francisco and earned her J.D. degree from U.C. College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly, U.C. Hastings). During law school, Lilian was a law clerk for the United States Attorney’s office and interned for two federal magistrate judges, Judge Elizabeth D. Laporte (Ret.) and Judge Nandor J. Vadas (Ret.). She also served as a law clerk for the District Attorney’s office for San Mateo County. Lilian earned undergraduate degrees in Legal Studies and Political Economy from U.C. Berkeley.

Lilian always tells people that she didn’t find bankruptcy law, it found her.(How familiar does that sound??) When she graduated from law school in 2008, she had plans to join the district attorney’s office as a prosecutor. As she was finishing law school, the country was in a recession resulting in a hiring freeze at the DA’s office. Thus, shegraduated law school without a job. The only legal field that was hiring brand new attorneys was bankruptcy, as 2008 was the time of skyrocketed bankruptcy filings. She considers herself lucky to have been hired by a local consumer bankruptcy firm and then was hired as staff attorney to David Burchard. 

Lilian also considers David Burchard to be her mentor. She was only in her late twenties when she joined his office and found him to be a great mentor. His prior profession was as a banker, not a lawyer, so he took a very pragmatic view of his role as the trustee. He always looked at the bottom line of each case, reminding her and other staff that they were dealing with people in financially desperate straits. It was not enough to just focus on the legal issues involved; he reminded us that we all need to consider different perspectives and never forget the human side of things.

Now, as a trustee herself, Lilian’s office philosophy is “there’s always room for improvement!” Lilian is a Virgo and considers herself a perfectionist. She demands a lot from myself first and foremost, and then she enjoys thinking of ways to improve everything else around her. In a very loving way, her husband often reminds her how annoying she is! 

Lilian and her husband have a 5 year old daughter, Sophie, and a son, Ethan, who is 3.  Everyone in the house wants to get a dog, but Lilian is not so sure. She is dragging her feet because, as most moms know, the fear of the extra work caring for a pet will bring!   

Because they have 3- and 5-year-olds, she doesn’t have much time for herself. Lilian reports that spare time these days is mostly spent napping or maybe getting in a workout. She does fantasize about one day traveling and working out on a regular basis.

When Lilian mentions ‘working out’ it isn’t a simple class or moderate workout on the treadmill. Her latest interest is cross-fit training and weightlifting. She is trying to stay healthy and strong to be able to run around with her very-energetic kids. She enjoys early morning cross-fit classes as the rest of her day is usually packed with work and kids. Being disciplined and working towards a stronger and healthier body has been a goal since the beginning of this year. Before that, she practiced Bikram yoga for many years, loved trail-running and ran half-marathons.

When asked about a favorite genre of book/movie/music, Lilian reports, “I don’t think I have a favorite genre of anything; I’m always up for anything and open to trying out new flavors of book/movie/music. Lately, I have been listening to a lot of audiobooks during my commute to work. I’m really into biographies right now, and the most recent one was Elon Musk. I’m open to all types of movies, EXCEPT horror. They disrupt my sleep, and I value my sleep too much. Music, I’ve only been listening to kids’ music for the last few years. But my 5-year-old daughter says she’s a “Swiftie”; so, I’m listening to a lot of Taylor Swift.”

A question we often ask when doing these New Trustee interviews is, “Please tell us something about yourself that ‘bankruptcy people’ don’t know about you.” Lilian’s secret is that she never learned to ride a bike or how to swim. She wishes she could go back in time and learn those things as a child but, hey, it’s never too late to learn. Maybe that will be a goal for 2025! I’ll bet she learns to do both alongside those active babies of hers!!