I Work for the Bankruptcy Court

While on vacation on a cruise ship somewhere in the
Caribbean Sea, my wife and I had the pleasure of dining with a group of senior
citizens from New York. While enjoying our after-dinner drinks, I was asked by
one of the ladies at our table what I did for a living. Sometimes I am
reluctant to disclose my occupation because of the misconceptions many have
about bankruptcy courts. However, that evening I was feeling at ease with the
company, and I just blurted out "I work for the bankruptcy court."
After it was established that I was the clerk of court, the lady from New York
exclaimed, "Oh, you're a clerk typist." She quickly added,
"How nice to have a useful skill." The conversation quickly moved
to discussing the next day's activities before I could correct another
misconception about the 21st century bankruptcy court—that the court only
employs clerical staff.

</p><p>Today's
bankruptcy court employees represent a wide cross-section of professions and
occupations. The one occupation that is no longer represented in the
bankruptcy courts is the clerk typist, or data entry clerk. The modern
bankruptcy court, like other
federal courts, employs lawyers, managers, automation professionals,
professional trainers, human resource managers, accountants, procurement
specialists, administrative analysts and paralegals. A growing number of
employees have college degrees, and many courts are successfully recruiting
employees with advanced degrees. The demands of the information age require
courts to build and maintain highly skilled staffs. The court needs the best
and the brightest to meet the demands of the future.

</p><h3>Compensation Packages</h3>

<p>To attract the best and brightest, the
courts offer very competitive compensation packages that are the envy of many
in the private sector. Federal health and retirement benefits are fast becoming
the model for the rest of the country. The federal courts also offer flexible
spending accounts, long-term care insurance and public transit subsidies.
Although federal pay caps hinder recruitment at the higher levels of the
organization, most positions compare favorably with the private sector. The
national average salary of bankruptcy court employees is $43,400. At the top of
the organization, the clerk's salary is capped at $121,600, plus locality
pay, which ranges from nearly 9 percent to more than 20 percent, depending on
the area. Federal court employees also enjoy federal leave benefits. As you
will discover as you read on, exciting and challenging careers exist at all
levels of today's bankruptcy court.

</p><blockquote><blockquote>
<hr>
<big><i><center>
The stereotype of the clerk's office employee surrounded with rubber stamps and busy recording entries on paper ledger forms is a relic of the past.
</center></i></big>
<hr>
</blockquote></blockquote>

<h3>Chambers</h3>

<p>The bankruptcy judges' staff
appears, at first glace, unchanged for more than 20 years. Judges still have
law clerks, courtroom deputies and judicial assistants. However, the incumbents
of those positions are required to be computer literate and adept at online
research. Judicial assistants and courtroom deputies must be highly skilled
paralegals with strong organizational skills. Law clerks must be able to
navigate through the complex world of cyberspace and be fluent in the use of
standard office software. Because of the specialized nature of bankruptcy law
and the increased complexity of litigation, many judges are opting to hire
career law clerks instead of term appointees. Some judges have elected to staff
chambers with two law clerks in lieu of a judicial assistant for the same
reasons. Salaries for judicial assistants and courtroom deputies can surpass
$60,000. Law clerk salaries can exceed $100,000 in some areas of the country.

</p><h3>Clerks of Court/Court Managers</h3>

<p>At the top of the clerk's office
staff is the clerk of court. No longer an office manager, that position is now
the equivalent of a CEO. Clerks of court manage highly complex organizations
and are responsible for multimillion-dollar budgets. According to the
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, nearly 50 percent of all current
clerks of court will be eligible for retirement by June 2007. Faced with a
talent drain of historic proportions, the judiciary is seeking to improve
compensation packages to attract top executives to the courts. Clerks of court
are supported by a cadre of executive staff that generally includes chief
deputies as the top executive officers, followed by divisional managers and
supervisors. Salaries for chief deputies and high-level managers can exceed
$100,000. Supervisors can earn upwards of $60,000, depending on the level
supervised.

</p><h3>Case Administrators</h3>

<p>The stereotype of the clerk's
office employee surrounded with rubber stamps and busy recording entries on
paper ledger forms is a relic of the past. The clerk's office still keeps
the record of the court, but most of the clerical activities of the
clerk's office staff have been replaced by technology and outsourcing.
Most bankruptcy notices are now served by a company in Virginia. Attorneys are
increasingly filing and recording documents over the Internet. The core of the
modern clerk's office now consists of case administrators carefully
monitoring case activity, assuring quality control and assisting attorneys with
procedural matters. Case administrators are qualified paralegals whose legal
knowledge is essential to the administration of bankruptcy
estates. Salaries for case administrators range from $30,000 to more than
$50,000.

</p><h3>Administrative Staff</h3>

<p>Bankruptcy courts must have a
knowledgeable administrative staff to manage their financial and personnel
operations. As mentioned above, courts employ accountants, analysts,
procurement officers, staff attorneys and human resource managers to meet
administrative needs. Many courts employ professional trainers to meet training
requirements of court staff and the bar. Depending on qualifications and
experience, salaries for administrative staff range from $30,000, to more than
$80,000.

</p><h3>Automation Staff</h3>

<p>Bankruptcy courts are increasingly
reliant on their computer systems to manage ever increasing workloads.
Electronic filing is just the latest system our automation staffs must support.
To attract experienced and qualified automation managers and technicians,
courts are offering recruitment bonuses up to 25 percent of salary in addition
to the standard federal package. Salaries are also competitive with system
administrators earning upwards of $60,000, programmers more than $70,000 and IT
directors and managers earning nearly $100,000. Automation staff are also
eligible for 25 percent retention bonuses that can boost salaries to well over
$100,000.

</p><h3>Advertising Vacancies</h3>

<p>The courts use local and national media
outlets in advertising vacancies to reach the broadest possible cross section
of the local and national community. In addition, the courts make full use of
the Internet by posting vacancies on the U.S. Courts' national web site,

<a href="http://www.uscourts.gov">http://www.uscourts.gov</a&gt;, and through local court web sites. The national site has links
to all local court web sites. Also available on the U.S. Courts' web site
is the Federal Law Clerk Information System, which contains a national database
of federal law clerk vacancies.

</p><h3>Conclusion</h3>

<p>Bankruptcy courts have always been
blessed with knowledgeable and experienced staff. As we became more automated,
our existing staff learned new skills, and the court hired new technical
personnel with skills heretofore only required by Silicon Valley firms. The
clerk's office has changed from a strictly clerical operation to a highly
specialized team of paralegals, managers, administrators and systems
administrators. Chambers have changed from a manual, paper-driven operation to
an automated and electronic information environment. Courts are now faced with
losing much of their workforce through retirement in the next 5-10 years. It is
imperative that courts attract highly qualified and experienced applicants to
succeed those that built this magnificent organization. And the next time
someone says to you, "I work for the bankruptcy court," you will be
aware of just what that means.