The Ethics and Professional Compensation Committee has had a busy and productive 2019. As evidenced by our steadily increasing membership, the committee is a valuable resource for insolvency professionals interested in keeping abreast of current and important issues involving ethics and professional compensation in the bankruptcy field. These are some of the highlights from this year:
Newsletters
The committee published three newsletters in 2019 with a combined 12 articles, each discussing various and current issues in ethics or compensation. View Committee Posts.
Educational Programs
At the Annual Spring Meeting, our committee paired with the with Asset Sales Committee and presented “Not so Free, Not so Clear: An Ethical Walk Through Asset Sales,” using hypotheticals to discuss the ethical problems facing counsel and their clients in § 363 sales, including collusion, abuses during due diligence, and successor liability. View Online.
For the Winter Leadership Conference, the committee joined the Consumer Bankruptcy Committee to present “Consumer Attorney Fees: Everything You Always Wanted to Know — the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” which examined current issues in consumer representation and compensation. View Online.
Webinar
In addition to panel presentations at key conferences, the committee hosted a webinar in November titled, “Social Butterflies Beware! Ethical Issues Relating to the Use of Social Media.” The session featured a dynamite all-female panel consisting of a bankruptcy judge, a law professor and two practitioners, who discussed ethical issues and potential pitfalls relating to social media. View Online.
Member Survey
In an effort to gain new insights into the needs of our membership and to assist us with future programming, in August the committee launched a survey designed to solicit member input on three important areas of interest: (1) pro bono; (2) technology; and (3) substance abuse and mental health. Committee leadership is in the process of reviewing the data collected and plans to use it to develop programs and/or special projects to benefit our membership for years to come.
As always, we thank each and every one of our members for their contributions to the Ethics and Professional Compensation Committee, and we look forward to continuing to serve you in 2020.
*Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not those of the US Bankruptcy Court.
2019 Ethics and Professional Compensation Committee
Abigail B. Willie
Membership Relations Director
St. Louis, Mo.
