Ethics and Professional Compensation

A Potpourri of Ethical Considerations in Real Estate Bankruptcy

This panel will consider ethical issues in real estate bankruptcies involving candor to the court as to out-of-court happenings, considerations for debtor’s counsel and advisors in parsing entity vs. guarantor, and other insider issues.

Ethics and Professional Compensation | July 2024

Ethics and the Means Test

With the enactment of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) came numerous amendments to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.  Of great significance was the inclusion of a calculation of monthly income required for individual consumer debtors to determine their eligibility for relief under chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code, commonly referred to as the “means test,” and provided for in 11 U.S.C. § 707(b)(2)(A) and (B).

Square Pegs in Round Holes: Chapter 7 Debtors in Chapter 13 Cases

Getting paid in a consumer bankruptcy practice can feel like nighttime in Westeros: dark and full of terrors. [1]

Ethics and Professional Compensation | January 2024

Co-Chairs’ Corner

The Ethics and Professional Compensation Committee had a tremendous 2023! We strived to continue to provide our members with enlightening and useful substantive information, while also offering enjoyable and valuable social and networking opportunities.

During 2023, our committee offered a wide variety of opportunities for ABI members to learn about timely and interesting issues facing professionals in the bankruptcy arena.

No Vote, No Problem — Right? Novel Ethical Implications of a Subchapter V Bankruptcy Nonconsensual Plan

The Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019, also known as SBRA (Pub. L. No. 116-54), became effective on Feb. 19, 2020. This legislation allows a small business debtor to choose, during the filing process, to proceed under subchapter V within chapter 11.

Practical Overview of Lawyers’ Use of AI and Billing

Increasingly, consumer bankruptcy lawyers will be using AI in the future. It therefore is incumbent upon them to develop procedures and policies for its use and in billing for such services. Doing so will be a combination of art and science controlled by both ethical and practical considerations. Because its use is in an embryotic phase, standards are still being developed, and the area is plagued by a dearth of both case law and statutory guidelines. Practitioners also have to be cognizant that AI is a rapidly and ever-changing tool characterized by advances made on a constant basis.

Ethics and Professional Compensation | October 2023

First-Day Hearings and the Due Process Balancing Act

Due process is a fundamental right, reiterated in the foundational documents of the U.S. [2] All lawyers are taught and tested on the requirements of due process, both in a procedural and substantive context. As a review, “procedural due process” requires that the deprivation of life, liberty or property by adjudication be preceded by notice and opportunity for hearing appropriate to the nature of the case. [3]