Section 1302 - Trustee

2 Analyses of this statute by attorneys

  1. Third Circuit Sets Standard for Appointment of Future Claims Representatives in Asbestos Bankruptcy Cases

    Jones DayOctober 3, 2022

    ." According to Judge Krause, "[a]n FCR must be able to act in accordance with a duty of independence from the debtor and other parties in interest in the bankruptcy, a duty of undivided loyalty to the future claimants, and an ability to be an effective advocate for the best interests of the future claimants." Id. (footnote omitted).The Third Circuit reached this conclusion after considering the text of the Bankruptcy Code and its legislative history, the standards traditionally applied to creditors' committees—which, the court explained, serve an analogous role in bankruptcy cases—and "the administrability of the fiduciary standard … in the bankruptcy context." Id.First, the Third Circuit reasoned, Congress specifically chose to use the "disinterested person" standard in 11 other provisions of the Bankruptcy Code, yet omitted it from section 524(g). Id. at 375 (citing 11 U.S.C. §§ 327(a), 328(c), 332(a), 333(a)(2)(A), 701(a)(1), 703(c), 1104(b)(1), 1104(d), 1163, 1183(a), 1202(a) and 1302(a)). This is not surprising, Judge Krause wrote, because the provisions containing the "disinterested person" standard "relate to professionals whose duties run to the entire estate or to the court, requiring that they remain impartial" and do not represent any adverse interest, whereas the FCR is the "'legal representative' for just such an adverse interest, having been appointed specifically 'for the purpose of protecting the rights of' future asbestos claimants." Id. (quoting 11 U.S.C. § 524(g)(4)(B)(i)). The Third Circuit accordingly concluded that this statutory omission "counsels against" adopting the disinterested person standard for the purpose of FCR appointments.Next, the Third Circuit reasoned that lawmakers' usage of the term "legal representative"—a term of art referring to someone owing fiduciary duties to absent constituents—in section 524(g) indicates they anticipated an FCR should "be able to fulfill the heightened duties owed by fiduciaries" rather than being merely dis

  2. SCOTUS: Filing of Time-Barred Proof of Claim in Bankruptcy Does Not Violate FDCPA

    Public CitizenJeff SovernMay 16, 2017

    Bates v. State Bar of Ariz., 433 U. S. 350, 383, n. 37 (1977). The audience in Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases includes a trustee, 11 U. S. C. §1302(a), who must examine proofs of claim and, where appropriate, pose an objection, §§704(a)(5), 1302(b)(1) (including any timeliness objection, §§502(b)(1), 558). And that trustee is likely to understand that, as the Code says, a proof of claim is a statement by the creditor that he or she has a right to payment subject to disallowance . . . .The implication is that time-barred claims can still be misleading when presented outside a bankruptcy proceeding in which they will be reviewed by a trustee, though the Court did not specifically address that question.