• Instructor: Attorney Bob Schaller
• Lectures: 3
• Quizzes: 1

The Role of the Chapter 7 Panel Trustee.

The U.S. trustee must be distinguished from a Chapter 7 panel trustee.  This chapter focuses on the Chapter 7 panel trustee.

The U.S. trustee in each district has assembled a pool of private people to act as Chapter 7 trustees.  These people are typically attorneys.  These people are generally experienced bankruptcy practitioners that maintain both a private practice representing bankruptcy clients (debtors and creditors) and a quasi-governmental practice representing bankruptcy estates as Chapter 7 panel trustees.  The panel trustees are compensated by a statutory fee per case plus additional fees for liquidating “asset” cases.

The U.S. trustee appoints an impartial Chapter 7 panel trustee to administer each bankruptcy case promptly after the bankruptcy petition is filed with the clerk of the court.  11 U.S.C. § 701.  The appointment is performed randomly in each case by the computer system maintained by the clerk of the court.