Suffolk Lawyer

Written by Craig D. Robins, Esq.

Written by Craig D. Robins, Esq.

Written by Craig D. Robins, Esq. 

 Recent Brooklyn Bankruptcy Court Decision Reviews Legal Fee Factors
 
What is a reasonable legal fee for a typical Chapter 13 bankruptcy case?  That issue was addressed in a decision just released by Judge Jerome Feller, a bankruptcy judge in the Eastern District of New York, sitting in the Brooklyn Bankruptcy Court.

In that case, Chapter 13 trustee Marianne DeRosa objected to a $7,500 flat legal fee that the debtor’s attorney had charged.  She insisted that the debtor’s attorney, Paul Hollender, of New York City, bring a formal fee application to approve his fee.  She then filed opposition to his fee, arguing that it was in excess of the fees customarily charged for routine cases in this district. 

Judge Feller issued a twelve-page decision on October 11, 2012 in which he concluded that reasonable compensation for a routine Chapter 13 filing in this jurisdiction is $5,000.  In re: Nicholas Moukazis, (01-12-42200-jf, Bankr. E.D.N.Y.).  (In her motion papers, Trustee Marianne DeRosa pointed out that the customary Chapter 13 legal fees in this jurisdiction are between $3,500 and $5,000.)

This is important news as Long Island bankruptcy attorneys have at times been at odds with the two Chapter 13 trustees in this district over what a reasonable fee is. 

For a period of time, the other Chapter 13 trustee in our district, Michael J. Macco, insisted that every bankruptcy practitioner charging over $4,000 had to bring a fee application to seek approval of the fee.  Now we have a current judicial determination indicating what is reasonable for routine Chapter 13 cases.

For those who are not familiar with Chapter 13 practice, these bankruptcy proceedings, which involve a payment plan, usually require several court appearances, and often involve at least twice as much work as a typical Chapter 7 case.

Factors In Determining What a Reasonable Bankruptcy Attorney Fee Is In a Consumer Case

Judge Feller began the legal analysis in his decision by reviewing the elementary bankruptcy law concept that the Bankruptcy Court not only has the authority, but the duty, to determine the reasonableness of compensation paid or agreed to be paid for representing a debtor in a bankruptcy case regardless of whether a party in interest objects to it.

The Judge then determined that the following factors were necessary to assess the reasonableness of the legal fee: the necessity of the services rendered, the benefit to the debtor, the time expended, the customary fees and reasonable hourly rates for the services performed, and public policy concerns.

Judge Feller observed that the Moukazis case was unexceptional and uncomplicated.  The debtors’ income was about $150,000 per year.  They owed about $92,000 in unsecured debt.  Their mortgage was current.  The plan proposed a distribution of about 44% to unsecured creditors. 

The debtors retained their attorney about seven weeks before the petition was filed. There was only one meeting of creditors.  The Court confirmed the Chapter 13 plan less than six weeks after that.  The attorney performed the legal work well.

The retainer agreement the attorney used provided for the $7,500 flat legal fee, and also indicated that this was for the bare minimum of possible legal services in a Chapter 13 case. 

The attorney also indicated that he reserved the right to charge additional fees for services such as amendments, attendance at additional meetings of creditors or hearings, and routine motion practice. 

Of the $7,500 fee, the debtors paid $2,000 prior to filing.  In his fee application, the debtor’s attorney claimed he spent 12 hours devoted to the case, and that his paralegals expended a total of 23 hours.

The debtors were actually able to afford the higher fee; however, that did not sway the judge.  He observed that they were paying a portion of the fee through the Chapter 13 plan, and that unless there is a 100% plan, unsecured creditors will effectively pay the fee while receiving a lower pro rata distribution.

Public Policy Considerations Come In To Play In Determining Reasonableness of Bankruptcy Legal Fee

The Judge also commented on the public policy considerations for ensuring that Chapter 13 legal fees are reasonable.

Empirical evidence shows that Chapter 13 cases are much more likely to succeed when debtors are represented by counsel.  Accordingly, in order to ensure that debtors have access to counsel, they should not be overcharged.

Thus, a reasonable fee must be one which protects the debtor, while being generous enough to encourage lawyers to render the necessary and exacting services that bankruptcy cases often require.

Some districts in other parts of the country have “fee caps” in consumer cases which essentially permit bankruptcy counsel to charge any fee up to the cap without having to obtain court approval.  Our district is not one of them. 

Judge Feller, in the decision, expressly stated that “this Court is not hereby endorsing fee limits in Chapter 13 cases” and “does not intend to establish a fee cap in Chapter 13 cases.”

Looking back to other decisions which addressed Chapter 13 legal fees in this district, in 2010, Judge Robert E. Grossman, sitting in the Central Islip Bankruptcy Court, addressed the propriety of a $15,000 fee charged by an attorney who apparently was less than competent in representing the debtor. 

In that case, Chapter 13 trustee Michael J. Macco objected to the fee and the Judge reduced it to $4,000 stating that “the bankruptcy proceeding was not complicated” and the attorney “performed at an incompetent level.”

In his decision (which is now several years old), Judge Grossman pointed out that experienced counsel charged between $4,000 and $4,500 for cases in the district.  He therefore reduced the fee to $4,000 for this attorney and ordered him to disgorge the rest.  The attorney appealed to the District Court, which affirmed.  In re Arebelo, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37449, 2011 WL 1336676.

The takeaway here is that an experienced Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney, who does a proper and professional job, can charge as much as $5,000 for a typical Chapter 13 case, and more if unusual or additional legal work is necessary.

In addition, if the trustee or court challenges the legal fee, the bankruptcy attorney bears the burden of demonstrating the reasonableness of the fee.

Written by Craig D. Robins, Esq.

Written by Craig D. Robins, Esq.

Written by Craig D. Robins, Esq.

After I wrote about some bankruptcy court decisions last month which involved some quirky and unusual facts (Two bankruptcy attorneys got into trouble over E.C.F. filings), some of my colleagues requested that I continue to discuss similarly odd and interesting cases.  Fortunately, we have one that is fresh off the docket.

On April 24, 2012, Judge Alan S. Trust, sitting in the Central Islip Bankruptcy Court, here in the Eastern District of New York, happened to issue a decision in just such a case, so we now have appropriate fodder for this month’s column. 

The decision, which is just as interesting for what is says, as for what it does not, involves protecting a debtor’s entitlement to receive funds, trying to be creative with exemptions, and seeing how a client might suffer from attorney ineptitude for being unfamiliar with bankruptcy practice and procedure.

Perhaps most importantly, it also leaves one thinking about how far a judge can or should go to assist counsel who is clueless.  In re Cho, no. 11-75595-ast, (Bankr. E.D. New York 2012).

In August 2011, Mr. and Mrs. Cho filed a typical Chapter 7 consumer bankruptcy petition here on Long Island.  About a month before filing, the debtors’ car lender repossessed their Honda.  Unbeknownst to the debtors at the time, a week before the filing date, the lender sold the vehicle at auction, and the sale resulted in a surplus of $5,000.

The debtor’s bankruptcy attorney, a lawyer from Queens who shall remain nameless, advised Chapter 7 Trustee Robert Pryor at the meeting of creditors, that the debtors’ vehicle had been repossessed pre-petition, resulting in a surplus, and that the debtors had received and deposited a check for the surplus post-petition.

Debtor’s Attorney Tries to Be Creative – Unsuccessfully

The trustee soon demanded that the debtors turn over the entire surplus amount.  Instead of doing that, the debtors amended their Schedule of Assets to include an ownership interest in the vehicle (which they no longer owned).

They also amended their Schedule of Exemptions (which opted for New York State exemptions as opposed to the more liberal federal exemptions) to exempt the vehicle in the sum of $4,000 pursuant to C.P.L.R. § 5205(a)(8), and to also increase their cash exemption by $1,000 to cover the additional value of the surplus pursuant to C.P.L.R. § 5205(a)(9).

The trustee believed that he was nevertheless entitled to the full surplus amount, so, with the help of his able associate, Michael Farina, he brought a motion to compel the debtors to turn it over.  The debtors responded, acknowledging that they no longer owned the vehicle, but argued that they were entitled to exempt the surplus as cash.   The trustee responded and pointed out that the amended schedules were improperly done and therefore fatally defective.

The trustee’s observation was correct.  Eastern District of New York Local Bankruptcy Rule 1009-1(iv) provides that in order for an amendment of exemptions to become effective, the debtor must first file and serve the amended exemptions on the U.S. Trustee, all creditors, and all other parties in interest, and then file proof of service with the court.  Here, the debtors’ attorney both neglected to file, and neglected to serve.

One would think that the debtors’ attorney, after reading the trustee’s papers alleging this neglect, would take immediate corrective action.  However, he did not.  At the hearing, which was held in December 2011, Judge Trust generously gave debtors’ counsel a week to comply with the local rule requirement.

However, inexplicably, counsel then filed the amendments but neglected to serve them.  This led the trustee to file supplemental objections.  At a subsequent hearing, Judge Trust gave the debtors’ counsel one last opportunity to meet the procedural requirements, which he finally did.  The matter was now marked for submission.

The issue before the court was whether the debtors could exempt the surplus cash under New York law, and whether the debtors could exempt the vehicle.

In his decision, the judge first pointed out that New York residents who file bankruptcy after June 21, 2011 have an option of selecting either the New York State or federal exemptions, and that the debtors here chose to claim the New York State exemptions.

Bankruptcy attorneys know that a debtor can exempt up to $5,000 of cash pursuant to the New York State cash exemption set forth in Debtor and Creditor Law sec. 283(2), provided that the debtor does not utilize the homestead exemption.

Judge Trust determined that, at the time of filing, the debtors did not own cash.  Under DCL § 283(2), “cash means currency of the United States at face value, savings bonds of the United States at face value, the right to receive a refund of federal, state and local income taxes, and deposit accounts in any state or federally chartered depository institution.”

The judge, following the overwhelming majority of courts, determined that the debtors had a “pre-petition vested right to receive payment” of the surplus which did not constitute “cash.”  A right to receive payment as evidenced by a check in transit is not “cash.”

In addition, since the debtors did not have an ownership interest in the vehicle on the date of filing, nor did they have a right of redemption, they could not exempt the vehicle.

However, Judge Trust indicated that the debtors could exempt $1,000 of the right to receive payment.  This is because of the relatively new exemption under C.P.L.R. § 5205(a)(9) which permits debtors filing after January 21, 2011, to utilize a $1,000 wildcard exemption for any personal property, provided that the debtor does not claim a homestead exemption.

Since the car was only in one spouse’s name, and the debtors did not claim a homestead exemption, they were entitled to one, $1,000 wildcard exemption which could be applied to the surplus.  The judge ordered them to turn over the balance of the surplus to the trustee.

Debtors’ Counsel Neglected to Use the Best Exemption to Protect His Clients — a Fact the Judge Did Not Point Out

Here’s why I found the decision especially interesting.  First, the debtors’ counsel initially botched up amending the exemptions – not once – but twice.  Judge Trust gave counsel two opportunities to correct the mistake.  Counsel finally figured out what to do on the third try.

Of course, we will never know what Judge Trust was thinking, but one can’t help but wonder if his granting counsel an opportunity to remedy the defective filings was also an opportunity for counsel to reconsider the exemption scheme counsel had elected. 

Had counsel opted for the much more generous $10,825 federal wildcard exemption provided in the federal exemptions by Bankruptcy Code § 522(5), he would have been able to protect 100% of the surplus.  In essence, it appears that counsel chose the wrong exemption scheme to the detriment of his clients.

An Interesting Issue:  How Far Can or Should a Judge Go to Educate Inept or Inexperienced Counsel?

However, a judge can and will only go so far in telling inept or inexperienced counsel what to do.  Would it have been out of line for the judge to tell debtor’s counsel that counsel didn’t have a sufficient understanding of law and procedure, and was not following the best legal strategy?  This is not a role that judges have.  They cannot advocate for one party.

Just to be clear, we will never know if Judge Trust was aware that debtor’s counsel botched up the exemptions, but if Judge Trust was aware of this issue I would assume that he would take the position that it is not his place to point out that counsel could have protected the entire surplus if the federal exemptions were used.

Based on my experience watching cases in court over the past three decades, this seems to be the way almost all judges handle such issues – they will not tell counsel how to practice law, even if that ultimately hurts an innocent client.

Accordingly, the debtor-clients here suffered and will have to turn over many thousands of dollars that they could have kept had their attorney had a better understanding of bankruptcy law and selected the better exemption scheme.  And that point is not in the decision.

Click this link to see a copy of the Cho decision in Case No. 11-75594-ast. 

by Craig D. Robins, Esq.

“The following is a cautionary tale of what occurs when the uninitiated attempt to practice before the bankruptcy court without a firm grasp of the Bankruptcy Code and Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure.” 

“Even the most well intentioned practitioners can inadvertently wreak havoc on unsuspecting clients by failing to appreciate the complexity of the bankruptcy process. It is also a prime example of how things can escalate when an attorney is less than candid with the Court about his or her mistakes.” 

The preceding words were taken verbatim from a recent Massachusetts decision that severely castigated an attorney for messing up a consumer debtor’s bankruptcy filing and then lying about it to the court.  This month I will discuss that case, and another from one of our own courts here in the Eastern District of New York, both of which lambasted attorneys who utterly failed to abide by the rules.

Inexperienced Attorney Makes Mess of Bankruptcy Filing

In the Massachusetts case, Bankruptcy attorney Georgia S. Curtis was authorized to use E.C.F., but was grossly unfamiliar with how to do so.  “E.C.F.,” which stands for Electronic Case Filing System, is the computerized court website system through which attorneys file court documents such as bankruptcy petitions  In Re:  Jackquelyn D. Stallworth, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 740 (Bankr. D. Mass 2/8/12). 

Since 2003, every petition and other court document that I’ve filed with the court has been done through my office computer, while logged into the court’s E.C.F. website.  For almost a decade, all bankruptcy attorneys are required to file their bankruptcy petitions, motion papers and other documents by E.C.F.

When Curtis filed her client’s petition, which was only the second petition that the attorney had ever filed, her inexperience got the best of her as she neglected to file the Creditor Matrix or the Statement of Social Security Number.  These are mandatory requirements, and failure to abide by them, as Curtis soon learned, is fatal.

Nine days later the court dismissed the petition.  Curtis also failed to file the Credit Counseling Certificate and page 3 of the petition, which is one of the petition pages that contains the attorney’s signature. 

Curtis then thought she could file a motion to vacate the dismissal by e-mail (which is not the appropriate procedure for filing a motion).  However, she messed this up as well, by attaching the wrong PDF document.  The court ordered her to correct this mistake within two days.

Did Curtis do that?  No.  Instead of correcting the deficient filing, two weeks later she filed a second Chapter 7 case without her client’s knowledge.

The petition in the second case contained only the debtor’s name, which was spelled incorrectly, the last four digits of her Social Security number, and the county of her residence, omitting her street and mailing addresses, as well as reference to her prior filings.

Additionally, the schedules accompanying the Debtor’s petition were blank or were otherwise incomplete, which, if taken literally as pointed out by the judge, reflected that she had neither assets nor any creditors. 

The judge then issued a sua sponte order to show cause directing Curtis to show cause why the court should not sanction her and suspend her E.C.F. filing privileges.  Because this petition was basically a blank, it also caught the attention of the United States Trustee who brought a motion against Curtis seeking to have her disgorge the legal fee. 

Over several order to show cause hearings, Curtis testified that she did indeed file all necessary documents when that was not true.  She also offered conflicting and contradictory explanations of what had happened. 

The judge wasn’t happy.  He suspended Curtis’s E.C.F. privileges, but indicated that Curtis could purge her “civil contempt” by becoming re-certified with E.C.F.  (All attorneys are required to participate in an E.C.F. training course as a prerequisite to obtaining authority to file by E.C.F.).

In addition, the judge stated that he had reasonable cause to believe that Curtis violated the Rules of Professional Conduct and referred the matter to the District Court for further disciplinary proceedings.

Curtis had a problem adhering to the court’s E.C.F. rules: she violated them.  That led to a suspension of her E.C.F. privileges.  But her problems increased exponentially when she lied to the court.  That led to a most serious referral that might result in her losing her license to practice. For a legal practitioner, not knowing what you’re doing is bad enough; perjuring yourself in court: indefensible.

Suspended Attorney Files Petitions in Other Attorney’s Name

On March 22, 2012, Judge Carla E. Craig, sitting in the Brooklyn Bankruptcy Court, issued another interesting decision involving attorney ineptitude and impropriety with the E.C.F. system.  In re:  Clyde Flowers, (01-12-40298-cec, Bankr. E.D.N.Y.) 

Peter J. Mollo was a Brooklyn bankruptcy attorney who had just been suspended from practicing law in this state in January 2012 by the Appellate Division for several reasons such as endorsing a check without permission.

That left him with a bunch of bankruptcy clients whose petitions he had not filed.  What he should have done was transferred the files to another attorney after first consulting with his clients.  Instead, he called another local attorney, Brian K. Payne, and asked him if he would take over representation.  However, no final agreement was reached. 

Mollo, nevertheless quite eager to get these four cases filed, revised the petitions to indicate that the debtors’ attorney was now Payne — even though Payne never agreed.  Mollow then filed these four petitions under his own E.C.F. account and forged the electronic signature of Payne on each petition. 

When the U.S. Trustee got wind of this after Payne sent a letter to the Chief Judge and others indicating that Mollo had filed petitions without his knowledge, consent, authority or signature, the UST immediately brought a motion to sanction Mollo, revoke his authorization to use the E.C.F. system, disgorge his fees, and compensate replacement counsel. 

At the hearing, Mollo admitted that he “made terrible egregious, unbelievable errors.”  The judge determined that Mollo violated Bankruptcy Rule 9011 by filing a forged document, an act that warranted sanctions.

Mollo agreed to disgorge all legal fees received, which was complicated by the fact that he kept such poor records that he was not sure how much he actually did receive.  He also agreed to compensate each debtor’s replacement counsel.  He lost his E.C.F. privileges, not that he would have been legally able to use them in light of his suspension. 

Finally, the judge thought additional sanctions were warranted given the egregious nature of Mollo’s violations and their similarity to the conduct that got him suspended in the first place (forging signatures).  Judge Craig sanctioned Mollo an additional $3,000, stating that Mollo’s conduct compromised the integrity of the court system and the electronic filing process.