Written by Craig D. Robins, Esq.

Chapter 7 trustees are generally bankruptcy attorneys who have applied to the Office of the United States Trustee to become a trustee. There are currently only nine active Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustees on all of Long Island. This is much less than the 17 trustees we had for most of the 1990’s.

The Chapter 7 trustees are assigned to a “panel of trustees.” When a Long Island debtor files a chapter 7 petition in the Central Islip Bankruptcy Court, the clerk’s office randomly assigns one of the trustees on the panel to the case.

Even though the term for a Chapter 7 trustee is just one year, the Office of the United States Trustee has not created any new openings for trustees in over 17 years. Trustees can seek to have their terms rolled over for successive one-year periods. During the past 17 years, several trustees retired or sought removal from the panel.

 Below is a list of the active Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustees on the panel of trustees for the Central Islip Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of New York, which covers bankruptcies filed on Long Island.

• Neil H. Ackerman, Esq
• R. Kenneth Barnard, Esq.
• Kenneth Kirschenbaum, Esq.
• Allan B. Mendelsohn, Esq.
• Marc Allen Pergament, Esq.
• Robert L. Pryor, Esq.
• Kenneth P. Silverman, Esq.
• Richard L. Stern, Esq.
• Andrew M. Thaler, Esq.

 Here are some former trustees who are no longer on the panel.

• Bonita R. Bequet, Esq. (removed from panel. Moved out of state)
• Marilyn A. Frier, Esq. (retired)
• C. Steven Hackeling, Esq. (removed from panel. Now a state court judge)
• Robert Lifson, Esq. (removed from panel. Now a state court judge)
• Ronald Lipshie, Esq. (deceased)
• Richard J. McCord, Esq. (removed from panel for Long Island. On panel for Brooklyn)
• Gregory Messer, Esq. (removed from panel for Long Island. On panel for Brooklyn)
• Ed Zinker, Esq. (removed from panel)

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