Today, NALFA hosted a professional development program, “Bankruptcy Fees in Large Chapter 11 Cases.”  This program featured a panel with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin J. Carey and qualified bankruptcy fee examiners Robert M. Fishman, Member at Fishman Shaw Glantz & Towbin LLC in Chicago and Nancy B. Rapoport, Professor of Law at UNLV Boyd School of Law in Las Vegas.

Panelists covered a range of fee, expense and billing issues in large complex Chapter 11 cases.  Panelists discussed red flag issues for timekeepers, the new USTP fee guidelines and the recent Supreme Court decision, Baker Botts v. ASARCO.  Fee examiners and NALFA members Robert M. Fishman and Nancy B. Rapoport also defined the roles of fee examiners and fee auditors.

“Our programs are not only substantive, but set new fee policy at NALFA, said Terry Jesse, Executive Director of NALFA.  “NALFA makes a distinction between fee examiners and fee auditors.  While both can serve the bankruptcy court, fee examiners serve more in a role of an expert witness.  At NALFA, we define fee examiners as individuals and attorney fee experts.  Fee auditors are not fee experts and tend to be companies,” Jesse clarified.