Today, NALFA Executive Director, Terry Jesse met with U.S. Trustee, Patrick S. Layng of the DOJ’s U.S. Trustee Program in Chicago.  Mr. Layng is the U.S. Trustee who oversees Region 11 which includes U.S. Bankruptcy Courts in the Northern District of Illinois, the Western District of Wisconsin, and the Southern District of Wisconsin.

The U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) is a component of the Department of Justice responsible for overseeing the administration of bankruptcy cases and private trustees under 28 U.S.C. § 586 and 11 U.S.C. § 101, et seq.  Part of the responsibilities of the USTP is to ensure attorney fees paid in underlying bankruptcy cases are reasonable.  The USTP seeks to improve efficiency when reviewing attorney fees for reasonableness.  When the USTP reviews attorney fees, they are looking for block billing, overstaffing, and other litigation inefficiencies, that can quickly add up.

“It was great to visit with the U.S. Trustee, meet with the staff, and get a better understanding of the work they do,” said Jesse.  “We talked about our mutual interests in reviewing attorney fees for reasonableness and ways to improve that process.  I look forward to working with them in the future,” Jesse concluded.