Below is a letter written by a 64-year old bankruptcy attorney to the United States Trustee, the agency that oversees bankruptcy cases.
Clifford J. White III, Director
Executive Office for U.S. Trustees
Re: Covid-19 and consumer bankruptcy practice
Dear Director White:
On behalf of our NACBA membership and our entire NACBA Board of Directors, I am writing to you to suggest immediate (and hopefully temporary) remedial actions regarding the administration of Ch. 7 and Ch. 13 bankruptcy cases. These suggestions are meant to help stabilize our joint goal to maintain the integrity of the bankruptcy system while we all struggle for equilibrium in these trying times.
All pending 341(a) meeting of creditors in consumer chapter 7, 13 and 11 cases be automatically adjourned for some period of time (such as at least 4 weeks), OR
that debtors and their counsel be permitted to appear telephonically, in place (given quarantine or social distancing, as applicable), by joint conference call or other electronic means, AND
that ‘wet’ signatures (allow for /s/ signatures) be eliminated for those forms and in those jurisdictions where ‘wet’ signatures are required.
We know that you are aware of the heightened risk of serious illness and death for those aged 60 and over if this Covid-19 virus is contracted. While we cannot know exactly the proportions of our Attorneys, Clients nor Trustees who belong to that demographic, speaking for myself as a 64 year old, the risks to us all, at the present time, are clearly too great to ignore. I am sure you will agree that these suggestions, while representing a change from normal case administration, are warranted.
Your prompt response and action along these lines is appreciated.
On behalf of NACBA,
John C. Colwell
President, Board of Directors
National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys
Nebraska is leading the way on this issue. For two years I nagged the court in this blog and in bankruptcy seminars to allow digital signatures of bankruptcy petition, and our court finally agreed that the evidence supported this practice starting in February 2018. For the past two years the Nebraska bankruptcy court has allowed debtors to sign their case electronically with digital signatures and the program has been a stunning success. Debtors may review and sign documents through digital signature vendors like DocuSign and receive an immediate copy of what they signed.
In this strange and stressful Covid-19 virus episode, our clients are able to send and sign all required documents to us electronically. Most if not all of the work can be completed over the telephone and email.
Nebraska is the only bankruptcy court allowing digital signatures. And now the rest of the nation is in a panic to allow what our wise court accepted over two years ago.
The next step is to allow debtors to testify at the required trustee meeting over the telephone or via a video conference, such as Skype. Our Nebraska trustee has already begun testing that service this past year.
Our office is fully ready to protect clients from the spread of the Covid-19 virus with the following service:
- Telephone or video consultations.
- Digital signatures of all bankruptcy documents.
- Documents may be emailed or sent via a ShareFile system.
- Payments are accepted online on our website, www.SamTurcoLaw.net
- We have video conferencing services ready to facilitate handling court hearings over the internet.
- All our staff is able to work from home.
- We handle cases in all 93 Nebraska counties.
As a result of continuously modernizing our firm, we are 100% ready for this Covid-19 virus. Imagine that, a little state like Nebraska is the clear leader in solving this national problem, and I am in daily contact with attorneys nationwide who are looking to copy what we implemented two years ago. So much thanks is owed to Judge Thomas Saladino who had the guts to try something new that will soon benefit debtors and attorneys nationally.