Bankruptcy law transforms lawyers from advocates to detectives
The ABA stressed its opposition to provisions of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act that require bankruptcy lawyers to play a role other than serving as attorneys for their clients in a May 1 letter to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law.
The ABA letter was sent as the subcommittee began a hearing on the second anniversary of the enactment of the bill.
The ABA specifically opposes the provisions that require bankruptcy lawyers to certify the accuracy of the debtor's bankruptcy schedule and to certify the ability of the debtor to make future payments. The ABA wrote, "The new standards outlined in sections 102 and 319 of the act also have fundamentally altered the attorney-client relationship in bankruptcy cases. It has transformed the attorney from an advocate to a detective and informer."
Further, in the letter, the ABA made known its opposition to section 203(a) of the act: "Bankruptcy attorneys are not accountants and are neither trained nor equipped to conduct extensive audits of their client's finances. . . Indeed, this is not the attorney's proper role, and any attempt to force the attorney to assume these duties will substantially increase the cost of representing a debtor in bankruptcy."
December 2006, the ABA wrote a similar letter outlining its position on the bankruptcy law to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts.
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