Following two public comment periods and a public meeting, the United States Trustee Program (“USTP”) has issued new guidelines for attorney compensation in larger chapter 11 cases. These new Guidelines – formally titled “Appendix B–Guidelines for Reviewing Applications for Compensation and Reimbursement of Expenses Filed Under 11 U.S.C. § 330 for Attorneys in Larger Chapter 11 Cases” – are effective for cases filed on or after November 1, 2013. [See Important Note below.] They will be posted in the Federal Register and may be added to the Code of Federal Regulations at a later date.

For purposes of these Guidelines, a larger chapter 11 case is defined as a chapter 11 case with $50 million or more in assets and $50 million or more in liabilities, aggregated for jointly administered cases and excluding single asset real estate cases as defined in 11 U.S.C. § 101(51B).

These new Guidelines are a statement of the USTP’s policy governing its review of attorney fee applications in larger chapter 11 cases. They communicate to professionals and the general public the criteria used by United States Trustees in the review of fee applications, the USTP’s expectations of professionals, and possible bases for USTP objections to the payment of fees and reimbursement of expenses. These Guidelines do not supersede local rules, court orders, or other controlling authority.

The USTP will encourage bankruptcy courts to incorporate the Appendix B Guidelines in their local rules of bankruptcy procedure, as many courts have done with the guidelines that were issued in 1996. USTP attorneys in districts throughout the country will enforce the Guidelines and defend them in bankruptcy courts and through appeals as appropriate.

The USTP is in the process of developing fillable forms to assist in implementation of the Appendix B Guidelines. Those forms are expected to be available prior to November 1, 2013.

Documents:
Date	Subject	Format
June 11, 2013	Appendix B–Guidelines for Reviewing Applications for Compensation and Reimbursement of Expenses Filed Under 11 U.S.C. § 330 for Attorneys in Larger Chapter 11 Cases	[PDF - 393 KB]
	Exhibits A-E: Forms Exhibit F: Analysis of Comments Received and Summary of Significant Changes in Response to Comments	[PDF - 175 KB] [PDF - 345 KB]
June 11, 2013	Frequently Asked Questions	[PDF - 34 KB]
June 11, 2013	Statement of the Director Announcing the Appendix B Guidelines	[PDF - 32 KB]
November 8, 2012	Remarks of the Director at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the National Bankruptcy Conference	[PDF - 57 KB]
June 4, 2012	Transcript of Public Meeting on the United States Trustee Program’s Proposed Fee Guidelines for Attorney Compensation in Larger Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Cases	[PDF - 1.55 MB]
November 10, 2011	Remarks of the Director at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the National Bankruptcy Conference	[PDF - 68 KB]