WASHINGTON, D.C. - Joseph "Jerry" Patchan announced today that he will retire from his position as Director of the Executive Office for United States Trustees effective Feb. 11, 2000. &The EOUST is the Washington, D.C., office of the United States Trustee Program, an arm of the Justice Department that supervises the administration of bankruptcy cases nationwide.

"Bankruptcy offers a 'fresh start,'" Patchan observed. "I've spent many years in bankruptcy law, and now it's time for my fresh start. I plan to go home to Ohio and do nothing for as long as I can stand doing nothing."

"Over the past year the Program has, among many other accomplishments, laid the groundwork to take on potential new responsibilities set forth in the pending bankruptcy reform legislation, such as means-testing for debtors' Chapter 7 eligibility and approving pre-bankruptcy credit counseling services," Patchan said. "I am satisfied that if the legislation is enacted we will be well-positioned to handle those duties."

The Program's accomplishments during Patchan's five-year tenure include:

• Working with the bankruptcy courts to speed bankruptcy case processing, which in turn generally increases dividends paid to creditors.
• Coordinating with law enforcement agencies to create the National Bankruptcy Fraud Task Force in 1999. The Task Force includes representatives from the United States Attorneys' offices, the United States Trustee Program, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation Division, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Social Security Administration.
• Establishing the National Bankruptcy Training Institute in 1999 to provide professional training for Program employees. The Institute is part of the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, S.C., which houses the national training programs of the United States Attorneys and the nation's District Attorneys.
• Improving relationships with the private bankruptcy trustees who are appointed and supervised by the Program, and with other bankruptcy professionals.
• Developing and distributing reliable data on bankruptcy administration. The Program has expanded its Internet web site considerably to make bankruptcy-related information easily accessible to the public.

Patchan was appointed Director of the Executive Office in December 1994, after serving for more than three years in the legal department of the Resolution Trust Corp. in Washington, D.C., where he rose to Deputy General Counsel. From 1975 to 1991 Patchan was a partner at the law firm of Baker & Hostetler in Cleveland. He served as a Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Ohio from 1969 to 1975 and was in private practice prior to that appointment. From 1978 to 1991, he was a member of the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules of the Judicial Conference of the United States.