Foreword to First Edition

• Jurisdiction: United States

Foreword to First Edition

The materials in this handbook are designed to acquaint the new practitioner with the fundamentals of a consumer bankruptcy proceeding under chapter 7 or chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. The handbook may also be useful in the education of attorneys' staff members and clients. The materials explain the way the two statutory schemes work, their differences, and the duties and responsibilities of the debtor in the bankruptcy process. Also included is material on the rights and procedures applicable to creditors. Whether or not a practitioner regularly represents debtors, creditors or trustees, it is helpful to have a familiarity with the basics of the entire bankruptcy process. The coverage, while broad, does not constitute an in-depth analysis. An attempt has been made to arrange the materials in a manner that will allow the user to find the areas in which an interest exists without sorting through a lot of extraneous material. Cross-references are provided to prevent undue repetition of the same material. Also included in Appendix 1 are some of the more commonly asked questions in a question-and-answer format.

This handbook is a compilation of bits and pieces from various CLE materials and articles written over more than a decade, and is updated where necessary. I thank Barbara L. Franklin, Esq. of Hilo, Hawaii (former Assistant U.S. Trustee in Alaska), and Larry D. Compton, CPA, the chapter 13 trustee for Alaska, for their contributions over the years. I also thank my four "editors" for their painstaking review, corrections, comments and suggestions: Hon. William H. Brown, Western District of Tennessee; Dennis R. Dow, Kansas City, Mo.; John Rao, Boston, Mass.; and Dennis J. Levine, Tampa, Fla.

As with any materials having limited scope, the author employed editorial license and the scope of issues discussed on the various subjects is general, not exhaustive; the line was arbitrarily drawn based on the author's experience. The user is also cautioned that, although the author believes the general...