Russ Feingold: “the original version of S. 1301 would have made a debtor's attorney responsible for the panel trustee's costs and fees…”

“the original version of S. 1301 would have made a debtor's attorney responsible for the panel trustee's costs and fees if the attorney lost a 707(b) motion brought by the trustee-- not if the filing was made in bad faith, not if the filing was frivolous, but simply if he or she lost the motion. Fortunately, an amendment was accepted at the Judiciary Committee markup which would make the debtor's attorney liable only if he or she was ``not substantially justified'' in filing the petition. Even this standard, however, is untenable. The opponents of the Feingold-Specter amendment argue that debtors attorneys are notoriously bad actors who abuse the bankruptcy system. No credible evidence, however--beyond an unsubstantiated story here and an unsubstantiated story there--has been offered to support the proposition that debtors attorneys are more likely to act in bad faith than any other type of attorney. Why then would we allow this bill to contain a provision which applies a stricter standard of conduct to consumer debtors' attorneys than to any other type of attorney--a provision which is, as pridefully noted by the opponents of my amendment, designed to punish debtors' attorneys? I have heard from bankruptcy judges in my home State of Wisconsin and they strongly object to the premise that debtors' attorneys are by any measure less admirable or honest than other types of attorneys.”