When the Pro Se Debtor is Represented by a Ghost: Problems with Ghostwriting
by John N. Birch
U.S. Trustee, Region Four
What Is Ghostwriting, and What Is the problem?
Ghostwriting is the situation in which an attorney prepares documents for filing for a party who otherwise appears unrepresented in the litigation. See In re Merriam, 250 B.R. 724,733 (Bankr. D. Col. 2000); In re Cash Media Systems, 326 B.R. 655 (Bankr. S.D. Tex. 2005). It has also been described as “when a member of the bar represents a pro se litigant informally or otherwise and prepares pleadings, motions or briefs for the pro se litigant which the assisting lawyer does not sign, and thus escapes the professional, ethical and substantive obligations imposed on members of the bar.” In re Mungo, 305 B.R. 762, 767 (Bankr. D. S.C. 2003).
Read the full article. (Materials from the 2006 Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop)
Minutes from 2006 Annual Spring Meeting
The Health Care Insolvency Committee and the Court Administration Committee sponsored a joint program at the 2006 ABI Annual Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C. entitled “The Patient Care Ombudsman: Who Are They and What Are They Going to Do to Your Health Care Business Bankruptcy?” The program was chaired by Bill Kannel of Mintz Levin in Boston, who reminded the attendees that ABI recently published the second edition of the Health Care Insolvency Manual. The panel was moderated by Sam Maizel of Pachulski Stang Ziehl Young Jones & Weintraub LLP in Los Angeles and included Nancy Peterman of Greenberg Traurig in Chicago and Suzanne Koenig of SAK Management Services LLC in Chicago.
Ms. Peterman, who was instrumental in drafting the ombudsman legislation, described the historical evolution of the ombudsman provision. She explained, among other things, that she and Keith Shapiro, then chair of the new ABI Health Care Insolvency Committee, were asked in 1997 by Sen. Charles Grassley to assist in drafting legislation to deal with the perception that the bankruptcy courts were not adequately addressing the issues. This perception was based in part on problems that had arisen from the Raseda Care Center case from the Central District of California.
Mr. Maizel described the obligations and duties of the ombudsman under the current Bankruptcy Rules and Code provisions. Ms. Koenig then described the various ways in which an ombudsman could contribute to a chapter 11 case of a health care business. Mr. Maizel concluded the program by describing some of the issues that had arisen in the few cases in which an ombudsman had been appointed.
The program handouts included three articles on the ombudsman, including two from the ABI Journal, Bankruptcy Code §333 (requiring the appointment of a patient care ombudsman), and copies of various pleadings related to the patient care ombudsman from two cases in which an ombudsman had already been appointed.