On Thursday March, 21 Baker Hostetler Partners Irving Picard, Brian Bash, John J. Carney and David B. Rivkin, served as a panelists at the U.S. Trustee's Annual Legal Conference on "Best Practices for Trustees and Receivers in Complex Fraud Cases."
Drawing on their significant experiences — Picard as the Trustee for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC (BLMIS); Bash as the Fair Finance Trustee and a counsel for the BLMIS Trustee; Carney as Receiver for the Michael Kenwood Group, LLC hedge funds and an investigative counsel in the BLMIS liquidation proceeding; and Rivkin as co-chair of the firm's appellate practice — they addressed the unique challenges facing trustees and receivers in cases involving parallel regulatory and criminal investigations.
United States Trustees are direct appointees of the U.S. Attorney General and serve as a key component of the Department of Justice with the specific mission of promoting the efficiency and protecting the integrity of the Federal bankruptcy system. United States Trustees appoint bankruptcy trustees and examiners who are directly responsible for recovering assets for the benefit of investors and creditors.
The trustees monitor the conduct of bankruptcy parties and private estate trustees, oversee related administrative functions and act to ensure compliance with applicable laws and procedures. They also identify and help investigate bankruptcy fraud and abuse in coordination with United States attorneys, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies.