How is a Panel Trustee appointed to a specific case?
The United States Trustee usually institutes a program at the local level which insures that a Panel Trustee is selected on a random basis to handle all Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases. The Panel Trustee is selected at random to insure that debtors or their attorneys do not “trustee shop”for a specific Panel Trustee. It also assures a Panel Trustee that he/she has an equal chance to get appointed to a case that may have significant assets to administer. If the Panel Trustee has a conflict in a specific case, he/she may withdraw by giving notice to the United State Trustee. Panel Trustee case loads vary between several hundred cases a year to several thousand depending on the location of the Panel Trustee.
