Informal Budget Dispute Resolution Process
Effective June 1, 1998
The Informal Budget Dispute Resolution Process ("Process")
is intended as the preferred, first, quick, and low cost
method to resolve informally individual budget issues and
disputes prior to commencement of any legal or formal
administrative proceeding.
The Process will be optional and non-binding for both the
United States Trustee and the Standing Trustee (the
"Parties").
Upon the request of either Party, initiated as hereinafter
provided, a two-member Panel will be named, consisting of
one United States Trustee and one Standing Trustee from
outside the region (the "Panel"). At their option, the
Parties may have a one-member Panel.
The Standing Trustee Panel member will be selected by
the Assistant Director of the Office for Review and Oversight
("Assistant Director of ORO") from a list of three (3)
Standing Trustees named by the disputing Standing Trustee
from the roster of qualified Standing Trustees, each of whom
has had formal mediation training and agreed to serve.
The United States Trustee Panel member will be selected by
the NACTT Chair of the Informal Budget Dispute Resolution
Process Committee ("NACTT Chair") from a list of three (3)
United States Trustees named by the disputing United States
Trustee from the roster of qualified United States Trustees,
each of whom has had formal mediation training and agreed to
serve.
The Process will be initiated by either Party completing and
serving a "REQUEST FOR INFORMAL BUDGET DISPUTE RESOLUTION"
in the form of Exhibit "A" hereto. Service shall be by FAX
on each of the following:
Within five (5) working days after receipt of such notice,
the other Party will complete and similarly serve a "REQUEST
FOR INFORMAL BUDGET DISPUTE RESOLUTION" in the form of
Exhibit "A" hereto.
Within five (5) working days after receipt of notice of
their selection, the Standing Trustee Panel member will call
the United States Trustee Panel member and the Parties to
schedule a Dispute Resolution Conference (DRC) at the
earliest practical mutually convenient time and date, to
discuss: (a) How, when and what documents or information
are to be exchanged prior to the DRC; (b) the estimated time
needed for the DRC; (c) whether the DRC will be telephonic
or in person; and (d) any other procedural matter related to
the DRC. The Panel shall have thirty (30) days from the
date of its appointment to attempt to mediate the dispute.
This thirty-day period may be extended only upon the
agreement, in writing, of both Parties, prior to the
expiration of the thirty (30) day period.
The Process shall be conducted in accordance with the
decisions and procedures established by the Panel pursuant
to paragraph 8, and the "Suggested Procedure For Conducting
Informal Budget Dispute Resolution," Exhibit "B" hereto.
If the Parties resolve their dispute, the Panel will assist
the Parties in reducing to writing a description of that
resolution for signatures. That document will become part
of the United States Trustee's proposed budget submission to
the Director. The submission will conclude the Process. In
the event the Parties are unable to arrive at an agreement
to resolve the dispute, the Panel may, on unanimous
agreement of the Panel, within five (5) working days of
conclusion of the attempted mediation, issue a non-binding
joint written recommendation to the Parties. The Parties
may either accept or reject the recommendation or use it as
the basis for further negotiation between themselves. The
issuance of the recommendation by the Panel will conclude
the Process. At the conclusion of the Process, the Panel
will complete and serve on the Assistant Director of ORO and
the NACTT Chair a "Report on Result of Informal Budget
Dispute Resolution Process," Exhibit "C" hereto.
The expenses of the Process approved by the Panel, including
telephone, travel, etc., will generally be paid by the
Standing Trustee out of his/her expense funds subject to
approval of his or her United States Trustee as reasonable
and necessary.
Pending final resolution of the dispute, the United States
Trustee shall submit to the Director, or the Director's
designee, for approval the Standing Trustee's budget,
excluding any disputed amount(s). The Standing Trustee
shall not expend trust funds for any disputed portion of a
budget line item. In the event the Parties reach an
agreement in the budget dispute, and that agreement is
approved by the Director or the Director's designee, the
budget will be deemed amended to reflect the agreement.
The Parties and the Panel shall sign an agreement that
evidence of (1) furnishing or offering or promising to
furnish, (2) accepting or offering or promising to accept a
valuable consideration in compromising or attempting to
compromise a claim which was disputed as to either validity
or amount, or (3) any recommendation that may be made to the
Parties by the Panel is not admissible in any subsequent
administrative or legal proceeding in which the issue is the
budget dispute being mediated. Evidence of conduct or
statements made in compromise negotiations are likewise not
admissible. This provision does not require the exclusion
of any evidence otherwise discoverable merely because it is
presented in the course of compromise negotiations. This
provision also does not require exclusion when the evidence
is offered for another purpose, such as proving bias or
prejudice of a witness, negating a contention of undue
delay, or proving an effort to obstruct a criminal
investigation or prosecution. The agreement will not apply
to documents, work papers and other evidentiary materials
related to the underlying dispute and prepared by the
Parties in the ordinary course of business and not generated
in connection with or in anticipation of the Process.