USTP Press Release

For Immediate Release
February 9, 1999

         COLUMBIA, S.C.--The National Bankruptcy Training Institute opened here today at the National Advocacy Center, with a ceremony that brought together Justice Department officials, bankruptcy judges, and Justice Department employees attending the Institute's first class session. The Institute is operated by the United States Trustee Program, a component of the Justice Department that supervises the administration of bankruptcy cases nationwide.

         "The existence of our Bankruptcy Institute and a permanent site for our training was one of the goals set when I joined the Program," Jerry Patchan, Director of the Executive Office for United States Trustees in Washington, D.C., announced at the opening ceremony. "I realized that for the Program and its people to achieve their full professional potential, and be recognized for the valuable work they do in the bankruptcy system, we had to develop a comprehensive, systematic and effective training program."

         "This Center provides an ideal structure to plan and house our training courses. It gives us access to state of the art training facilities, and puts us in a community of the most able and experienced of the Justice Department's legal trainers," Patchan continued.
 
         Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC) sent a congratulatory message noting that South Carolina is a particularly appropriate home for the Bankruptcy Institute, given that South Carolinian Charles Pinckney, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, proposed the constitutional provision enabling Congress to establish uniform laws upon the subject of bankruptcies. Hollings added: "With the participation of leading judges, legal scholars, practitioners and private trustees, the Institute will not only enhance the professional development of the personnel of the U.S. Trustee Office, but will strengthen the entire bankruptcy process." Hollings' message was read by W. Clarkson McDow Jr., United States Trustee for Region 4, headquartered in Columbia, S.C.

         Stephen I. Goldring, Director of the National Bankruptcy Training Institute, said: "We look forward to making the Institute a national center for scholarship in bankruptcy. Working with the skilled and knowledgeable staff of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, with their years of experience in designing and presenting training seminars, we anticipate a bright future for the Institute."
 
         Goldring was appointed last November to head the National Bankruptcy Training Institute. Goldring has been the Assistant United States Trustee in Pittsburgh since 1988. Prior to that, he served for 12 years as an Assistant United States Attorney in Pittsburgh. Throughout his tenure with the United States Trustee Program, Goldring has taken on many special projects and has assumed an active role in internal training programs.

         The National Bankruptcy Training Institute is located in the National Advocacy Center, which opened in the spring of 1998. The Center is operated by the Department of Justice's Executive Office for United States Attorneys and is home to the national training programs of the United States Attorneys and the nation's District Attorneys.

         Two bankruptcy judges from the District of South Carolina also attended the opening ceremony--Chief Bankruptcy Judge J. Bratton Davis and Bankruptcy Judge John E. Waites, a former United States Trustee.

         The initial course at the Institute is a four-day session providing advanced training in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
 

Contact:    Stephen Goldring
                  Director, National Bankruptcy Training Institute
                  (803) 544-5125

                  Public Information Officer
                  Executive Office for U.S. Trustees
                  (202) 305-7411