USTP Press Release
For Immediate Release
February 9, 1999
UNITED STATES TRUSTEE PROGRAM'S
NATIONAL BANKRUPTCY TRAINING INSTITUTE
OPENS IN COLUMBIA, S.C.
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 |