Fiduciary Services

Our fiduciary and trustee services include support in critical areas, such as:

            • Federal Bankruptcy Trustee
            • State Court Receiver
            • Bankruptcy Plan Administrator/Liquidating Trustee
            • Federal Fee Examiner
            • Federal Bankruptcy Examiner
            • Assignee for the Benefit of Creditors

Trustee and Receiver

To maximize the value of assets during the bankruptcy process or non-bankruptcy litigation, a fiduciary must have a strong operational and financial skill set, as well as hands-on experience advising and running businesses.  Kavita provides that expertise through our fiduciary and trustee services.  She assesses the viability of a company and its assets, and secures, marshals and liquidates assets, as necessary.  Equally important, Kavita carefully monitors expenses in the case so that it is economically administered for the benefit of creditors and other stakeholders. 

Kavita has been appointed as a Chapter 11 trustee by the Office of the United States Trustee and/or elected as a Chapter 7 trustee by unsecured creditors in a variety of corporate and individual cases including, without limitation, medical clinics, medical lien company, non-profit religious organization (church and school), hospitality, commercial buildings, and unimproved property.

Fee Examiner

Kavita is available to serve as a fee examiner.  She is a fellow with the National Association of Legal Fee Analysis and a member of the ABI Ethics and Compensation Committee. In her role as a Chapter 11 Trustee in complex cases, Kavita has reviewed the fees and expenses of the debtors’ former professionals and where appropriate, has either obtained consensual reductions in, or successfully objected to those fees.  Her extensive involvement in such cases also enables her to provide a thorough and practical assessment of the fees and expenses incurred. 

Kavita has also represented debtors in large scale Chapter 11 corporate cases.  That experience has provided her with a practical understanding of the scope of work necessary in such cases, which is crucial to an objective assessment of the legal fees incurred, and in turn, likely leads to a consensual, cost-effective resolution of fee issues.   

Finally, Kavita has served as a career law clerk in the Central District of California, during which time she analyzed and provided tentative rulings for hundreds of fee applications in complex Chapter 11 cases.  She also drafted the tentative ruling for court’s decision that a bankruptcy court may properly deny all fees to a professional who violated the disclosure requirements of Section 329, which was affirmed by the Ninth Circuit and is still binding precedent.  See Neben & Starrett, Inc. v. Chartwell Financial Corporation (In re Park-Helena Corp.), 63 F.3d 877 (9th Cir. 1995).

Representative Case

Kavita was appointed as the Chapter 11 trustee for a church, a private school, and a day care center on an 11-acre property in Northern Las Vegas.  Immediately after her appointment, she conducted a site visit of the debtor’s operations to assess their viability, determine the condition and fair market value of the debtor’s real and personal property and meet with its board of directors and key employees.  After determining that the debtor was operating without a budget or any financial controls, lacked the funds to pay its payroll and other operating expenses and had failed to maintain its primary asset – its real property, Kavita closed the debtor’s operations and quickly obtained a short-term loan to pay its outstanding expenses.  She also completed all of the major repairs necessary to market and sell the debtor’s real property.  Kavita ultimately sold the property for $7.75 million, an amount that was higher than its appraised value.  She then confirmed a Chapter 11 plan that provided a 100% distribution to secured and unsecured creditors.

Representative Case

Kavita was appointed as the Chapter 11 Trustee for eight rural medical clinics in and around Fresno, California.  At the time of her appointment, the debtor’s CEO was being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the California Department of Justice for health care fraud and conspiracy.  Within 10 days of her appointment, Kavita and her team conducted site visits of the medical clinics; met with the management, the patient care ombudsman and critical employees;, reviewed the debtor’s financial records; verified and obtained insurance where it was lacking (including medical malpractice insurance and property insurance); prepared an operating budget; secured the assets including the medical records, vehicles and other personal property and conferred with the California Department Health and Human Services on issues related to patient care.  She then filed a detailed report with the Bankruptcy Court that identified and quantified the major operational and legal problems facing the debtor and converted the case to a Chapter 7 case, which preserved the debtor’s cash and assets while limiting the debtor’s liability from unnecessary operations. In its minute order, the Bankruptcy Court found that “Trustee Gupta did extraordinarily good work in a very difficult case and did so in a very timely fashion.”