Contact: Carolyn Kanon
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CREDITORS CAN BRING ADVERSARY PROCEEDINGS IN FORMA PAUPERIS, ACCORDING TO MAJORITY IN LATEST ABI POLL

June 30, 2006, Alexandria, Va. — A majority of respondents to a recent American Bankruptcy Institute online poll agreed that creditors have a right to proceed in forma pauperis in an adversary proceeding pursuant to 28 USC 1915(a), which provides that any court of the U.S. may authorize any proceeding by a person who is unable to pay the filing fee. Of the majority of respondents, 33 percent “strongly agreed” and 21 percent “somewhat agreed” that creditors have a right to proceed in a proceeding in which the debtor cannot afford the filing fee.

Conversely, 25 percent of respondents “disagreed strongly” and another 6 percent “disagreed somewhat” that creditors should be allowed to proceed with a bankruptcy case in which the person cannot afford the filing fee. Fourteen percent of the respondents did not know or had no opinion on the issue. The right of debtors to proceed in forma pauperis was expanded by the 2005 amendments to the Code.

ABI membership and members of the public were welcome to submit their response to the statement: “Question:Creditors have a right to proceed in forma pauperis in an adversary proceeding pursuant to 28 USC 1915(a), which provides that any court of the U.S. may authorize any proceeding by a person who is unable to pay the filing fee.” The latest ABI Quick Poll was open for voting to the public and ABI members from June 23 – June 29.

The ABI Quick Poll is posted on ABI’s home page, www.abiworld.org. ABI members and the public are invited to respond to a question on a timely bankruptcy or insolvency issue. Visit http://www.abiworld.net/quickpoll/ to access the results of previous ABI Quick Polls.

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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes more than 11,500 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html.