Recent ABI Poll Shows Narrow Majority Agree to Allowing Chapter 11 Debtors to Grant Attorneys a Secured Interest in Their Cash Assets Within Retention Agreements

Recent ABI Poll Shows Narrow Majority Agree to Allowing Chapter 11 Debtors to Grant Attorneys a Secured Interest in Their Cash Assets Within Retention Agreements

Contact: John Hartgen
             (703) 739-0800
             [email protected]

RECENT ABI POLL SHOWS NARROW MAJORITY AGREE TO ALLOWING CHAPTER 11 DEBTORS TO GRANT ATTORNEYS A SECURED INTEREST IN THEIR CASH ASSETS WITHIN RETENTION AGREEMENTS

June 16, 2006, Alexandria, Va. — Fifty-one percent of respondents to the recent American Bankruptcy Institute online poll agreed that chapter 11 debtors should be permitted to grant attorneys a security interest in their cash assets as a part of the retention agreement. Of those, 36 percent “strongly agreed” that debtors should be allowed to grant attorneys a security interest in their cash assets as a part of the retention agreement, while 15 percent “somewhat agreed.”

Conversely, 39 percent of respondents “disagreed strongly” and another 6 percent “somewhat disagreed” with allowing debtors to grant attorneys a security interest in their cash assets as apart of their retention agreement. Four percent of the respondents did not know or had no opinion on the issue.

ABI membership and members of the public were welcome to submit their response to the statement: “Chapter 11 debtors should be permitted to grant attorneys a security interest in their cash assets as a part of the retention agreement.” More than 100 people participated in this latest ABI Quick Poll, which was open for voting from June 8 – June 15.

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.

###

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.