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00-2770 In the Matter of Bond Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Mills, J., Cudahy, J.

By: dmc-admin//June 25, 2001//

00-2770 In the Matter of Bond Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Mills, J., Cudahy, J.

By: dmc-admin//June 25, 2001//

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“[I]n spite of Dempsey’s failure to obtain the fees she requested, we note that she has set forth several reasonable arguments regarding the manner in which her fee requests were handled. For example, the bankruptcy court never provided her with an opportunity to address its concerns with her billing methods prior to ruling on her request, choosing instead to surprise her with these concerns in its final opinion (by which time Dempsey could no longer rebut the bankruptcy court).”

“The Bankruptcy Rules neither require nor provide for the verification of fee applications. Compare Bankruptcy Rule 2016 with Bankruptcy Rule 9011(b). See also former Bankruptcy Rules 219(a) and 911(b). Nonetheless, the practice has developed in this and other jurisdictions of submitting verified applications for allowance of compensation and reimbursement of expenses. A verification, as used in connection with fee applications in bankruptcy cases, is nothing more than a confirmation of the truth and correctness of the time records submitted to the Court. Its object is to assure the good faith and authenticity of those records. A verification is not a substitute for testimony in support of a contested fee application, nor does it limit the Court’s inquiry as to the services rendered or reasonableness of the fee sought. In this Court’s view, the signature of the attorney or other professional who submits a fee application constitutes a certificate by him of the correctness of his time records of services actually rendered. See Bankruptcy Rule 9011(a).”

Vacated and remanded, with instructions.

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