Pioneer Bankruptcy

Greg Johnson’s article on the mounting attorney’s fees in the Pioneer Mortgage bankruptcy underscores the unfair treatment received by creditors in the bankruptcy court (“Mounting Attorneys’ Fees Disturb Pioneer Investors,” Sept. 17). It seems almost obscene that attorneys should be paid over $2 million before a single creditor receives one penny of their hard-earned cash.

It’s high time that the federal bankruptcy laws are modified to ensure that creditors’ claims are not ignored, while attorneys are paid inflated fees and other charges. Why can’t bankruptcy attorneys be paid a percentage of the creditors’ claims, as in personal injury suits?

The present system rewards attorneys, while failing to adequately address the problem at hand: recovering creditors’ assets.

Lawyers’ fees should be set by a schedule in bankruptcy court, as they are in most civil courts. The fees also should be carefully scrutinized to eliminate abuses, such as overbilling and excessive expenses.

BYRON SLATER, San Diego