Fee applications under 2016(a), the Form B2030 attorney disclosure under 2016(b), and post-confirmation services.
An entity seeking interim or final compensation for services, or reimbursement of necessary expenses, from the estate shall file an application setting forth a detailed statement of (1) the services rendered, time expended and expenses incurred, and (2) the amounts requested. An application for compensation shall include a statement as to what payments have theretofore been made or promised to the applicant for services rendered or to be rendered in any capacity whatsoever in connection with the case, the source of the compensation so paid or promised, whether any compensation previously received has been shared and whether an agreement or understanding exists between the applicant and any other entity for the sharing of compensation received or to be received for services rendered in or in connection with the case, and the particulars of any sharing of compensation or agreement or understanding therefor. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2016(a).
Every attorney for a debtor, whether or not the attorney applies for compensation, shall file and transmit to the United States trustee within 14 days after the order for relief, or at another time as the court may direct, the statement required by Section 329 of the Code including whether the attorney has shared or agreed to share the compensation with any other entity. The statement shall include the particulars of any such sharing or agreement to share by the attorney, but the details of any agreement for the sharing of the compensation with a member or regular associate of the attorney's law firm shall not be required. A supplemental statement shall be filed and transmitted to the United States trustee within 14 days after any payment or agreement not previously disclosed. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2016(b).
Rule 2016 operates as two related but distinct disclosure regimes. Subdivision (a) governs compensation applications filed by any professional seeking payment from the estate. Subdivision (b) governs the statement of attorney compensation that every debtor's attorney must file, regardless of whether the attorney intends to seek compensation from the estate. The Section 329 statement is filed on Official Form B2030.
A fee application under Rule 2016(a) must show, with particularity, the services rendered, the time expended, the expenses incurred, and the amounts requested. The application is the operational vehicle for compensation under 11 U.S.C. Section 330. Courts evaluate fee applications under the lodestar method or the alternative reasonableness factors enumerated in Section 330(a)(3). Time entries are expected to identify the timekeeper, the task, the duration, and enough detail that the United States Trustee and the court can evaluate necessity, benefit to the estate, and reasonableness.
Many districts have adopted local guidelines that prescribe time-entry formats, billing-increment conventions, prohibited entries (block billing, vague descriptions, clerical tasks billed at attorney rates), and disclosure of fee-sharing or referral arrangements. The United States Trustee Program publishes national fee-application guidelines for Chapter 11 cases of substantial size.
The Section 329 statement on Form B2030 is the attorney's verified disclosure of:
The form's prepopulated language enumerates services typically included in a flat fee (analysis of financial situation, preparation of petition and schedules, representation at the Section 341 meeting) and services typically excluded (representation in adversary proceedings, reaffirmation negotiations beyond the initial review). The attorney edits the form to reflect the actual scope of the engagement.
The initial Rule 2016(b) statement is due within 14 days after the order for relief. A supplemental statement is required within 14 days after any payment or fee agreement not previously disclosed. The supplemental obligation is continuing throughout the pendency of the case; an attorney who receives an additional payment from the debtor mid-case has a 14-day window to file a supplemental Form B2030 disclosing that payment.
A recurring practical issue is whether services rendered after plan confirmation are "in connection with the case" for Section 329 purposes, and therefore require Rule 2016(b) disclosure. Local rules in many jurisdictions address this directly. Local Rule 2016-1(E), where adopted, typically provides that compensation for services rendered after confirmation on matters within the scope of the original retention requires either a supplemental Rule 2016(b) statement or a separate fee application, depending on the source of the payment.
The general principle drawn from published decisions: payments to the debtor's attorney that arise from the engagement memorialized on the original Form B2030 are within the disclosure obligation regardless of whether the services are rendered pre- or post-confirmation. Payments for matters entirely outside the scope of the original engagement are not. The distinction is fact-dependent and the burden of demonstrating that a payment falls outside the disclosure obligation rests on the attorney.
Counsel files Form B2030 with the petition disclosing the flat fee and the scope of services. If counsel agrees post-petition to handle a reaffirmation, an adversary proceeding, or a Section 522(f) motion outside the original flat fee, a supplemental Form B2030 disclosing the additional fee is filed within 14 days of the supplemental engagement.
Debtor's counsel typically files both the Rule 2014 retention application and a Rule 2016(b) Section 329 statement. Subsequent compensation flows through periodic Rule 2016(a) interim fee applications, with a final fee application at or near confirmation. Post-confirmation work generally requires either a supplemental Form B2030 or a separate fee application depending on local practice.
Section 329(b) authorizes the court to "cancel any such agreement, or order the return of any such payment" to the extent the compensation "exceeds the reasonable value of any such services." Where the underlying defect is non-disclosure rather than excess, courts routinely order disgorgement of undisclosed payments without a separate reasonableness inquiry on the theory that an undisclosed payment cannot be approved as reasonable on a record that does not contain it. The remedy reaches both pre-petition and post-petition payments that should have been disclosed.
Disclosure precedes reasonableness. The threshold question in any Rule 2016 review is whether the payment was disclosed at all. A payment that was not disclosed is not eligible for reasonableness analysis on its merits; the typical remedy is disgorgement, with subsequent application available if the attorney wishes to seek approval of compensation actually earned.
This page provides general information about Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 2016. It does not constitute legal advice. Specific fee-disclosure questions in a pending case should be evaluated by qualified bankruptcy counsel.