Statutory Overview
11 U.S.C. section 329 imposes two duties on every attorney representing a debtor: (1) disclose all compensation paid or agreed to within one year before the petition (section 329(a), implemented by Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2016(b)); and (2) submit to a reasonableness review under section 329(b), with the court empowered to cancel the agreement or order the return of any excessive payment. The standard operates nationally, but circuits differ meaningfully in how strictly they enforce disclosure, whether they treat disgorgement as a sanction or a regulatory remedy, and whether they require proof of harm before ordering full disgorgement.
11 U.S.C. section 329(b): "If such compensation exceeds the reasonable value of any such services, the court may cancel any such agreement, or order the return of any such payment, to the extent excessive..."
This page collects the First Circuit's leading authorities on each prong, surveys the circuit's Chapter 11 and Subchapter V filing footprint, and ends with practical tips calibrated to the local bench and U.S. Trustee posture.
Leading Case Law in the First Circuit
The cases below are the ones most frequently cited in fee-review motions and U.S. Trustee filings across the circuit's bankruptcy districts. Status badges indicate whether the authority is binding (a circuit-court opinion) or persuasive (district, BAP, or bankruptcy-court opinion - or out-of-circuit authority that is routinely followed in-circuit).
Persuasive In re Engel, 124 F.3d 567 (3d Cir. 1997)
Cited in the First Circuit for the proposition that disclosure failure supports disgorgement even where services had value.
Persuasive In re Bennett Funding Group, Inc., 226 B.R. 331 (Bankr. N.D.N.Y. 1998)
Frequently cited by First Circuit bankruptcy judges on attorney disclosure standards.
Persuasive In re Perrine, 369 B.R. 571 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 2007)
Used in New England districts on source-of-funds disclosure.
Practitioners should always confirm currency on Westlaw or CourtListener; fee-review doctrine evolves through bankruptcy-court opinions faster than circuit-court opinions. Where the First Circuit has not spoken definitively, bankruptcy judges in the circuit frequently draw on Third Circuit (Engel), Ninth Circuit (Park-Helena), and Tenth Circuit (Stewart, Investment Bankers) authority.
Chapter 11 Filing Volume in the First Circuit
Across this circuit's bankruptcy districts, the Open Bankruptcy Project master dataset records 20 Chapter 11 cases, distributed as follows (district codes use the standard CM/ECF short form):
| District Code | Ch. 11 Cases |
|---|---|
mabk | 19 |
nhbk | 1 |
Chapter 11 counts are a reasonable proxy for Subchapter V and complex business fee-review activity. Consumer Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 volume is much larger and is not shown here.
Fee-review activity is concentrated in districts with active U.S. Trustee fee-examiner programs and in courts that operate a standing order on attorney compensation. Volume alone does not predict the intensity of fee review: some low-volume districts apply section 329 more rigorously than high-volume districts because individual cases draw more judicial attention.
Practice Tips for the First Circuit
- New England districts (D. Mass., D.R.I., D.N.H.) apply strict 14-day Rule 2016(b) deadlines; late disclosure is frequently treated as no disclosure.
- The U.S. Trustee for Region 1 actively reviews fee applications in Chapter 11 and Subchapter V cases; expect line-item scrutiny in Boston.
- Puerto Rico (D.P.R.) has a Spanish-language practice; file bilingual disclosures when required by local rule.
These tips are generalizations drawn from published opinions and U.S. Trustee bulletins; every district has local rules and standing orders that may supplement or displace them. Before filing any fee-related motion, pull the relevant local rules and the assigned judge's standing orders, and check whether the district has a published fee-guideline schedule (some districts publish presumptive caps for no-look consumer fees).
Related Resources
- Section 329(b) Caselaw Map - Curated national case law with CourtListener deep links.
- Filing a Section 329(b) Motion - Standing, procedure, and what to prove.
- UST Authority - The U.S. Trustee's role in policing attorney fees under section 307.
- Rule 2016(b) Disclosure - Initial and supplemental statements.
- Fee Application Deficiencies - 19-category red-flag checklist.
- All Circuits - Browse every federal circuit.