U.S. Trustee’s Chapter 11 Fee Hike Upheld by Fourth Circuit

The Justice Department’s bankruptcy watchdog convinced an appellate court to affirm a sharp 2017 congressional hike of Chapter 11 quarterly fees, overcoming a liquidating trustee’s argument that the failure to apply the fees uniformly across the country makes them unconstitutional.

The amended fee law didn’t violate the U.S. Constitution’s Uniformity Clause because the requirement “forbids only arbitrary regional differences in the provisions of the Bankruptcy Code,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled Thursday, citing another, similar appellate decision.

The trustee handling the liquidation of defunct electronics retailer Circuit City sued the U.S. Trustee’s Office, claiming the ...