Order Approving Counsel for the Debtor — In re Panthera Enterprises, LLC

What This Document Is

A two-page proposed Order Approving Counsel for the Debtor, filed September 23, 2019 alongside the Application to Employ (docket 16) — a draft order for the judge's signature, not a signed/entered order (its date-of-signature blank is left unfilled: "this ___ day of ___, 2019"). Docket 17.

Factual Summary

The proposed order would appoint Bernstein-Burkley, P.C., 707 Grant Street, Suite 2200 Gulf Tower, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, as attorney for the debtor as of September 13, 2019 (the petition date), for the reasons set forth in the application (docket 16). It recites the standard factors that will govern eventual fee approval (time and labor required, novelty and difficulty of issues, skill required, preclusion of other employment, customary fee, fixed vs. contingent fee, time limitations, attorney experience/reputation/ability, nature of the client relationship, and comparable awards), and states that approval of the employment application does not itself pre-approve any particular fee rate under 11 U.S.C. § 328(a). It further provides that the order does not authorize the attorney to retain or pay outside counsel or other professionals at the estate's expense without prior court approval.

Key Facts

Proposed order (unsigned draft, blank signature date), submitted 2019-09-23, docket 17.
Would appoint Bernstein-Burkley, P.C. as debtor's counsel effective as of the September 13, 2019 petition date.
Fee approval reserved for later notice-and-hearing determination; no pre-approval of hourly rates.
Bars retention of outside counsel/professionals at estate expense without separate court approval.

Source Caveats

This is an unsigned proposed/draft order (the "this ___ day of ___, 2019" signature line is blank in the source PDF); it documents what was requested, not a confirmed court ruling — same pattern as other draft orders elsewhere in this docket (e.g., dockets 68, 89).
The petition/effective date referenced in the proposed order's text (2019-09-13) differs from this document's own filing date of 2019-09-23; the filing date is used here as the operative document date.
Use the linked source file for the complete order text.

Date: 2019-09-13

Full text

IN THE UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA (Elkins)

IN RE:

PANTHERA ENTERPRISES, LLC

(Debtor).

Bankruptcy No. 2:19-bk-00787

Chapter 11

ORDER APPROVING COUNSEL FOR THE DEBTOR

AND NOW, this day of , 2019, upon consideration of the APPLICATION
TO EMPLOY BERNSTEIN-BURKLEY, P.C. filed at Document No. , it is ORDERED,
ADJUDGED and DECREED as follows:

(1)
BERNSTEIN-BURKLEY, P.C., 707 Grant Street, Suite 2200 Gulf Tower,
Pittsburgh, PA 15219 is hereby appointed, as of September 13, 2019, as Attorney for Debtor in
this bankruptcy proceeding for the reasons set forth in the Application.

(2)
Professional persons or entities performing services in the above case are advised
that approval of fees for professional services will be based not only on the amount involved and
the results accomplished, but other factors as well, including: the time and labor reasonably
required by counsel, the novelty and difficulty of the issues presented, the skill requisite to
perform the legal service properly, the preclusion of other employment due to acceptance of this
case, the customary fee, whether the fee is fixed or contingent, the time limitations imposed by
the client or the circumstances, the experience, reputation and ability of the attorneys involved,
the undesirability of the case, the nature and length of the Professional relationship with the
client, and, awards in similar cases.

(3)
Approval of any motion for appointment of counsel in which certain fees are
requested for various identified professionals is not an agreement by the Court to allow such fees
at the requested hourly rates, and is not a preapproval of compensation pursuant to 11 U.S.C.
§328(a). Final Compensation, awarded only after notice and hearing, may be more or less than
the requested hourly rates based on application of the above-mentioned factors in granting
approval by Court Order. Any retainer paid to the Attorney is unaffected by this Order and
remains property of the Estate until further order of Court.

No. 2:19-bk-00787 Doc 17 Filed 09/23/19 Entered 09/23/19 12:29:06 Page 1 of 2

(4)
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the letter of engagement or agreement
between Movant and the Attorney, this Order does not authorize the Attorney to retain or pay
any outside counsel or other professional to assist Attorney in this matter unless such is done at
no expense to Movant, directly or indirectly. Any other retention of, and payment to, an outside
counsel or other professional is subject to prior approval of the Court.

No. 2:19-bk-00787 Doc 17 Filed 09/23/19 Entered 09/23/19 12:29:06 Page 2 of 2

File and source

File: gov.uscourts.wvnb.75953.17.0.pdf
Size: 35,198 bytes
SHA-256: 0da7a77ac78bc61562d276522c83076166f6fb855a70b93f7fcd15b08dd1c7c9
Our copy: gov.uscourts.wvnb.75953.17.0.pdf
Original: PACER (login required)