Bankruptcy courts are trial courts, and have jurisdiction over some of the most complex and economically significant litigation in the United States. Bankruptcy clerks are exposed not only to bankruptcy law and procedure, but also to all of the other areas of law embodied in claims against the bankrupt's estate (called "adversary proceedings"). Because bankruptcy courts are trial courts, the tasks a bankruptcy clerk is called upon to perform are quite similar to those of district court clerks. Bankruptcy judges are not, however, Article III judges; they are judicial officers of the U.S. District Court, appointed for fourteen-year terms by the majority of judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals to exercise jurisdiction over bankruptcy matters.
