NEW YORK: US President Barack Obama's task force on the car industry has hired a bankruptcy lawyer to advise it on its options.

The task force hired Matthew Feldman, a partner in the business reorganisation and restructuring department at New York law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, the law firm said.

Feldman will be advising US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers, the director of the National Economic Council, on reorganisation efforts by car manufacturers and suppliers, Willkie said.

He will leave the firm by the end of the month to start his position in Washington, according to Willkie.

A US Treasury official confirmed Feldman's hiring, adding this would not change the task force's approach in restructuring the car industry. He will work to help analyse restructuring options with the rest of the teams, the official said.

The US government also has been working with bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers at law firms Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, as well as turnaround specialists at investment bank Rothschild.

Those advisers have been working with officials on the taxpayer-backed restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler.

Feldman has worked on both in court and out of court restructurings, according to his firm's website. He also represented investors that bid for assets in the Chapter 11 restructuring of car parts supplier Dana Holding.

Members of the administration's task force toured GM and Chrysler facilities in Detroit, and met company executives.