Re: Bankruptcy Filings Rise

More | Report Post

rrr: You forgot te rest of the
sqeeze play, credit card minimum
payments have doubled by law. Since
gas prices have more then double,
and add to that riseing taxes.
Pretty soon there will be alot of
people forced to throw in the towel.
Most household planners can plan for
contigency expenese, it's the added
unexspected costs of living that
will push most people over the edge.
The people who are on the edge now.
Have nowhere to go but down, with
the rest of the economey.

On 3/31/06, Guru wrote:
> Fordham,
>
> Solo practice in the current
environment is very tough. You have
dismissed
> me in the past, but I mean well.
A few years of work will allow you
to save
> money, get experience, make
contacts, and allow the solo
attorney supply to
> drop, which it will. Then you can
come in and do very well. Just my
> advice, but think before you
dismiss opinions from people who are
out in the
> field with their hands dirty.
>
> Another thing, if you have trouble
getting law work, which many grads
are
> (there are too many lawyers), then
try finance. I have found, to my
> surprise, that the finance field
greatly respects a JD. I have been
treated
> better from the finance and Wall
Street types than I ever was by any
> attorney, law student, law clerk,
judge, or client. Food for thought.
>
> On 3/31/06, FordhamGrad wrote:
>> Thanks for the good feedback.
I'm evaluating work options right
now - in
>> a few years, at least, I'd like
to be on my own, and BK has always
>> interested me.
>>
>>
>> On 3/31/06, FordhamGrad wrote:
>>> On 3/30/06, Dante wrote:
>>>> Question: I understand that the
new law only applies to half the
>>>> population - namely, those that
make more than the median income of
>>>> their particular state. This
being the case, are any attorneys
>>>> charging these clients the same
fee as before? Or are the new fees
>>>> hiked for everybody?
>>>>
>>>> And as a side thought, since
poorer people are presumably more
>>>> likely to go bankrupt, would it
be safe to say that the majority of
>>>> potential clients are not
impacted by the new law?
>>>>
>>>> Answer: Bankruptcy law is no
longer for amateurs. Please do
yourself
>>>> a favor and work with someone
who does this for a living. The
result
>>>> of messing it up, which is now
fairly easy to do, could be huge
>>>> professionally. Check out
membership in the ABI if you're
seriously
>>>> considering BK practice.
Liability coverage is more
expensive, so
>>>> everybody gets charged about
twice as much as before. This is
the new
>>>> reality.
>>>>
>>>> Poorer people tend to
be "judgment proof," i.e., you can't
get blood
>>>> from a stone. When I first
started doing BK about 10 years ago,
I
>>>> figured that the target market
was the poor; it is not. It is the
>>>> working poor, formerly known as
the lower middle class, who comprise
>>>> the client base. Everyone is
impacted by the new law. I had to
turn
>>>> someone away today because they
couldn't afford my fee. It was a
lose-
>>>> lose result that wouldn't have
happened 6 months ago. But keep a
>>>> positive outlook.
Opportunities are rarely handed to
us on golden
>>>> platters. There is always room
at the top. It's the bottom tiers
of
>>>> the practice that are crowded.
>>>>
>>>> Good luck.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 3/28/06, FordhamGrad wrote:
>>>>> Question: I understand that
the new law only applies to half the
>>>>> population - namely, those
that make more than the median
income of
>>>>> their particular state. This
being the case, are any attorneys
>>>>> charging these clients the
same fee as before? Or are the new
fees
>>>>> hiked for everybody?
>>>>>
>>>>> And as a side thought, since
poorer people are presumably more
>>>>> likely to go bankrupt, would
it be safe to say that the majority
of
>>>>> potential clients are not
impacted by the new law?
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm not practicing yet, just
curious.
>>>>>
>>>>> On 3/28/06, Dante wrote:
>>>>>> I admire the optimism of both
Jiff and rrr to predict the future
>>>>> of
>>>>>> bankruptcy. What do we
really know? The practice area has
now
>>>>>> dropped off a cliff in terms
of business. Will this trend
>>>>>> continue? The U.S. household
savings rate is the lowest ever.
>>>>>> Housing prices are the
highest ever, and oil is now over
$60 per
>>>>>> barrel. Add into that an
aging population, foreseeably
massive
>>>>> tax
>>>>>> increases both at the federal
and state level, and the financial
>>>>>> picture darkens.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Short-term, our business
looks bad; over the longer haul, one
has
>>>>>> to think that there's hope.
I am told that the Chinese character
>>>>>> for "crisis"
and "opportunity" is the same.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> We are diversifying over the
short-term, and keeping an eye on
the
>>>>>> long-term opportunity for
consumer liquidations that is sure
to
>>>>>> arise in the deepening morass
that is our national economy.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 3/28/06, Jiff wrote:
>>>>>>> I admire your optimism, but
I just don't see it that way. The
>>>>>>> problem I see with your
analysis is that you assume debtors
are
>>>>>>> actually going to defend
against collection suits. In
reality,
>>>>>>> they don't, not in large
enough numbers to make it a viable
>>>>>>> practice add on. As far as
independent paralegals, they never
>>>>>>> really took hold in my area,
and as far as easy, cheap work,
>>>>>>> attorneys were more than
happy to do it. Client comes to me
and
>>>>>>> offers $400-500 for about 2
hours (at most) of my time for a
>>>>>>> simple 7, and I take it
happily over and over again. Well,
I
>>>>>>> used to, under the old law.
I share the sentiment voiced by
>>>>>>> others on this board that
bankruptcy's glory days are behind
>>>>>>> us. It was the easiest
money I ever made, now, back to
those
>>>>>>> pesky divorce clients!
>>>>>>> On 3/28/06, rrr wrote:
>>>>>>>> On 3/28/06, Jiff wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Read these thoroughly.
Bankruptcy filings are "rising", but
>>>>>>>>> from virtually nothing.
The current and projected caseload
>>>>>>>>> for the next twelve months
will not support the current
>>>>>>>>> number of bankruptcy
attorneys. 2/3 of the bankruptcy
>>>>>>>>> attorneys will go out of
business in the next year, in my
>>>>>>>>> view.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I think its going to push
the Independent Paralegals out of
>>>>>>>> Bankruptcy business since
they were the ones doing most of the
>>>>>>>> fast & easy petitions (at
least they were the ones here in
>>>>>>>> California). I've already
seen it in the local advertising.
>>>>>>>> Not a Paralegal advertising
for BK at all. The Attorney
>>>>>>>> who "occassionally" did a
bankrutpcy will no longer do them,
>>>>>>>> and the mills will have to
change their methods, but the core
>>>>>>>> Debtor-Consumer Attorneys
are going to come out ahead. And we
>>>>>>>> haven't even started to see
the fallout from the slow down in
>>>>>>>> real estate and
consequences from aggressive
mortgage lending
>>>>>>>> practices. When the
foreclosures start to hit in a
stagnant
>>>>>>>> market, it will be time to
feed again. Not to mention there
>>>>>>>> will be more Collections
Defense Litigation from those who
>>>>>>>> can't Chapter 7 because of
the Means Test and lack the
>>>>>>>> financial stability to
Chapter 13, and have no foreclosure
to
>>>>>>>> prevent. This new law may
actually be great news for Debtor-
>>>>>>>> side Practitioners after we
shake off the immediate mental
>>>>>>>> shock and adapt to the
change. Time to be patient and time
to
>>>>>>>> be visionary, the greedy
shylocks might have just made us all
>>>>>>>> rich.