Payroll taxes are dynamite: First, let’s get our terms straight. What we call “payroll taxes” are really several different taxes, FICA, income taxes, etc. In bankruptcy-speak, we are talking about taxes that the employer collects from its employees and transmits to the government. The employer is merely a conduit for payments by others on their […]
Have The Last Word On New Forms
By tomorrow, the door will be locked. Public comment closes today on the draft new bankruptcy forms. If you have an opinion (and what lawyer doesn’t), today is the last chance to express it in way that matters. Here’s the address for comments: [email protected] I broke out the draft forms earlier in the week. Don’t […]
Bankruptcy Lawyer Sleepless in Silicon Valley
The“Who’s On First” problem of lien strip service haunted my weekend at the Sacramento Bankruptcy Forum and the week that has followed back in the office. As one judge so kindly pointed out, if it turns out your service of the lien strip motion was inadequate, it will be the debtor’s attorney in the cross […]
Have Your Say About New Bankruptcy Forms
Speak now or forever hold your peace. Or suffer in silence, is more like it. Comment period for the proposed new bankruptcy forms closes February 15th. That’s a week from tomorrow. Have you had your say? I’ve extracted the new I, J, and elements of B22 from the pdf on the court’s site to make […]
Sleepless In Sacramento
A really good bankruptcy law conference leaves you unable to sleep the next night. If you don’t learn something that scares you sleepless about how you practice, you weren’t paying attention. Service of lien strip motions tops my worry list after last weekend’s Northern California Bankruptcy Conference in Sacramento. Lien strips may be the biggest […]
What Does Good Lawyering Cost?
Ms. Moran, how could this bankruptcy case have cost as much as your fee application asks? That’s the harping voice in the back of my head as I write fee applications. That’s the question that my written application had better answer before I step to the lectern in a courtroom. It’s impolitic to say my client’s an […]
Is The Debtor Lost In Space?
Business bankruptcy skills, continued. The business lease often stands at the center of the troubles of a struggling business. Ask the right questions, or better yet, read the document yourself, and you can outline choices for your client. There’s no straight line through this topic, so let’s head off. Who is lessee? Even when the […]
