His matter had been called and disposed of earlier in the Chapter 13 calendar. Yet the young lawyer continued to sit in the courtroom, listening, watching and making notes. Finally I leaned over and asked if he had another matter on the calendar. No, he replied, I’m just taking it all in. That attitude, coupled […]
Can The McCourts Dodge A Bullet In Dodger Bankruptcy?
The Dodgers’ bankruptcy filing is titillating, involving big time sports, a feud between team owner McCourt and baseball commissioner Selig, and the messy divorce centered around the Dodgers as marital property. We’ll all get a primer on Chapter 11’s as we watch the first day motions and the motions to incur enough additional debt […]
Cash Collateral Can Crater Bankruptcy Cases And Careers
Want to make a bankruptcy judge go ballistic? It’s easy: demonstrate ignorance or indifference to cash collateral. If you are saying, what’s cash collateral, you need to read further or learn to walk over molten lava. Cash collateral is essentially the output of property subject to the security interest of a creditor: rents, offspring, dividends, […]
Ring Around Bankruptcy Law: Don’t Fall Down
I read it on the Internet: it must be so. Or not. I found another Victoria Ring blooper this week, thanks to a friend on her email list. Ms. Ring, a paralegal who trains other paralegals (and lawyers, I fear) delightedly tells her LinkedIn group that debtors in California can not only cram down […]
Beware Predatory Lenders In Sheep’s Clothing
Just when you thought mortgage lender behavior couldn’t get more odious or indifferent, they prove you wrong. Yesterday a mortgage modification for clients currently in a confirmed Chapter 13 plan appeared on my desk. The plan is several years old and the mortgage arrears were about $5000. The lender sought relief from stay over what […]
Get The Tools You Need
You filed the case. If you’re asking, ” Now, what do I do?“, join me for a lunch and learn series this summer. We’ll pack your tool kit with ten essential skills a newish bankruptcy practitioner needs to have to survive clients, creditors and judges. All before Labor Day. The sessions are going to be […]
The Electronic Shortcut To Perdition
Didn’t someone wise say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions? So, my subject today is the need to have the client’s actual signature on each document filed with the court. It should be obvious and go without saying. Yet the point apparently needs to be made. The observations of colleagues in […]
