Bankruptcy Mastery

Becoming a better bankruptcy lawyer

Means Test: Good Enough Isn’t Good Enough

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Early in the life of BAPCPA, I sat down to review a means test with a new bankruptcy lawyer.   The first part of the form seemed to be complete and make sense, but as I worked my way deeper into the document, unexpected lines were blank, or numbers were small relative to my expectations. Doesn't the client have health care expenses, taxes, internet service, I asked?  The reply:  I've gotten to … [Continue reading...]

Maximizing the Initial Client Interview

By Filed Under: Before filing, Start Here

The first meeting with a bankruptcy prospect is the best and hardest work I do. It's probably the most important as well.  I use it to figure out what the issues in the case are, what the client's goals are, and to convey what I will need from the client to produce a successful outcome. Everything thereafter is just detail. The information that's important Before I get to debt … [Continue reading...]

Newbie Summer Reading: Rake v. Wade

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

newbie summer reading

One more case before summer's over:  Rake v. Wade. This one is interesting because it dealt with a central issue in Chapter 13:  whether the Bankruptcy Code requires payment of interest on mortgage arrears (which are usually themselves mostly interest) even when the underlying loan documents do not provide for interest on arrears.  And even more interesting, the effect of the decision had an … [Continue reading...]

Bankruptcy and Offers in Compromise

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

This one is for Lex and Gail and follows up on Peeling the Onion, about the client who was counting on the IRS compromising their  priority tax debt just as their income jumped. First, get the lingo right:  it is an offer IN compromise, not an offer AND compromise. In general, the IRS will not negotiate an offer while a debtor is in bankruptcy.  I have been successful once in 30 years in … [Continue reading...]

Breaking Up Earlier Rather Than Later

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

I ended up representing a crazy because I had an attorney/client relationship with him when he discovered that the foreclosure sale was 48 hours off.  I needed to have taken my own advice about deselecting clients who won't take your advice. My concern here, both personally and professionally, was that I thought risky to say, two days from the foreclosure sale, that I would not represent this … [Continue reading...]

Newbie Summer Reading: How Lamie

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Supreme Court on Attorneys Fees

Bankruptcy cases you need to know by name include Lamie, the Supreme Court's 2004 pronouncement on attorneys fees for debtor's counsel. Petitioner represented a Chapter 11 debtor whose case was converted to Chapter 7.  After conversion, Mr. Lamie filed amended schedules, and reports on changes in assets and debts since the commencement of the case.  He didn't represent the Chapter 7 trustee nor … [Continue reading...]

Solo Attorney’s How To Guide

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Solo Attorney Tool Kit

Learn how to evaluate a case in 15 minutes; how to decide whether to give free consultations; and how to avoid conflicts, written for the solo or small firm attorney.  Could the topics be more on point? The current issue of the GPSolo Magazine from the ABA deals with these issues and more.  It's online and it's free. While written for general practitioners, most of the material is, with … [Continue reading...]

Get Your General Ed Credits, Too

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Rookie bankruptcy lawyers could do worse than go the California State Bar Convention for a grounding in practice management basics and developing issues in other areas of law. My law partner Renee Mendoza points out that legal education is nowhere as inexpensive as the convention. You can attend classes from dawn to the cocktail hour, for several days in a row.   I'd lost sight of the fact that … [Continue reading...]

I Flunked Mindreading

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

I Flunked Mindreading

For six months, I've been writing this blog for newish bankruptcy lawyers, trying to imagine what it is that I know about this practice that you, as a newcomer, needs to know sooner rather than later. I've shamelessly lifted stories from my clients and those of my local newbies to write about here.  I've snatched issues I've tripped over to share with you. Enough!  Rather than me guessing … [Continue reading...]

Client as Onion: Peeling Down To The Core

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Bankruptcy Client as Onion

When we finally got there, the client's reluctance to wait 8 weeks to file bankruptcy was predicated on the (unreasonable) expectation that the IRS would forgive tax debt in an offer in compromise. I got involved counseling a new bankruptcy attorney whose clients wanted to file Chapter 7 right now, while one spouse was unemployed.  A job offer was on the horizon, they thought, and their … [Continue reading...]

Financial Information for Financially Stressed

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Five friends and I launched a new personal finance site today Money Health Central where we hope to gather actionable information for those in debt and those emerging from debt.  We hope to put to use what we've learned about personal finances from years of interviewing our bankruptcy clients. The site moves beyond just bankruptcy information to talk about saving, spending, debt alternatives … [Continue reading...]

The Many Hats of a Bankruptcy Lawyer

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

  Lee Rosen, a well known family lawyer, described the demands of his practice thus: Family law attorneys live in an information deprivation zone. They need to know more than they can possibly remember. They’ve got to master the fundamentals of family law. On top of that, they must have a working knowledge of property law, tax law, estate planning, juvenile law, criminal law, and half a … [Continue reading...]