Avoiding bankruptcy malpractice is a learned skill and necessary for professional survival. If word of mouth from happy clients is the world’s best advertising for a bankruptcy lawyer, loud complaints from unhappy clients in the internet age is professional poison. So, for both client and lawyer future wellbeing, it’s worth considering how to avoid bankruptcy […]
2026 Brings Larger California Homestead
It’s time to check out the California homestead numbers for 2026. The 2021 expanded California homestead not only brought the exemption amount closer to the real cost of housing, it provided for annual adjustments for inflation. The original legislation created a $300,000 floor on the exemption and a $600,000 cap for homeowners, based on the median price of a […]
The Trick To Getting Paid For All Your Work In Chapter 13
Tired of eating fees at the end of a Chapter 13 when the debtor-client gets a discharge and you get a write off of the unpaid fees? The problem– attorneys fees incurred during the case but unpaid at case end are uncollectible when the debtor gets a discharge. It happens all too frequently when you […]
Use your authentic voice to humanize yourself and the law
The legal chatter is full of the promise of Artificial Intelligence to revolutionize the practice of law. It can write your letters, your briefs and your website, they say. But there’s a catch here (other than the fact that AI sometimes makes stuff up, including case law, out of whole cloth.): ChatGPT and its ilk […]
My Client Communication Strategy: Flood the Zone
Poor client communication is the source of both client anguish and discontent with the legal profession. Case in point: failure to return calls is the most frequent complaint to the state bar where I practice. As bankruptcy lawyers, we’re dealing with people under stress: they are seldom at their best and their capacity to absorb […]
Still Crazy After All These Years
More than four decades after the Bankruptcy Code was enacted, we are still tripping over the lingering conundrums of Chapter 13. Four decades, and appeals courts haven’t brought clarity and predictability to what should be a simple, well understood process for individuals to reorganize their financial lives. I speak of course about the mysteries of […]
How to Wring Out Every Last Means Test Deduction
Every extra dollar deduction you can wring out on bankruptcy’s means test is important. A dollar doesn’t sound like a lot, but an extra dollar less in DMI saves a Chapter 13 debtor $60 over the life of a 60 month plan. Every $100 saves $6000. You get the picture. Besides lowering the cost of […]
