Bankruptcy Mastery

Becoming a better bankruptcy lawyer

Why Courtroom Rules Work In Your Conference Room

By Filed Under: lawyer skills

"Objection: calls for a legal conclusion." That's a perfectly good courtroom objection to a question asked of a witness at trial.  The rules of evidence make the court, not the witness, the sole arbiter of the law. What does that have to do with filing bankruptcy schedules, you ask. I suggest you import this courtroom maxim into your routine for exploring assets, debts and … [Continue reading...]

The Business Lease: Who’s On First?

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

A business lease often looms as one of the biggest claims in a bankruptcy case and a big issue for a small business. For bankruptcy lawyers,  the lease raises, as most of these things do, both traps and opportunities Beyond the common subject matter,  today's observations are probably otherwise without a theme. Pivotal issue is identity of  lessee More often than you might expect, the lease for … [Continue reading...]

Buried Treasures Your Clients Don’t Disclose

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

  I had spent at least six hours with the clients over several months, strategizing about extracting them personally from a cratering business situation, when he said, "Oh, I haven't told you about..." Others at the meeting said my eyes popped and I'm sure my face fell. He owned another business corporation, which had assets, filed tax returns, and stood utterly apart from the … [Continue reading...]

Can You Afford To Help Your Competitors?

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Bankruptcy lawyers as competitors

Why should I help my competitors? That was the query of a highly experienced bankruptcy lawyer I met at the Northern California Bankruptcy Forum last week. I heard the same push back on one of Jay Fleischman's listserves from a participant who didn't want to share with others in his professional community an upcoming education opportunity. "I don't want my competition to improve". I … [Continue reading...]

Prove It!

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Evidence: even in bankruptcy cases

Kismet,  def. fate or destiny, seemed to be in play this weekend. Or maybe it's that I'm like a magpie with a fixation on books rather than shiny objects. But the first thing that caught my eye in the exhibitors hall at the Northern California Bankruptcy Forum this weekend was the NCLC book on evidence.  It wasn't labeled "evidence for dummies" but it could have been. Actually it was … [Continue reading...]

Maybe You Already Knew…

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

I learned something new last week and it took the ***!#### means test to teach it to me. The case involved a couple where the non filing wife ran an interior decorating business.  The income and expense information we were presented with showed "lots" of money flowing through the business. Subtract the given business expenses and our figures said these folks should be paying several thousands of … [Continue reading...]

Stop Wrestling With Lien Stripping

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

  If there's a bright spot in the midst of this recession, it's the thrill bankruptcy lawyers get in stripping mortgage liens from underwater property. Action taken at the depths of home values will benefit clients long into the future if the client can hang on to the home til things recover. Yet I hear lawyers wrestling with  lien stripping worries revolving around mismatches … [Continue reading...]

It’s Not Smart To Overpay

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Don't Pay Too Much In Chapter 13

    Some mistakes the Chapter 13 trustee will call you on;  others go unremarked.   So let's discuss some simplistic thinking that has your Chapter 13 client paying too much into the plan. I've reviewed any number of newbie plans that use the non exempt equity in the debtor's possessions as the liquidation premium. Subtract the exemptions from the value of the assets and … [Continue reading...]

A New Wrinkle With Client Age

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

New Bankruptcy Wrinkle

This seems to have been my season for issues driven by testamentary, or pseudo testamentary transfers. Estate planning is a big issue that requires independent consultation like Stone Arch Law Office, PLLC - Estate Planning Law Firm does. I've encountered the post petition trust beneficiary; the client with an unanticipated prepetition interest in a probate estate; and the residual beneficiary of … [Continue reading...]

When Bankruptcy Attorneys Put Their Clients In Default

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Counsel, get it right

    The Chapter 13 Trustee almost snarled from the counsel table at last week's hearings. Counsel's "fix", she told the court, put the debtor instantly in default. Huh?  The amended plan was supposed to correct the previous defect in the filed plan.  What's the problem?  Counsel certainly was befuddled. There were several such cases, and whatever dollars and cents problem … [Continue reading...]

A Call To Action To All Bankruptcy Lawyers

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Push back to call to improve bankruptcy bar

    My call to the inept bankruptcy practitioners to get better or get out spawned some surprising push back. I spoke bluntly about what I saw as harm to the public from less than competent or committed bankruptcy attorneys. Most reaction was supportive:  A trustee wanted to use the piece for a presentation he was making; another lawyer asked to reprint it.  Many simply added … [Continue reading...]

How Can I Help?

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

After I unloaded on the incompetence I saw in the courtroom last week, it's only fair to ask:  what are you struggling with?  Is there something I can do to help? I'm here to share what I know, with an emphasis on fitting together the pieces of what you can learn from books or traditional CLE courses into a scheme for actual practice of bankruptcy law. I raise the issues I either see around … [Continue reading...]