Bankruptcy Mastery

In literature, the three musketeers answered to  Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.  In the world of bankruptcy, they live on yet with different names.  That doesn't make them any less effective or, in the wrong hands, less lethal. The Code accords better treatment to creditors holding liens.  Therefore, it is often our sworn duty as fighters for our clients to tackle those liens, whittle them down, … [Continue reading...]

  After all the time I spend cajoling, suggesting, demanding that bankruptcy lawyer READ THE CODE, I was bitten by my own advice recently. The youngish bankruptcy lawyer had read § 109, and leapt to a conclusion 180 degrees from correct. He was utterly right that the words of the statute talk about debts the debtor owes. Only an individual with regular income that owes, on the date … [Continue reading...]

  They're not "I love you" or even "I am sorry". They're bequest, devise, and inheritance from §541(a)(5)(A). Any interest in property that would have been property of the estate if such interest had been an interest of the debtor on the date of the filing of the petition, and that the debtor acquires or becomes entitled to acquire within 180 days after such date— (A) by bequest, … [Continue reading...]

I asked you last week to identify the challenges in your practice.  I heard cries for more clients, for mentors, for new skill sets. Turning the focus around, I thought about what I wanted to do differently or better this year in my practice.  Here's my list. Communicate the bankruptcy grounds rules to clients more effectively. Improve my work product retrieval system Pay better … [Continue reading...]

Ever feel like the practice of consumer bankruptcy law resembles crossing the chasm on a rope bridge? In the dark? I assure you, you are not alone. In one of my first contested matters in bankruptcy, probably within 18 months of passing the bar,  and  the same distance from adoption of  the Bankruptcy Code,  I must have set a record for the number of times I continued a hearing, because I … [Continue reading...]