Bankruptcy Mastery

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NACBA Workshops A Real High For Bankruptcy Lawyers

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

The content and the company at NACBA's fall workshops has me flying. I've come off two days  in Colorado Springs, making presentations on the means test and on applications for compensation and hosting the Business of Bankruptcy track with New York bankruptcy lawyer Jay Fleischman . The energy and curiosity of the newer bankruptcy lawyers was particularly energizing.  They  came with difficult … [Continue reading...]

Why you should want your competition to become better bankruptcy lawyers

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Sounds counter intuitive, doesn't it? It should be easier to be a stand out if all the bankruptcy lawyers around you are Lilliputians. Yet I second Jay Fleischman's wish for more good bankruptcy lawyers around me.  And I think that the attitude I've encountered among some newcomers to the field, that they won't share anything with their competition, is shortsighted and self … [Continue reading...]

Did You Forget Bankruptcy’s Magic Words?

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

We have an incantation that, uttered when you file the bankruptcy schedules, protects us from certain harm.  Or at least awkward admissions. Remember? Try saying :   Disputed!  Unliquidated! This spell allows you to disclose, notice, and discharge creditor claims without admitting that the debtor is liable or without determining the amount of the claim.  (Can you tell I just got around to … [Continue reading...]

Courtroom Journal: Hardship Discharge & Rotten Economy

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Is the current  rotten economy and marginal job skills a circumstance for which a Chapter 13 debtor is not "justly accountable"? Or does nothing short of death or disability entitle a debtor to a hardship discharge in Chapter 13? Yesterday's hearing was triggered by the Chapter 13 trustee's objection to our motion for a hardship discharge.  The debtor is an independent truck driver who is … [Continue reading...]

Two Things To Do When The Phone Has Stopped Ringing

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

If you are lonely as the Maytag repairman in this lull in bankruptcy filings, add to your practice enhancing projects  some office organization  tasks. The two that head my list are write a staff training manual and improve my work product retrieval system.  Let's work on the  retrieve and recycle  issue first. Central to good client service and making money in your bankruptcy practice it is … [Continue reading...]

How To Cope With The Slowdown In Bankruptcy Filings

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

When you're really, really busy in the bankruptcy business, you long for some quiet.  Fewer deadlines and less stress sounds wonderful. When the phone is quiet, however, you worry that you've seen your last client and your practice is doomed. To prevent yourself from breaking down, you can try products like CBD Oil, you should click to read more about how CBD works. All My (Bankruptcy Practice) … [Continue reading...]

My Favorite Things About Being A Bankruptcy Lawyer

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Lawyers consistently ask me why I became a bankruptcy lawyer.  If you're thinking of diving into the field and don't know if it's your cup of tea then perhaps these insights will help you. I treasure making an immediate and tangible difference in people's lives, right here and right now. So many worries in life are beyond my scope or simply have no quick fix. I can't fix ill health, old age, … [Continue reading...]

11/11/11 – The Next Big Thing

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

If you're interested in improving your practice and profitability then you'll likely be interested in this. Jay Fleischman and I are presenting a live, intensive one-day workshop November 11,2011 in Phoenix. There are only 50 seats in our room and a number are gone already. Details are here, but the executive summary is that the program will cover getting clients, getting the clients to give … [Continue reading...]

10 Ways The Practice Of Bankruptcy Law Has Changed In 30 Years

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

bankruptcy practice evolution

Doesn't every elder's story about the past begin, "When I was your age..."? It's not the age of your body but the age of your bankruptcy practice and the state of the practice in general that interests me today.  I literally fell into bankruptcy law;  the lawyer in the office next to mine not only offered me a bankruptcy case (when I had few cases ) but offered to teach me how to handle it. That … [Continue reading...]

Are You The Calculating Type?

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

I get a surprising number of questions about objecting to  claims in a bankruptcy case:  how? when? Too few bankruptcy attorneys are asking "why?" The answer to the "why" question must be that objecting to the claim furthers the client's objectives or prevents a negative outcome.  Put another way, the cost of objecting must be relative to the benefit to be received.  You must … [Continue reading...]

Labor Day Feel Like New Years?

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Over at MoneyHealthCentral, where Jay and I write for consumers about money , I did a piece this morning on how Labor Day marks a transition in my mind about the year.  It provokes resolutions about how life shall be going forward. The transition is largely in my head these days.  My boys no longer live at home, I don't have "first day of school" responsibilities any more, and September in the … [Continue reading...]

Lien Stripping in Chapter 20

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

  A debtor's right to strip off a wholly unsecured lien is not dependent on the debtor's eligibility for a discharge, says the 8th Circuit BAP.  Hurray for Chapter 20. Before 2005,  a debtor was entitled to file Chapter 13 immediately following a Chapter 7 and address whatever debts had survived the 7.  The 7 + 13 approach was nicknamed Chapter 20. With BAPCPA came the … [Continue reading...]

Family, Friends And Chapter 13

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

The drafters of the 1978 Bankruptcy Code knew something about the lives of real people and some of the generally accepted people practices.  They included two priceless provisions that allow debtors to protect co obligors with the debtor through the Chapter 13  plan. Co debtor Stay How often have our clients drawn on family or friends to co sign a loan?  If filing bankruptcy results in … [Continue reading...]

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