Bankruptcy Mastery

Would you expect to find an exemption applicable in bankruptcy in the probate code? But that's where I found one yesterday.  And if it exists under California law, it may exist where you practice as well. A testamentary trust paying some current income to a prospective client sent me to the cases.  I needed to know did the  trust have a spendthrift clause if so, was the income stream … [Continue reading...]

What happens to an underwater mortgage after a Chapter 7?  That was the sorta metaphysical question my newbie luncheon partner asked at the NACBA workshops this fall. She knew that you could not strip off a consensual lien in a Chapter 7.  So, just what was the situation post discharge? I really like questions 1) for which there is an answer,  and 2) for which I know the … [Continue reading...]

I sat with a new client discussing his bankruptcy options, puzzling how to price a Chapter 7 that's fair to me and fair to the client. To the client, it no doubt looked like a "simple" Chapter 7:  a job, a couple of pieces of underwater property, no taxes, no spouse,  no sweat, right? To me, it looks like a minor quagmire: There's an income blip in the look back period Client's parent … [Continue reading...]

  Every legal seminar needs an extra day, in solitude, to internalize what you've "learned". At the NACBA Fall Workshops last weekend,  Jay repeated the old saw that a workshop is worthwhile if you bring home one good idea. He told our group in the Business of Bankruptcy Law tract that we aimed  to provide more than one good idea. But the gems that you can tick off  easily are … [Continue reading...]

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...]

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...]

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...]