Bankruptcy Mastery

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What, Me Worry?

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Do you think I worry about these issues too much? the rookie bankruptcy lawyer asked me. The issue was exemption planning and the question was whether instituting an IRA and funding it for the current year before filing was a transfer, and if so, would it be objectionable to a Chapter 7 trustee.  We went […]

Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice Tagged With: bankruptcy practice, learning bankruptcy law, new bankruptcy lawyer

When Delaying The Discharge May Benefit The Debtor

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Ever read, much less used, FRBP 4004(c)(2)? Have to say I’d done neither until Judge Christopher Klein mentioned it at a bankruptcy seminar earlier this year.  He told the group that he had learned about it from a pro per who cited it to him in a dispute in a Chapter 7.  So what’s this […]

Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice Tagged With: bankruptcy discharge, bankruptcy practice, bankruptcy rules, court jurisdiction, reaffirmation

Warning Signs Of A Complex Bankruptcy Case Exposed In The Consultation

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Is an initial consultation an opportunity to prevent problems later on in the case? Should you be doing more? I’ve taken my swipes at my clients’ previous lawyer in a prior post for either missing or ignoring issues that needed to be picked up and addressed in the schedules and the Chapter 13 plan.  Some […]

Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice Tagged With: bankruptcy client, bankruptcy mistakes, bankruptcy practice, free consultation, learn bankruptcy law

Learning Bankruptcy On The Job Victimizes Clients

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

I admit, up front , that I’m steamed.  The clients in my office have a pending Chapter 13 case. People know the difference between a lawyer fighting a marijuana possession charge and bankruptcy case.  They made an appointment with me because their bankruptcy attorney missed a hearing and doesn’t return their phone calls or respond […]

Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice Tagged With: bankruptcy practice, Chapter 13, learn bankruptcy law

Bankruptcy Checklist: Social Security Numbers

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Do you check the client’s  proffered   Social Security number against the number on their tax return?  I’d never thought to do so til my partner returned from a 341 meeting with this story.  She was sitting waiting for our client’s turn at a first meeting of creditors  when the trustee asked a debtor about […]

Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice Tagged With: bankruptcy practice, filing bankruptcy, new bankruptcy lawyer

Bankruptcy Abuse & Schedule J

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

The debtor passed the means test but lost a motion to dismiss for abuse of the bankruptcy system.  Schedule J, the debtor’s projected future expenses, showed a monthly excess of $500.  Dollars to doughnuts, the debtor’s bankruptcy lawyer followed the form and the budget provided by the client.  Dismissal resulted. What happened here?   Two […]

Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice Tagged With: bankruptcy budget, bankruptcy practice, dismissal for abuse, filing bankruptcy, means test

Bankruptcy Schedules Call For Payoff Balance

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice, Start Here

Babel fish from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Bankruptcy debtors hear something different when their lawyer asks, “What do you owe on your mortgage”. It’s as though they speak a different language,  Client, while we speak Bankruptcy. As  bankruptcy lawyers, we need to be bilingual. It shouldn’t be a trick question, but all too often the answer a bankruptcy lawyer gets back is […]

Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice, Start Here Tagged With: bankruptcy practice, client intake, filing bankruptcy

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