If I recall you went to work in consumer bankruptcy. It is one area of law I always wanted to perhaps go into, but never did a case. I have never done one case, but have great sympathy for people bankrupted through catastrophic health problems or overextending themselves as they have low income and/ or are unduly effected by advertising etd. Personally I am fairly frugal. I understand bankruptcy is virtually dead as a legal field, except for businesses or individuals who can afford to pay a lot to their attorneys. What was your overall experience like? Any change on how you view, the world, individuals or politics etc.
I know you were taught by upbringing, Rice U, GOP talking points, Rush etc. that they are all lazy or they lack the "personal responsibility" of the country club and 19th ? hole crowd. Get out a bit. Talking to the janitor or yard man is not what I mean.
The bankruptcy changes are an absolute joke. Congress refused to listen to the judiciary, even those appointed by Republicans, who said this was a disaster...and it was pretty much unanimous in that response. They refused to listen to the attorneys who practice bankruptcy law, either from the debtors' or the creditors' perspective, who told them it was a joke..that it was an unworkable piece of legislation that wasn't coherent. And they drafted really bad law that carried with it one of the largest lobbying efforts by lendors we've ever seen. Refman can speak to the problems with it far better than I can. I would love to see it changed. The concept of bankruptcy stems originally from the Year of Jubilee in the OT...and it was one of the very first acts the Founding Fathers passed after signing the Constitution. It's been emptied.
Max has 99% of this right. Both sides of the bar hate this new law. It is bogus. Republican and Democrat appointed judges wrote opinion letters asking Congress to not pass the amendments. As for it being empty. Not really. 84% of the people who seek to file are under the median family income. As such, the new law does not affect them all that much. There are additional documents that must be provided, and Congress created a nice little credit counseling cottage industry. If you want, I can tell you what I think about the credit counseling requirement. There have been almost 3,000 cases filed in the Southern District this year. It is far from dead. Case filings are on the rise. Congress has been unable to stop filings because people have a need to file. When people lose a job or get sick or injured...they reach a point where things get to be too much. In the 4 years I have practiced this area of law, I have found that 85% or so of the people who have come to see me are in a situation not of their own making.
All I know is that the guy I currently work for files for bankruptcy about every and starts a new company. Then he never pays past employees etc. money that he owes them. They have to sue the old company that doesn't even exist. Where does this fit into everything?
That sounds like corporate bankruptcy. I do not deal with corporate bankruptcy. What we are talking about is Ma & Pa Jones seeking relief.
and i deal more with corporate bankruptcy...though it isn't a specialty. meowgi, there are still assets out there that become controlled by the trustee. if he transfers them away you can chase them through fraudulent transfer cases. there are ways. none of the assets from a business are exempt from being seized and liquidated. not saying that what your boss is doing is moral or right or good or just. it's not.
Generally to get paid. If they are shafting you out of your wages, you probably shouldn't be working for free. I do know that in a corporate bankruptcy, wages owed to employees is a priority claim that gets paid before any others (except maybe government). Again, this is a far different scenario than individuals filing for bankruptcy protection. They made it much harder on people, but not so much harder on comapnies.
I would as well. I did it back in college . . .got my self str8 then entered the 'REAL world' Rocket River
Section 109 of the bankruptcy code requires that an individual whose debts are primarily consumer debts take a credit counseling course prior to filing a case. This is an addition of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. You simply do not qualify to be a debtor in chapters 7 or 13 until you have taken the class. The US Trustee then started certifying private groups to do the counseling. There are hundreds of them. They all charge about $50 for the service. It is a cottage industry. You can take the class in groups, online, or on the phone. It takes about 30 minutes. It is no real counseling at all. I have a client that I filed a chapter 13 for on Saturday. He said he was on the phone with them for 10 minutes. They took his information...then took his check by phone info and asked him where he wanted his certificate faxed to. It does no good, and merely serves as a way for somebody to shake $50 out of somebody in obvious financial difficulty.
in addition, it is completely inapplicable to people who find themselves filing BK because of medical reasons or some other emergency situation. credit counseling is irrelevant in those circumstances, but it becomes a necessary condition to filing. refman, do you still have the judgment from the court in Austin (i think it was Austin) that you shared with me over the phone once?? where the judge just lit into Congress for passing the thing to begin with.
Do you charge for your services Ref Do you charge more than $50 [I agree that your 10 minute dail-a-counsellor scheme is a joke. (but is it any worse then some of the online driver safety courses)... I'm OK, however with the concept of credit counselling for a person who gets in trouble with consumer debt. I just find some of the legal ads for bankruptcy trustees to be in pretty poor taste. And I'm taking it out on you. Because...you know...that would be fair and all
