I’ve compared my role as a debtor’s attorney as similar to that of a boy scout. My job is to help my debtor client cross the road without getting hit by the bus. A big part of that job is done while preparing. In essence, I get behind the steering wheel of the bus and I ask myself “if I were trying to run over the debtor, what would I be looking for first?” Perhaps a better, and far less macabre way of looking at how I do my job is this: when preparing my client’s case, I pretend that I am trustee and I ask myself: what has my client told me or shown me that would send up a red flag. What could make my client’s life even more difficult than it already is?
Archive for November, 2009
When the Ex Files Bankruptcy
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
The relationship is over, but there are still lingering issues that hold you together. Perhaps it’s child support, health care, property distribution or other matters. If your ex files bankruptcy, it is very important you understand your rights and your responsibilities – as well as your options.
Black Friday Approaches
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
As I see the toll that this economy continues to take on my clients, I find that my own views of holiday shopping are changing. As stores close, as companies lay-off and cut back, and as friends and family struggle, I am doing what I see my own clients doing: reevaluating what’s really important. So while the media increasingly reminds us that we are just days away from the start of the 2009 holiday season, here are some tips that could help you through next year, could help you even more if you think you need to seek bankruptcy protection – and could help you stay out of trouble if you’re already in bankruptcy.
Lending to Unemployed: Frankly, There’s Got to be a Better Way
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Yesterday I tweeted about Barney Frank’s idea of giving unemployed homeowners access to low interest loans. The theory is that it help fills a gap in the Obama Administration’s plan to address foreclosures caused by unemployment. I think this is a bad idea (and a bit of mid-term election posturing). And I think there’s a sounder way to help unemployed homeowners. (more…)
Security Clearances & Bankruptcy
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
Occasionally, clients will ask me about whether their security clearance is at risk if they file for bankruptcy protection. This came up yesterday when I came across a comment from a reader who expressed real concerns over his fear of losing his clearance if he filed. Why? The simple reason is this: no security clearance = no job. Yet the answer to the question is not an easy one to paint with one large generalized brush. But I’ll do my best.
November 11: Today We Remember
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
“Today we remember and honor the past service of America’s veterans, and today we renew our commitment to meet the challenges of America’s future for which they gave so much. Almost two centuries ago, Daniel Webster said in his dedication of the monument at Bunker Hill: ‘There remains to us a great duty of defense and preservation, and there is open to us also a noble pursuit to which the spirit of the times strongly invites us.’
“My fellow Americans, on the brink of a new century, we stand before broad, new vistas of hope and progress. But if we are to realize our hopes for that future, we must ensure that America remains the world’s strongest force for peace and freedom, for security and prosperity. We must strengthen and expand the alliances that have brought us thus far. We must continue to reduce the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction.
“We must confront the violent conflicts rooted in ethnic, religious, and racial hatreds that so bedevil the world today. We must stop the global scourges of organized crime, drug trafficking, and especially terrorism. We must build an open trading system for the 21st century, and we must stand with all those who stand for democracy and universal human rights. I cannot help but note on this day that in our time for the first time in the entire history of humanity on this planet, more than half the world’s people live in democratically-elected governments because of the example and the force and the power of the ideas of America, and the sacrifice of America’s veterans.
“Let me also say that as we meet the challenges of the next century, our unity as a people will be as it has ever been, our greatest strength. The silent white rows of crosses that surround us mark the final resting place of men and women of all services, all ranks, all races, all religions. They stand as stunning evidence that our founders were right: We are all equal in the eyes of God. That is something we must continue to practice until we get it right. It is something we must teach our children, and it is something we must continue to teach to those troubled areas of the rest of the world, where people still insist on killing over their differences. Our American veterans buried here came from different walks of life. They served our nation in different places and in different ways.
“Yet, all were united by a love of country, belief in freedom, and opportunity, and responsibility, and their faith in America’s future. As we commemorate this day of reverence and respect, let us also remember this unity of spirit that has guided our nation forward from its beginnings. No words can repay the debt of gratitude we owe to the men and women who have stood up for our freedom, but we can honor the memory of our veterans best by remaining the best kind of Americans we can be and keeping our nations strong and secure, one nation under God, to fulfill the vision of a better world that so many of them, our veterans, gave so much to create.
“Thank you and God bless America.”
President William Jefferson Clinton
Arlington National Cemetery
November 11, 1996
Honesty and Bankruptcy, Part III: The Reality Check and the Boy Scout
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
In the last two entries, I shared my observations of honesty and dishonesty in the bankruptcy process. It has been an issue that has been crawling under my skin for many months now. And in this last installment of Honesty and Bankruptcy, I explain why that is.
Honesty and Bankruptcy, Part II: Feeling Dishonest
Sunday, November 1st, 2009
It seems that many people are hypersensitive over H1N1. I was at the market yesterday and an older man sneezed, and by the looks on the faces of those standing around him, you’d have thought someone nearby was pointing and shrieking that he was a leper. Just because someone is sneezing or coughing doesn’t mean they have the swine flu. Just because someone is in bankruptcy or needs bankruptcy protection doesn’t mean they are dishonest. And just because someone feels like they did something dishonest does not mean that they don’t deserve bankruptcy protection. In other words, feeling dishonest is not the same as being dishonest.