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At long last, we’re ready to announce the winner and runner-up of Bankruptcy Bill’s Bankruptcy Song Contest!

Thanks to everyone who submitted an bankruptcy song, to everyone who voted and shared their comments and to illustrator Gideon Kendall for suggesting the cartoon announcement prize idea.

Also thanks to our sponsors for their support of the first-ever (to our knowledge) Bankruptcy Song Contest and for collectively making a donation to the National Consumer Law Center in the amount of $25 for each song submitted (for which we received a nice thank you note from the NCLC’s Executive Director):

• Bruce Weiner (Rosenberg Musso & Weiner) – NYBankruptcyNet (Brooklyn, NY)
• George Haines & David Krieger (Haines & Krieger) (Las Vegas, NV)
• Russell A. Demott – Charleston Bankruptcy Blog (Charleston, SC)
• Nancy Rapoport (nancyrapoport.blogspot.com), the Gordon Silver Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law (UNLV)

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2nd Place

Congratulations also to Arlene Robins of Woodbury, NY for her wonderful submission “BANKRUPTCY WIFE’S LAMENT”. Arlene will receive a t-shirt (or other item from our fabulous catalog of BAPCPA Man and Bankruptcy Bill merchandise on Zazzle.  (Note:  Arlene is the wife of good-humored Long Island bankruptcy attorney Craig Robins, who also has an excellent song entry titled “DEBT-FREE GIRL”.)

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The Bankruptcy Song Submissions

Once again, here are the song entries for Bankruptcy Bill’s Bankruptcy Song Contest:

1.  “AMEND IT MY WAY” by Judge Sheri Bluebond (United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California)

2.  CABARET” by Judge Sheri Bluebond (United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California) (Click song title or scroll down the page to see lyrics.)

3.  “DON’T CRY FOR ME HOUSEHOLD FINANCE” by Judge Sheri Bluebond (United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California) 

4.  “DEBTS IN WRONG PLACES” by Judge Alan S. Trust (United States Bankruptcy Judge, Eastern District of New York)

5.  “‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE FILING” by Mark Sippel, Esq. (Sippel & Carroll PLLC (Kingman, AZ))

6.  “PHARAOH OBAMA – LET THE DEBTORS GO” by Mark Sippel, Esq. (Sippel & Carroll PLLC (Kingman, AZ))

7.  “THE BANKRUPTCY ABUSE SONG” by Mark Sippel, Esq. (Sippel & Carroll PLLC (Kingman, AZ))

8.  “DEBT-FREE GIRL” by Craig Robins, Esq. (Woodbury, NY)

9.  “BANKRUPTCY WIFE’S LAMENT” by Arlene Robins (Woodbury, NY)

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BONUS!

And if you just can’t get enough bankruptcy music, CLICK HERE to hear “Bankruptcy Lover“ by Bankruptcy Bill & The Fresh Starts.

Thanks to the Center for Responsible Lending for posting a great cartoon from Pixton.com that calls out the weakness of the arguments being made against the creation of a Consumer Finance Protection Agency.

We’re pleased to share that Bankruptcy Man vs. Mortgantua – Part 6 recently appeared in the March 2010 issue of Maxinars Newsletter.

BLT (Bankruptcy Lawyer Topics) is a periodic review and comparison of consumer bankruptcy topics being covered on bankruptcy lawyer blogs.

Holding a J.D. and an International Affairs M.A. from Marquette University, Matt Leichter is an attorney licensed in Wisconsin and New York.  He speaks Japanese and focuses on comparative and international law, as well as international business.

• Click on BK Lawyer Blogs for a state-by-state list of bankruptcy lawyers with their own blogs.
• Have a blog or know a good blog post you think should be included? Or a suggestion for a future BLT theme?  Send an e-mail to BLT [at] bankruptcybill [dot] us with the link.
• Suggestion to bankruptcy lawyers with blogs: Make sure to include a “Search” function somewhere on your blog.  It makes it easier to find topical posts on your blog and increases the likelihood that a post from your blog will be included in BLT.

(In reverse order!)

GENERAL

American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) Bankruptcy Blog Exchange

• Shortcomings of Credit CARD Act
• New Consumer Credit Card Rules Take Effect
• Eighty Percent Interest on a Credit Card
• ¡MORE!

Bankruptcy Law Network

• How Will The New Credit Card Laws Affect Me?
• Will New Credit Card Rules Cause a Spike in Bankruptcy?

CreditSlips.org

• Reflections on Credit CARD Act Day

Consumer Law & Policy Blog

• New Credit Card Law Effective Tomorrow (Monday, February 22)

WISCONSIN

Jamie Miller, Esq. (Miller & Miller, LLC) – Milwaukee Bankruptcy Attorney Blog (Milwaukee, WI)

• Soon You Will Really Know What It Really Takes to Pay Off Your Credit Card Debt

***SEE MORE BLOG POSTS FROM BANKRUPTCY LAWYERS AROUND THE U.S.*** Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s another Overruled! cartoon by Joseph Aronds, Esq., Assistant Vice President at Hartz Mountain, whose cartoons have been running for the past two years in the New Jersey Association of Corporate Counsel’s monthly publication ACC Focus on the New Jersey Chapter. Joe was also recently appointed Vice President of Communications for NJCCA, which ran a nice profile of him here.  Joe can be reached at joseph.aronds [at] hartzmountain.com.

Also, thanks to Joe for mentioning Bankruptcy Bill in the Member Notes section of their February 8, 2010 issue.

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We check back in with our bankruptcy super hero in his battle to save a homeowner against the ominous and powerful Mortgantua.  Things were looking grim, but perhaps there is hope.  Click here for a refresher on ongoing the BAPCPA Man vs Mortgantua saga.

For more information on Max Gardner’s Bankruptcy Bootcamp, go to MaxBankruptcyBootcamp.com.  Click here to see the ABC News Nightline feature on Max Gardner’s Bankruptcy Bootcamp.  And click here to see the Wikipedia entry on Max’s eponymous grandfather who served a term as governor of North Carolina from 1929-33.

For additional information on mortgage and foreclosure, here are a few blog posts:

Bruce Weiner (Rosenberg Musso & Weiner) – NYBankruptcyNet (Brooklyn, NY)

• No Mortgage Cramdown Bill for Christmas

Haines & Krieger (Las Vegas, NV)

• Haines & Krieger’s Las Vegas Foreclosure Round-up
• Capitalism, bankruptcy, foreclosure and hell

Eugene Melchionne, Esq. – ConsumerBankruptcyTips.com (Waterbury, CT)

• Attorney Melchionne featured in NYTimes article on family’s fight against foreclosure in Connecticut
  

Bankruptcy Bill is pleased to welcome the Credit CARD Act of 2009, which went effective today, February 22, 2010, with an appropriate animated video commentary by Mark Fiore (www.MarkFiore.com).

Update 2/23/10:  Forgot to mention that we saw this video posted originally on the Center for Responsible Lending website:

Time to “restructure” your social life again for Bankruptcy Bill’s favorite new event to hit the underground bankruptcy scene… Turnaround Underground.  (Here’s the Reuters article about the last event.)

Here’s another Overruled! cartoon by Joseph Aronds, Esq., Assistant Vice President at Hartz Mountain, whose cartoons have been running for the past two years in the New Jersey Association of Corporate Counsel’s monthly publication ACC Focus on the New Jersey Chapter. Joe was also recently appointed Vice President of Communications for NJCCA, which ran a nice profile of him here.  Joe can be reached at joseph.aronds [at] hartzmountain.com.

Also, thanks to Joe for mentioning Bankruptcy Bill in the Member Notes section of their February 8, 2010 issue.

Apologies for the wait, but we finally have the first new Bankruptcy Bill cartoon of 2010 out, a customized cartoon courtesy of Neiger LLP.

Bankruptcy Bill #23:  Neiger LLP Preference Action 3000
http://www.neigerllp.com/neiger-llp-preference-action-3000/

(CLICK IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE FULL CARTOON ON THE NEIGER LLP WEBSITE)

FYI, we love coming up with original, customized cartoons.  If you’d like one yourself, just get in touch with us at bill@bankruptcybill.us.

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The February issue of the ABI Journal features another humorous Chapter 8 column by the ABI’s resident bankruptcy humorists Scott K. Brown (Lewis & Roca LLP, Phoenix) and Eric M. Van Horn (Rochelle McCullough LLP, Dallas).

Scott and Eric’s column, “Seven Lessons from 2009″, covers topics including professional fees in government sponsored bankruptcies, using a bankruptcy judge’s letter to the local bar to develop business, attending and organizing a panel for an ABI conference, and the link between the global financial crisis, the letter “G”, and the number “7.”

Email Scott (sbrown@lrlaw.com) or Eric (evanhorn@romclawyers.com) for a copy of the article if you do not have your ABI Journal handy

.

Here’s another Overruled! cartoon by Joseph Aronds, Esq., Assistant Vice President at Hartz Mountain, whose cartoons have been running for the past two years in the New Jersey Association of Corporate Counsel’s monthly publication ACC Focus on the New Jersey Chapter. Joe was also recently appointed Vice President of Communications for NJCCA, which ran a nice profile of him here.  Joe can be reached at joseph.aronds [at] hartzmountain.com.

Also, thanks to Joe for mentioning Bankruptcy Bill in the Member Notes section of their February 8, 2010 issue.

Whenever a celebrity files for bankruptcy, there’s a bankruptcy lawyer representing that celebrity.  Who are they and where do they come from?

Bankruptcy Bill has put together a list below of the bankruptcy lawyers for each celebrity bankruptcy (to the extent we can find the info).  If we’ve missed any lawyers or any worthy celebrities, please email bill [at] bankruptcybill.us to let us know, or just add a comment to this post.

Thanks to the following folks for supporting this post, each of whom is a celebrity in their own right in the bankruptcy world:

• Eugene Melchionne, Esq. – ConsumerBankruptcyTips.com (Waterbury, CT) – Connecticut State Chairman of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys and Current President of the Bankruptcy Law Network.

• Bill McLeod (McLeod Law Offices) – McLeod Law Blog (Boston, MA)

• Christine Wilton, Esq. – Los Angeles Bankrkuptcy Law Monitor (Los Angeles, CA)

• Kent Anderson Law – Oregon Debt Relief Weblawg and Debt Law Network (Eugene, OR)

• Cathy Moran, Esq. – BankruptcyMastery.com and On the Bankruptcy Soapbox (Mt View, CA) (aka Silicon Valley)

• Gailyn Wink & Michael Wink – Wink & Wink, P.C. (Denver, Co)

• Professor Nancy Rapoport – Blog: http://nancyrapoport.blogspot.com (Las Vegas, NV) Gordon Silver Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with specialties in bankruptcy ethics, ethics in governance, and the depiction of lawyers in popular culture.  She’s also the author of the book Enron: Corporate Fiascos and Their Implications (with Jeffrey Van Niel) and appeared in the movie Enron:  The Smartest Guys in the Room.

And now, without further ado, is the first ever….

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CELEBRITIES & THEIR BANKRUPTCY LAWYERS

Notably, two lawyers appear twice on this list.  Joseph Eisenberg apparently served as bankruptcy counsel to both actor Lorenzo Lamas and to Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil.  And big firm bankruptcy lawyer Debra Grassgreen served as debtor’s counsel to heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson and his company and also was lead counsel for the Creditors Committee in the bankruptcy of rap music star Marion “Suge” Knight.

B

Baldwin, Stephen

• Bruce Weiner, Esq. (Rosenberg Musso & Weiner) – NYBankruptcyNet (Brooklyn, NY)

Bracco, Lorraine

Buckner, Bill

C

Canseco, Jose

• Gregory Emerson, Esq. (Los Angeles, CA)
  

Corbin, Barry

• St. Clair Newbern III, Esq. (Ft Worth, TX)

Read the rest of this entry »

*Do you have a good bankruptcy-related idea you want to write about, but it’s…

• too experimental for your professional practice blog? Try it out here.
• too niche for Above The Law? We want to read it.
• too frivolous for the ABI Journal? We want to publish it.
• too much career risk to write it publicly? We’ll let you use a pen name.

The Editorial Team at Bankruptcy Bill is looking for new writers and for writers with new ideas to add more flavor to the  bankruptcy community and help build on existing bankruptcy culture.  Humorous, serious, personal, analytical—whatever it may be, we’re interested.

*E-mail Bill [at] BankruptcyBill.us and tell us (or show us) your new idea.

We already have Bankruptcy Bill, BAPCPA Man, bankruptcy haiku and bankruptcy music along with BLT (Bankruptcy Lawyer Topics) and Bankruptcy Billables.  But there’s so much more that can be done!

We know there are plenty of other good ideas out there and we’re hoping to tap the braintrust that is the community of people connected to bankruptcy and see what we can come up with.

Think of it as “America’s Got Talent“…….for the bankruptcy world.

*Questions?  Ideas? Email Bill [at] BankruptcyBill.us to discuss.

In an effort to use this site to help out the bankruptcy community, we’re starting a new feature:

Bankruptcy Bill’s Bankruptcy Job Listings!

That’s right.  If you have a bankruptcy/restructuring-related job to post –big, small, corporate, consumer or anything in between– e-mail bill [at] bankruptcybill.us and we’ll post it on this site.  For free!

Much of the bankruptcy community is already congregating on the site regularly, so we figured we might as well try to help out and share any relevant job listings.  We also plan to do a good job filtering the job listings so if a job is posted here, it’s hopefully worth your while to take a look.

Questions?  Job Listings? Just e-mail bill [at] bankruptcybill.us.