Bankruptcy Billables is an overview of bankruptcy-relevant coverage and discussion from various law blogs.

Above The Law

• Non-Sequiturs 08.11.09 – ” For the bankruptcy law groupies among you: It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… BAPCPA Man!”
• Morning Docket 08.11.09 – On potential shenanigans in the Heller Ehrman bankruptcy case.
• Morning Docket 08.10.09 – ABA Journal article on practice areas that are still booming, including debt collection.

NYLawyer.com (free registration required)

• Ouch! BigLaw Firm Settles Malpractice Claim for $20 Million
• NY Partner, Firm Cash In for $15 Million in Madoff Scandal
• NY Partners Switching Firms, NY Associates Making Partner – Kathryn Coleman and Eric Fromme to Hughes Hubbard Reed from Gibson Dunn
• BigLaw Associates On the Move – Associate Gloria Huang goes to Herrick Feinstein from Shearman & Sterling

Law Shucks

• Weil Finally Getting Paid – A summary of Weil Gotshal’s billing in the Lehman bankruptcy case
• Quick Shucks – 8/5/09 – Mentions a big firm bankruptcy associate in Philadelphia who also runs his own restaurant
• Handicapping the Next Layoff
• This Week in Layoffs – 8/7/09

Point of Law

• Chrysler and Sales Free and Clear

Creditslips.org

• The Consumer Financial Protection Agency
• Truth in Lending or Truth in Ownership of Residential Mortgage Notes
• The Problem with Houston
• Remote Deposit Capture (RDC) iPhone App
• How to Count Medical Debt in Bankruptcy
• Bankruptcy Filings Rise in July, Set Off Most of June’s Decline
• Congressional Hearing on Medical Bankruptcies (July 28, 2009)
• 2d Circuit Chysler Opinion
• Exporting Chapter 11
• A Note on Senior Debt
• Fed Conference on Consumer Credit
• Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more
• After Notice and a Hearing — One Out of Two Ain’t Bad?

Going Concern

• Preliminary Analytics | 08.11.09 - CIT’s latest problem
• Review Comments | 08.10.09 – Recession forecast and the latest on the Huron Consulting accounting scandal
• Preliminary Analytics | 08.10.09 – Update on when Madoff victims can expect full payout
• Michael Jackson’s Doctor is a Deadbeat – And a candidate for bankruptcy?
• Colonial Bank Shouldn’t Make Any Late Summer Plans – Accounting irregularities and possible receivership for the mortgage lender
• The FDIC May Have to Seize Itself – Can the FDIC go under?
• More Madoff Justice Expected Today

Did we miss a good recent bankruptcy-related post on another blog?  E-mail bill [at] bankruptcybill [dot] us to let us know.

Mandatory Credit Counseling

• Here’s Bankruptcy Bill’s take on the mandatory credit counseling requirement.
• For a more detailed explanation of  “mandatory credit counseling“ take a look at the Federal Trade Commission’s page.
• For a good perspective on mandatory credit counseling there’s also a Washington Post article from 2005 titled “Mandatory Counseling, A Good Idea (In Theory).”
• For an explanation that helps clarify some of the confusion, try reading “The Many Meanings of ‘Credit Counseling‘” by bankruptcy law firm Haines & Krieger (Las Vegas, NV).
• And for commentary on the actual value of mandatory pre-bankruptcy credit counseling read a 2006 post, “Credit Counseling Requirement of Bankruptcy Code Generally Viewed as a Waste of Time”, on theBKBlog by Jonathan Ginsberg, Esq. (Atlanta, GA).

Subprime Mortgages

• Here’s the Investopedia entry on subprime mortgages.
• Craig Robins, Esq. has an easy-to-follow explanation of subprime mortgages and the subprime mortgage crisis on his LongIslandBankruptcyBlog (“The Sub-Prime Mortgage Meltdown“).
• And here’s a post on shape-shifting subprime lenders and loan modification companies titled “Subprime Loan Modification Companies“ from NYBankruptcyNet by Bruce Weiner, Esq. of Rosenberg Musso & Weiner (Brooklyn, NY).

*Click here for a state-by-state list of bankruptcy lawyers with blogs.

*Click here for previous BAPCPA Man cartoons or here for all cartoons on the site relating to consumer bankruptcy.

*To see more of Gideon Kendall’s work go to www.gideonkendall.com and gideonkendall.squarespace.com/journal.  Or order yourself a copy of Dino Pets, the wonderfully illustrated children’s book written by Lynn Plourde and illustrated by Bankruptcy Bill’s very own Gideon Kendall.

One more book to add to Bankruptcy Bill’s Summer Reading List (though it’s fine to read this in the fall or winter as well).

Liquidated:  An Ethnography of Wall Street by Karen Ho

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For this book, Karen Ho, a professor of anthropology at the University of Minnesota, actually spent three years working for a Wall Street bank as part of her on-site research, and the investment bankers are referred to as “natives” (in the anthropological parlance).  One of the interesting notions she presents is that the process of using corporate layoffs to improve the share price and bottom line is more correctly viewed as Wall Street exporting its own internal culture–one of insecurity and adaptability–to the rest of corporate America.

Read the Time Magazine interview with Karen Ho here (“An Anthropologist on What’s Wrong with Wall Street“).  The Duke University Press summary here (where you can also purchase the book).  And the American Anthropological Association post about her here.  Below is an interview with Ho from the University of Minnesota’s YouTube channel:

Ladies and gentlemen, debtors and creditors, we are pleased to share the debut single by Bankruptcy Bill & The Fresh Starts….

“Bankruptcy Lover“

http://bankruptcybill.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/bankruptcylovermp3.mp3

(Click either the link above or the image below to listen.)

Bankruptcy Bill & The Fresh Starts groupies can get their…

• Posters here: http://www.zazzle.com/poster_bankruptcy_bill_the_fresh_starts-228608539647711199
• Mugs here: http://www.zazzle.com/mug_bankruptcy_bill_the_fresh_starts-168135713990751518
• Hats here: http://www.zazzle.com/hat_bankruptcy_bill_the_fresh_starts-148439025032658748
  

Click here for the lyrics and explanatory notes as well as a note on copyright and use restrictions. (more…)

We understand completely:  You want something to read at the beach, but darnit, there’s just not enough good bankruptcy literature out there.  (Well, with the exception of bankruptcy haiku.  But those are just so…y’know…short.)  We hear your cries, and that is why we offer….

Bankruptcy Bill’s Summer Reading List

(If you have other good books to add to the list, please feel free to post them in the comments section or e-mail the title to bill [at] bankruptcybill [dot] us.)

Update 8.10.09: Late addition to the list in a new post today: Liquidated – An Ethnography of Wall Street by Karen Ho.

1. Comic Wars:  How Two Tycoons Battled Over the Marvel Comic Empire — And Both Lost by Dan Raviv – Ron Perlman vs. Carl Icahn vs. Ike Perlmutter vs. Avi Arad for control of Marvel Comics via the bankruptcy process, with cameo by Stan Lee.  (Note: This is Bill and Struck’s favorite, for obvious reasons.)

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

• Click on BK Lawyer Blogs for a state-by-state list of bankruptcy lawyers with their own blogs.
• Have a blog post you think should be included?  Send an e-mail to bill [at] bankruptcybill [dot] us.

On the heels of today’s article in the New York Times (“Online Scammers Prey on Jobless“), it seemed appropriate to see what various bankruptcy lawyer blogs have to say on the topic of scams in world of bankruptcy, debt, mortgages and foreclosure.

WISCONSIN

Law Office of Gregory A. Holbus, Esq. – Wisconsin Bankruptcy Blog (Green Bay, WI)

• Can I max out my credit cards before I file bankruptcy?

TEXAS

Going Concern

• Huron Book Cooking Lawsuits Likely to Be Filed this Week
• Huron Consulting is Clearly Not a CPA Firm
• Preliminary Analytics | 08.05.09 – Coverage of bondholders’ attempt to fire Trump, and Banks Get Picky In Doling Out Credit Cards
• LandAmerica: Victims of Bad Marketing or Ponzi Schemers?

Law Shucks

• This Week in Layoffs – 7/31/09
• The Month in Layoffs – July 09

Point of Law

• W.R. Grace Chapter 11
• Clear as Mud: Asbestos Trusts and Empirical Evidence

Above The Law

• Jones Day Slams Its Competitors
• Public Law School Tuition On The Rise
• Unemployed Student Wants Her Money Back
• Bankruptcy Won’t Discharge $350,000 of Student Loan Debt for Law Graduate

Did we miss a good recent bankruptcy-related post on another blog?  Post in the comments section below, or e-mail bill [at] bankruptcybill [dot] us to let us know.

(To see more of Gideon Kendall’s work go to www.gideonkendall.com and gideonkendall.squarespace.com/journal.)

While Struck is not likely to win any awards for his pro bono bankruptcy service, here are some law firms and lawyers who have:

• George Cauthen of the firm Nelson Mullins in Columbia, SC won the Richland Sertoma Club Service to Mankind Award for his pro bono work in bankruptcy and other areas of law.

• New York State Bar Association 2009 President’s Pro Bono Service Award Winners
  • Kim Zinke (2nd Judicial District: Kings County)- Brooklyn Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project
  • Thomas Miller (6th Judicial District: Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Madison, Otsego, Schuyler, Tioga, Tompkins counties) – Law Office of Thomas Miller, Binghamton
  • Barbara R. Ridall (8th Judicial District: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, Wyoming counties) – Bulan Chiari Horwtiz & Ilecki, LLP, Buffalo
  • Simon Haysom (9th Judicial District: Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Westchester counties) – Simon Haysom LLC, Goshen
  • Hon. Robert J. Nicholson (Senior Lawyer), Oswego
  • Syracuse University College of Law Pro Bono Bankruptcy Practice Group (Law School Group), Syracuse

• Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP was recognized by the American Bar Association on August 3, 2009, for developing an innovative pro bono policy which requested that every lawyer in the firm perform 50 hours of pro bono work, every partner and counsel take or supervise at least one pro bono matter, and every new lawyer work on at least one pro bono matter.

If you know of someone else who deserves a mention for their pro bono bankruptcy work, feel free to post a comment about them.

p.s.  Regarding copyright issues, our legal counsel, IP Aileen, says:  “Other bloggers/websites/publications:  You are more than welcome to post Strip #18 – Pro Bono on your sites as long as you also include all of the text, links and images in this post, including this paragraph.  If you fail to respect our wishes, we’ll make you work for Weil Gotshal on an entirely pro bono basis.”

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Bargain Babe is who Bankruptcy Bill would love to date if he could ever get out of the office.  (See Bill’s previous efforts at dating.)

Bargain Babe (www.bargainbabe.com) is also known as Julia Scott, “a cheapskate by nature and a journalist by training.”  And her site has become one of the go-to spots on the web for ways to save money.

Bankruptcy Bill and BAPCPA Man both strongly recommend Bargain Babe for anyone into cutting costs and alliteration.  See an NBC News interview with Bargain Babe after the jump.

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For a more in depth explanation of the automatic stay, take a look at the Wikipedia entry as well as a brief explanation by Haines & Krieger (Las Vegas, NV) and an explanatory blog post by Michael Anderson, Esq. on Arizona Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog.  Also this post on bill collectors by Chuck Newton, Esq.’s blog StayViolation in Texas.

Click here for a state-by-state list of bankruptcy lawyers with blogs.

Click here for previous BAPCPA Man cartoons or here for all cartoons on the site relating to consumer bankruptcy.

(To see more of Gideon Kendall’s work go to www.gideonkendall.com and gideonkendall.squarespace.com/journal.)