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 (matt [dot] leichter [at] gmail [dot] com) is an attorney licensed in Wisconsin and New York.  Fearing the legal profession’s future, he has begun documenting the law school tuition bubble at his own blog, where you can read his latest post, “A Half-Hearted Defense of the Legal Services Cartel”.

• 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.

GENERAL or NON-STATE SPECIFIC

American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) Bankruptcy Blog Exchange

• 6^th Circuit Determines that Negative Equity Financing can be Protected from Cramdown
• Underwater Mortgages in the U.S. by City

Bankruptcy Case Blog – St John’s University Law School

• Positive Treatment for Negative Equity

Bankruptcy Law Network

• Foreclosure: Should You Embrace It?
• Are You Behind on Your Mortgage?
• Who Decides about Reaffirming a Mortgage?
• South Carolina Bankruptcy Lawyer Unleashes Vulcan Intellect on the Hanging Paragraph
• Individual Chapter 11 Fact: You Can Always Cram Down Your Car
• Chapter 13 Debt Limit Qualifications
• Upside Down Car Loans Protected in 8^th Circuit
• Bankruptcy and the Upside-Down House: American Dream a Nightmare?
• Fourth Circuit Rules that the “Hanging Paragraph” Protects Negative Equity
• Underwater Trade-In not Protected Claim in Bankruptcy
• Owe More than Your Car Is Worth?
• Upside Down Car Loans in Missouri, Redux

CreditSlips.org

• Does Securitization Affect Loan Modification?
• Is Redefault Risk Preventing Mortgage Loan Mods?
• The Other Underwater Loans: Negative Equity in Auto Finance

Consumer Law & Policy Blog

• Moral Hazard, Strategic Default, and Debt Reduction
• HAMP Homeowners Stuck in Limbo

National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA)

• December Amicus Project Update

***SEE MORE BLOG POSTS FROM BANKRUPTCY LAWYERS AROUND THE U.S.*** (more…)

Now you can get your very own CUSTOMIZED e-Book of BAPCPA Man cartoons!

• Book specs:  20 pages–PDF–11″ width x 8.5″ height; 15 BAPCPA Man cartoons + cover and back page image.
• Each book customized to include your name/firm name + contact information.
• Option to include bio(s), photograph(s) and other graphics.
• Print out as many copies as you want for your clients, yourself or anyone else, and/or…
• Put them on a CD to give to clients, and/or…
• Include a link on your website for a downloadable PDF copy, and/or…
• Use them as slides in a presentation, and/or…
• Come up with other creative uses to impress your clients and friends!  (See Terms & Limits of use below.)

How it works:

1. Send e-mail to bill [/at/] bankruptcybill [/dot/] us to place your order.
2. Include relevant information in your email (e.g., your name or law firm name, contact info, headshot or link to headshot, etc.)
3. Make payment to us via PayPal (by clicking here).  (Or e-mail us for a snail mail address to send a check.)
4. After receiving payment, we will e-mail you your customized copy of the BAPCPA Man e-Book Vol. 1.

Read on to see some sample pages and for pricing information, customization options and more… (more…)

The New York Times‘ Andrew Ross Sorkin is apparently a fan of Bankruptcy Bill, as evidenced by his recent mention of us in “Talk to the Times:  Andrew Ross Sorkin“:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/business/media/19askthetimes.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

Sure it’s at the very end.   But we’re definitely not going to quibble.  We just hope that no one’s actually making investment decisions based on our cartoons.

Hey Andrew!  Let us know when you’re ready to “meet” Bankruptcy Bill and we’ll cartoon-ize you for a strip.

(For more on Andrew Ross Sorkin, check out this Nov 8 New York Magazine article about him and his book, Too Big to Fail,which should probably be added to Bankruptcy Bill’s recommended reading list.)

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:

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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Before we publish the next BAPCPA Man cartoon strip, we thought those of you with children, godchildren, nephews, nieces,  and/or paleontologists in your life might like to know about Dino Pets, the wonderfully illustrated children’s book written by Lynn Plourde and illustrated by Bankruptcy Bill’s very own Gideon Kendall.

Dino Pets can be purchased at bookstores as well as via Amazon.com and at www.gideonkendall.com.

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