Date line: July, 2008 I’ve spent the last three days at the annual meeting of the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees in San Francisco. Strewn through the convention site are banners thanking those who have contributed money to put on the gathering of Chapter 13 trustees. Those three sponsors at this event are exclusively […]
It feels like a profession
Too often, practicing bankruptcy law feels pretty unrewarding. The money is poor, the clients often uncooperative, and the idiocy of the 2005 bankruptcy amendments overwhelming. Then there are lawyers on the other side who are mean spirited, less than honest, and indifferent about the ideals of the profession. But I just returned from the Sacramento […]
One Year of “Reform”
The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act became effective little more than a year ago. The net of our experiences thus far with the amended Bankruptcy Code is that bankruptcy relief remains widely available. What has been sacrificed is economy and predictability. Lawyers and judges struggling with applying the statutes amended by BAPCPA find […]
Living in the Valley of the Shadow of Debt
Nearly 40% of California homeowners spend more than the target 30% of their income on housing; 15% spend more than 50%. Therein lies the start of financial instability. Liz Warren’s book on the Two Income Trap identified the quest for schools in better school districts as the reason that two income, middle class families were […]
