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Be informed about the Medications You Take.
The recent withdrawal of the prescription drugs Vioxx and Bextra have arthritis patients concerned about their health, lawyers busy with lawsuits, and Congress poring over thousands of pages of documents obtained from the manufacturer. The drugs,...
Semi Accidents Plaintiffs Obtain "No Risk" Lawsuit Loans to Bridge Financial Gap
"No one pays much attention to how a person who has been injured
is going to live while waiting for a case to settle, the legal
system tends to put people who cannot afford to wait for their
money at a disadvantage." - Boston Bar Association...
Structured Settlement or a One-Time Lump Sum Payment?
If you are involved with a legal decision, financial claim or insurance arrangement, the financing process to settle and resolve the claim can often take two forms. Either a one-time lump sum payment, or a long-term periodic series of deferred...
The Time Value of Money
Life is about decisions, whether they relate to your work,
business or personal life. Often ignored is the interplay
between all these areas, and the fact that a little
interdisciplinary thinking can go a long way. This might sound
obtuse, but...
What is a Structured Settlement
A Structured Settlement is an agreement between a personal injury
victim ( a Plaintiff ) and an Insurance company ( the Defendant )
to compensate the Plaintiff by the defendant with long term periodic
payments instead of a single cash lump sum....
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New Bankruptcy Legislation May Make it Harder to Find an Attorney
The recently passed Bankruptcy Abuse prevention and Consumer Protection Act will make it harder for people with problem debt to have their debt eliminated through filing for bankruptcy. This new legislation will make it harder to have debts wiped out by the courts, and will require more debtors to pay back some or all of their debts. Considered by many to be a gift from Congress to the major credit card companies, this new law has many people rightly concerned about how to best deal with their debt problems. An additional concern that few have considered is that it not only will be more difficult to file for bankruptcy, it may also be difficult to find legal assistance once the new law takes effect in October, 2005.
Under current law, filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy for consumer debt is a fairly routine procedure. A Chapter 7 filing allows most debts to be eliminated once the debtor demonstrates that they cannot pay their bills. While it is and should be considered a last resort for those in debt, a Chapter 7 filing allows those who emerge from bankruptcy to have a “fresh start.” Legal costs vary for assisting with a Chapter 7 filing, but they typically involve only a few hours of billing time on the part of an attorney. Under the new legislation most filers will be forced to file for bankruptcy under the more complicated Chapter 13. A Chapter 13 filing, which requires the structuring of a repayment plan, is somewhat more
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complicated and generally costs two to three times as much in legal fees. Adding to the complication is the fact that the new legislation will hold the attorneys for those filing for bankruptcy liable for paperwork issues, leaving the attorneys vulnerable to lawsuits from both bankruptcy trustees and the customers on whose behalf they file.
What this means to the consumer is that good legal help will be expensive and hard to find once the new bankruptcy law takes effect. Attorneys who specialize in bankruptcy cases will undoubtedly raise their rates significantly in order to offset their greater risk. Attorneys who seldom work on bankruptcy cases may simply stop handling them, thinking that the additional risk of a lawsuit isn’t worth their trouble. Anyone who is currently experiencing debt problems, which might require the help of a bankruptcy attorney, should probably meet with one now. It is better to find one now, even if you don’t need one, than to need one later and realize that you cannot find one.
About the Author
©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including End-Your-Debt.com, a site devoted to debt consolidation and credit counseling, and StructuredSettlementHelp.com, a site devoted to information regarding structured settlements.
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