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FDCPA May Not Be A Substitute For A Good Old Injunction Violation Case

Suing creditors and debt buyers under the FDCPA when they also violate a discharge injunction issued by a bankruptcy court may not be the panacea most newly minted consumer lawyers think.  (The same thing is true when considering automatic stay litigation).

Lawyers tend to like the FDCPA because they believe they can recover statutory damages for the debtor on top of actual damages and possible punitive damages.  The problem is that the FDCPA and litigating a typical discharge injunction violation have different defenses, with the FDCPA being more liberal.  Also, the extra money that can be recovered is limited to $1,000.00.

Forclosures Hit The Highest Point In 40 Years

Despite the best efforts of some to kill consumer bankruptcies in this country are the flood gates about to burst.  There are some indicators that say things do not look pretty.

The truth of the matter, as Congress and the President were told, you cannot simply shut down the emergency rooms and expect that to end illness and accidents.  Yet, that is what they tried to do.

The Washington Post reports that foreclosure rates have hit a 40 year (four decade) high.  The Dow Jones Industrials fell 243 points on the news of this number.

But, what about the Doug Jones Index?  In other words, what is happening out there in the real world -- among average people?

Washington Mutual, the nation's largest savings and loan, told analysts that its loans to risky home buyers were performing "exceedingly poorly" and would be a drag on its earnings. H&R Block said it will delay reporting its third-quarter results because woes in the mortgage market forced the firm to recalculate its earnings, resulting in a $29 million loss that wasn't included in its previous filings.

"There's some indication here, and it's not apocalyptic by any means, that the problems might not be contained in the subprime market," said Nicolas Retsinas, director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.

You Have Got To Love The Northern District Of Texas

Bankruptcy courts come with all sorts of efficiencies (or lack thereof).  Most bankruptcy judges are geniuses in the application of the law, but some are just terrible at overseeing or management duties.  They simply tend to promulgate systems and rules that just do not work well in practice.

From a litigation standpoint nobody much beats the Northern District of Texas in how it efficiently processes adversary proceedings.  For example, my office filed an adversary proceeding this morning.  About an hour later the office of the Bankruptcy Clerk had already prepared a summons and a comprehensive scheduling order to serve with the pleadings, and sent them to me via email.  This afternoon the pleadings will be in the mail on their way to the Defendants.

With the increasing sophistication of technology, we will soon be able to package these documents together in a PDF format, upload it through the Postal Service website, and serve the summons, order and Complaint by certified mail over the computer without even leaving the desk.  With the Northern District of Texas it will take a half a day tops to get this done.

The worst Bankruptcy Court in Texas in this regard?  I had better not say.

Going Bankruptcy Rates for 2007

Steven Pollak, Assistant Editor of Digital Content at Daily Report, has advised me of the 2007 fee report for bankruptcy practitioners around the Country.  The map is shown below.  However, Akin Gump is shown for Houston, Texas at $625.00 per hour.  The Texas portion of the report on bankruptcy fees can be found here.  However, in Dallas Henry Gompf with Jones Day is the highest at $725.00 per hour.

Libby's Law License Will Likely Be Suspended

Legal Profession Blog is of the opinion that Scooter Libby's license to practice law may eventually be permanently revoked, but in the interim it is certain is right to practice law will be suspended.

According to Mike Frisch, Legal Counsel at Georgetown University Law Center, Libby "will be suspended immediately when the D. C. Court of Appeals receives a certified copy of the docket entry reflecting the jury's guilty verdict. The court will then order the Board on Professional Responsibility to determine whether any crime for which Libby was convicted involves moral turpitude per se. Perjury and obstruction of justice are crimes that the court has previously held involve moral turpitude per se. Thus, the board is required to recommend disbarment. The court will not take final action until the appeals process is finished."

Frisch goes on to say, that if Libby is pardoned, "the court may impose sanction based on the underlying facts of the case but not on the conviction."

Going Bankruptcy Hourly Rates From Around The Country In 2006

Law.Com's Daily Report has uncovered the hourly rates for bankruptcies of big named law firms around the country.  See the map below: