Courts need more staff to manage spike in bankruptcy filings

[dbackjon]

Federal courts say they need to hire more support staff to deal with a sharp spike in bankruptcy filings.
The Judiciary’s fiscal 2010 budget request calls for $30 million to hire 754 new support staffers. Judge Julia Gibbons of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals told lawmakers Thursday that many of those new hires will be bankruptcy clerks, although she did not say how many bankruptcy clerks the courts want to hire. Gibbons appeared before the House Appropriations subcommittee on financial services and general government.
The courts expect bankruptcy filings will increase by 27 percent this year to 1.2 million as more people face foreclosures and other financial problems caused by the poor economy. Gibbons said more businesses are filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcies, which tend to be large, complex cases.
The courts are asking for $6.6 billion in discretionary funds for fiscal 2010, $562 million more than this year.

The budget increase would also pay for:
• A 4.2 percent cost-of-living adjustment for judges and staff.
• Six new magistrate judges, who would require 26 new staffers to support them.
• Telecommunications and information technology improvements, costing $26 million.
• $3 million in court security improvements, such as new explosive detectors.

http://www.championshipsubdivision.com/ ... =post&f=10

[dbackjon]

4.2% pay increase is EXCESSIVE. Many companies, including my own, have frozen salaries, and 4.2% is excessive.

[bobbythekidd]

4.2% pay increase is EXCESSIVE. Many companies, including my own, have frozen salaries, and 4.2% is excessive.

Agreed.

[Ivytalk]

Call danefan and JoltinJoe, STAT!

[danefan]

believe me when I tell you that Judges have been underpaid for a very very long time.

I made more in base salary my fisrt year out of law school then Federal district court judges make. And I'll probably make more than Chief Justice Roberts this year when all is said and done.

They need a pay raise, IMO. There are many fine lawyers in private practice that would turn down a position on the federal bench because they'd take a 95% pay cut.

I wouldn't turn it down, but that's becuse its my dream job - appointed for life; make you're own schedule; play a lot of golf. But there are a lot of people that would.

The best lawyers should be on the bench. It is a public service job, but there aren't many people willing to cut their pay by 95%, even if in the name of public service.

[dbackjon]

So you are saying that Lawyers are vastly overpaid?

[dbackjon]

These people think that judges are not underpaid...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/washington/20bar.html


And you will have a hard time convincing many that $170K is too little.

[danefan]

So you are saying that Lawyers are vastly overpaid?

Many have argued so....

But here's my take on that question that I get asked often - you're only worth what someone is willing to pay you. As long as people are willing to pay my boss $1000 an hour to tell them what to do, then he's not overpaid. They can always go to another tax lawyer and pay less.

[dbackjon]

So you are saying that Lawyers are vastly overpaid?

Many have argued so....

But here's my take on that question that I get asked often - you're only worth what someone is willing to pay you. As long as people are willing to pay my boss $1000 an hour to tell them what to do, then he's not overpaid. They can always go to another tax lawyer and pay less.

That is scary, IMHO...

If he can get it, great! But it seems that a lot of the high fees in NY was funny money - spending that has no correlation to reality, and using other's money (which a lot has been lost).

What has been the inflation in legal hourly rates over the past say 10 years, and will they come down?

[danefan]

These people think that judges are not underpaid...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/washington/20bar.html


And you will have a hard time convincing many that $170K is too little.

All numbers games there. There is no sound empircal way to study judicial quality. That's both the defense to the arguments against judicial pay raise and the achilles heal of the argument to raise judicial salaries.

I'm not a judge and likely will never be one (lack of Ivy league legal education is more often than not a barrier). I just think that, relatively speaking they are underpaid.

[danefan]

Many have argued so....

But here's my take on that question that I get asked often - you're only worth what someone is willing to pay you. As long as people are willing to pay my boss $1000 an hour to tell them what to do, then he's not overpaid. They can always go to another tax lawyer and pay less.

That is scary, IMHO...

If he can get it, great! But it seems that a lot of the high fees in NY was funny money - spending that has no correlation to reality, and using other's money (which a lot has been lost).

What has been the inflation in legal hourly rates over the past say 10 years, and will they come down?

its not funny money - the bills get paid and our team doesn't have any NY based clients. Mostly mid-western and international.

They will likely never come down. Most have been frozen this year though.
They have gone tremendously in the past 10 years. I don't have the exact stats, but the key indicator of law firm profitability is Profits Per Partner (PPP). PPP has increased dramatically every year since 2001, until this year. A lot of major firms are reporting reductions in gross revenue and PPP.

[dbackjon]

These people think that judges are not underpaid...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/washington/20bar.html


And you will have a hard time convincing many that $170K is too little.

I'm not a judge and likely will never be one (lack of Ivy league legal education is more often than not a barrier). I just think that, relatively speaking they are underpaid.

I hate that mentality. Narrows the ability of the judiciary to break out of certain thought pattern.

[dbackjon]

That is scary, IMHO...

If he can get it, great! But it seems that a lot of the high fees in NY was funny money - spending that has no correlation to reality, and using other's money (which a lot has been lost).

What has been the inflation in legal hourly rates over the past say 10 years, and will they come down?

its not funny money - the bills get paid and our team doesn't have any NY based clients. Mostly mid-western and international.

They will likely never come down. Most have been frozen this year though.
They have gone tremendously in the past 10 years. I don't have the exact stats, but the key indicator of law firm profitability is Profits Per Partner (PPP). PPP has increased dramatically every year since 2001, until this year. A lot of major firms are reporting reductions in gross revenue and PPP.

So the fees went up with the run up in real estate and the stock market - both have crashed. And while you may not have any NY based clients, how much of the "wealth" of these clients was based on those two areas?

That is why I call it funny money - if the stock market and real estate market had never had the tremendous run up in "value" (which was never there, in reality), clients would not have been able to think they could afford such high fees.

[danefan]

I'm not a judge and likely will never be one (lack of Ivy league legal education is more often than not a barrier). I just think that, relatively speaking they are underpaid.

I hate that mentality. Narrows the ability of the judiciary to break out of certain thought pattern.

Its a good ole boys club. But its still better than popular elections for judges. Seating judges based on a popularity contest is not a good practice, IMO. Nor is having judges associate themselves with a political party, but that seems to happen whether its an elected or appointed position.

[danefan]

its not funny money - the bills get paid and our team doesn't have any NY based clients. Mostly mid-western and international.

They will likely never come down. Most have been frozen this year though.
They have gone tremendously in the past 10 years. I don't have the exact stats, but the key indicator of law firm profitability is Profits Per Partner (PPP). PPP has increased dramatically every year since 2001, until this year. A lot of major firms are reporting reductions in gross revenue and PPP.

So the fees went up with the run up in real estate and the stock market - both have crashed. And while you may not have any NY based clients, how much of the "wealth" of these clients was based on those two areas?

That is why I call it funny money - if the stock market and real estate market had never had the tremendous run up in "value" (which was never there, in reality), clients would not have been able to think they could afford such high fees.

Probably true. Luckily though our major clients are solid businesses that don't rely on the market and real estate. Biotech and pharmaceuticals. We do also have an internationally based building materials client that has been very quiet as of late, except for the necessary audit defense work (which recession proof work).

[dbackjon]

I hate that mentality. Narrows the ability of the judiciary to break out of certain thought pattern.

Its a good ole boys club. But its still better than popular elections for judges. Seating judges based on a popularity contest is not a good practice, IMO. Nor is having judges associate themselves with a political party, but that seems to happen whether its an elected or appointed position.

Agree with that on judicial elections...

[dbackjon]

So the fees went up with the run up in real estate and the stock market - both have crashed. And while you may not have any NY based clients, how much of the "wealth" of these clients was based on those two areas?

That is why I call it funny money - if the stock market and real estate market had never had the tremendous run up in "value" (which was never there, in reality), clients would not have been able to think they could afford such high fees.

Probably true. Luckily though our major clients are solid businesses that don't rely on the market and real estate. Biotech and pharmaceuticals. We do also have an internationally based building materials client that has been very quiet as of late, except for the necessary audit defense work (which recession proof work).

That is good - Biotech and pharma is good, fairly stable work.

[Wedgebuster]

More staff eh Jon?

[Cleets Part 2]

Sadness...
And shame (who knows not these things... yes they are called lawyers)
When I attended a certain school 85% of the school consisted of "Law students" yes...

15% went on directly to government jobs.. not waiting one day between graduation and employment...
the other 70% some odd became politicians at some point later... kissing ass and licking balls

The 750 of us who were in "applied sciences" were forced to get real jobs from actual companies and not screw the populace and become politicians...

Ahh... the joy of actual accomplishment.. (it is real)