A significant consideration in filing your bankruptcy case is "venue" -- that's legalese for the physical location of the court in which you file.

It's a powerful feature of bankruptcy -- especially for business bankruptcy cases under Chapter 11 - that you may be able to pick the court, and that, in turn, can have a bearing on the legal outcome.

I am frequently asked whether or not you have to surrender your tax refund if you file for bankruptcy.  While that topic is addressed in a different post, the popular and appropriate follow-up question is what to do with the refund once it is received.  Though you have to be careful if you spend large amounts of money prior to filing bankruptcy (you don't want to give out a gift or pay back a family member or friend), the court understands that you have to pay an attorney to file your bankruptcy

I had to smile when I read the news that the banks were now lobbying to keep former Harvard bankruptcy professor and Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren from getting appointed to the Senate banking committee.

Lobbying is not cheap. It runs into the millions of dollars for a campaign. And, like most good businesspersons, I am sure the banks did some cost-benefit analysis in making this decision.

I had to smile when I read the news that the banks were now lobbying to keep former Harvard bankruptcy professor and Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren from getting appointed to the Senate banking committee.

Lobbying is not cheap. It runs into the millions of dollars for a campaign. And, like most good businesspersons, I am sure the banks did some cost-benefit analysis in making this decision.

Q:  I keep hearing about debt settlement companies.  Are they a legitimate way to avoid bankruptcy? – John L.

Q:  I keep hearing about debt settlement companies.  Are they a legitimate way to avoid bankruptcy? – John L.

The National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) recently published a consumer alert report entitled “

Everybody is telling Twinkie jokes this week. Hostess Brands was limping its way through Bankruptcy Reorganization when its bakers heeded the call of their union and went on strike on November 9. As part of the reorganization effort Hostess had proposed wage and pension cuts.

The 8th Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel has ruled that a Chapter 13 debtor may not create a special class of unsecured creditors for nonpriority, nondischargeable tax debts at the expense of other unsecured creditors.  In the case of Shawn & Lauren Copeland v. Richard V.

Here is a good article about credit scores.Adam Brown is a bankruptcy attorney for Dexter & Dexter, a debt relief agency helping people file for bankruptcy.