Lawyers Retool for Bankruptcy Practice, Due to Dismal Economy
Back when the economy was robust, attorney Brett King worked on mergers and acquisitions in Asia.
Now he and other lawyers there bill themselves as “restructuring” experts—sometimes concerneing the same failed deals they helped put together, reports the Wall Street Journal.
And they’re far from the only attorneys seeking a safe harbor in bankruptcy and restructuring work, as the economy plummets and well-known law firms make unprecedented layoffs and attorney pay cuts.
Although Delaware lawyers—because of the state’s go-to reputation for corporate work—are better-insulated than those in many parts of the country from economic turmoil, seasoned practitioners there are seeing the practice area as a port in the economic storm, according to a magazine-length article in the Wilmington News Journal on the state of the legal job market.
“This is my 31st year in practice, and I’ve never seen these kinds of layoffs and failures,” says David Stratton, a bankruptcy lawyer who serves as managing partner in the Wilmington office of Philadephia-based Pepper Hamilton. He’s now getting resumés from midlevel and senior associates saying they’re not bankruptcy practitioners but are willing to retool.
An article in Texas Lawyer offers tips for those seeking to shift to the booming practice area. Among them: Find a mentor, take continuing legal education courses, and polish people skills—negotiation is critical to successful practice.
“The U.S. Bankruptcy Code is not user-riendly, and it does not lend itself to figuring out its intricacies alone,” writes author Harley Caudle, an associate at Sprouse Shrader Smith in Amarillo. “Even with help from experienced practitioners and diligent self-study, learning to practice bankruptcy law can be an intellectually humbling experience.”
