Banking Law

Business Booming for Lawyers Who Help Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

There’s one area of law practice that’s booming right now for attorneys in many areas of the country. With foreclosures at record levels, homeowners need help reaching a resolution with lenders. And while they may not be able to pay a lawyer much, if anything, many attorneys are either taking…

Mar 9, 2009 9:18 PM CDT

Supreme Court Rules for Consumer Resisting Compelled Arbitration

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a federal court has no jurisdiction to hear a credit card company’s motion to compel arbitration of a consumer dispute that began in state court. The justices ruled 5-4 in favor of consumer Betty Vaden, the Associated Press reports. Discover Bank had filed…

Mar 9, 2009 4:49 PM CDT

House OKs Mortgage ‘Cramdown’ Bill; Tougher Fight Expected in Senate

A controversial bill that would give bankruptcy judges the power to reduce the principal balance on a debtor’s personal residence passed the U.S. House of Representatives tonight but is expected to face a tougher fight in the Senate. Under the “cramdown” legislation, bankruptcy judges could also reduce the interest rate…

Mar 6, 2009 2:02 AM CST

Bankruptcy Filings Up 31% in 2008; Mortgage Foreclosures Hit New High

Bankruptcy and foreclosure litigation are likely to remain hot practice areas as the economy continues its free fall and housing values plummet. Newly released statistics show a 31 percent increase in bankruptcy filings in 2008, compared to the previous calendar year, and mortgage delinquencies are at an all-time high. Mortgage…

Mar 5, 2009 7:59 PM CST

Corp. & City Bankruptcies May Surge; Bank Failures Deplete FDIC Coffers

After a banner year for company bankruptcies in 2008, a surge of new filings is now expected as the nation’s financial crisis continues. Meanwhile, a series of bank failures has depleted the coffers of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Because of the credit shortage, a number of companies may be…

Mar 4, 2009 7:20 PM CST

Internal Memo Shows UBS Ignored Baker & McKenzie’s Warnings

A memo released by a Senate panel suggests Swiss banking giant UBS ignored warnings from Baker & McKenzie that diverting U.S. clients into offshore entities could run afoul of its commitment to report taxes under an Internal Revenue Service program. The New York Times has the details. UBS was participating…

Mar 4, 2009 12:53 PM CST

Debt Collectors Find the Dead Can Be More Lucrative Than the Living

Often, the living have no obligation to pay the debts of dead relatives. But a growing legion of sympathetic debt collectors is seeking to persuade them to do so. With the help of today’s database technology, it’s relatively easy to determine when an estate is opened in any of the…

Mar 4, 2009 4:29 AM CST

Co. Had Right to Call ‘Business’ Loan Used By Poker-Playing Va. Lawyer

Nothing in the promissory note he signed for a $250,000 business loan said he couldn’t use the money to play poker, argued attorney Michael Melkersen. But a federal district court in the Western District of New York court agreed with Counsel Financial Services that the loan company didn’t have to…

Mar 3, 2009 10:45 PM CST

Bernanke: ‘Huge Gap’ Allowed AIG ‘Hedge Fund,’ Costing US Up to $200B

Testifying today at a Senate Budget Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the financial products division of major insurance company had been operated like a hedge fund with virtually no government oversight. The fact that American International Group Inc. then had to be rescued with…

Mar 3, 2009 5:54 PM CST

State Prosecutors Give Bad Check Cases to Private Collectors, Share Money

Those who have written a bad check tend to pay up when they get a letter from a state prosecutor’s office. However, in some states, such letters are actually being sent by private collection agencies, reports CNN. Such outsourcing is controversial, because collection can take place without the government ever…

Mar 2, 2009 9:25 PM CST

Amended SEC Complaint Accuses Stanford, CFO of Running Ponzi Scheme

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed an amended complaint against R. Allen Stanford that alleges the Texas billionaire ran a huge Ponzi scheme and took at least $1.6 billion of investor money in personal loans. The amended complaint also accuses James Davis, the chief financial officer of Stanford’s company,…

Mar 2, 2009 12:11 PM CST

Sonnenschein Closes 11-Lawyer Office in Charlotte, N.C.

Partners at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal today voted to close the Chicago-based firm’s less than two-year-old office in Charlotte, N.C. It isn’t clear how many of the 11 lawyers affected will be able to move to another firm office, according to American Lawyer. There are also eight staff members at…

Feb 27, 2009 9:50 PM CST

Feds Ignored Loan Problems at Failing IndyMac, Treasury Report Says

The federal Office of Thrift Supervision ignored inflated appraisals and lax lending standards that led to the failure of California-based IndyMac Bancorp, according to a report by the U.S. Treasury Department’s inspector general. And that failure cost the taxpayer-funded Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. $10.7 billion, writes the Los Angeles Times.…

Feb 27, 2009 1:42 AM CST

Posner Writes Book Questioning His Free-Market Views, and Keeps on Writing

Judge Richard Posner has written a new book questioning his own free-market views, but he’s finding it difficult to let go of the project. Posner, a judge with the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, originally finished the manuscript Jan. 30, The Boston Globe’s Brainiac blog reports. But he…

Feb 26, 2009 4:15 PM CST

Why Didn’t SEC Move Faster in Stanford Case, Law Prof Wonders

What did the feds know about the operations of R. Allen Stanford, and when did the feds know it? That is essentially the question on the mind of law professor Peter Henning of Wayne State University. Writing in the DealBook blog of the New York Times today, he ponders parallels…

Feb 23, 2009 7:14 PM CST