History of Bankruptcy Law in the U.S.

Greece, Italy, Germany, France, Spain and other countries were harsh on those who filed bankruptcy–no matter the reason. There was no leniency offered, no help, no rehabilitation for those who struggled financially.

The U.S. Congress introduced bankruptcy as a means to right and rehabilitate financial challenges that citizens experienced.

Bankruptcy in the United States: Part 1 of 3

Lanigan and Lanigan has provided bankruptcy support to businesses and individuals in Florida since 1976. There’s not a problem, issue or question that a client hasn’t asked. And every question is valid because before you consider filing bankruptcy, you should get answers relevant to you.

Every case is different and your friend, neighbor or co-workers shouldn’t influence your decision to file or not to file. Usually, it’s a very personal financial choice and a legal option that was created to provide debt relief and economic restructuring and counsel to those so that past challenges aren’t repeated.

Housing Up, Jobs, Economy Flat

homes cost more than people in an unstable economy want to spend. Will that mean that the demand for rentals will increase or that people will no longer upgrade properties and instead stay in smaller homes? Prices remain high in cities with high employment rates including San Francisco

Courtroom Lawyer vs. Contracts Lawyer

A litigation attorney has argued it in front of juries, he’s listened to judges and juries comment about the language that’s been used in various litigation regarding contracts and so he’s much more sensitive to, “all right, if this gets into a dispute, does this really say what is on the minds of these people or is it something that came out of a book that sounds great?”

Does Your Attorney Have Your Case Experience?

Eric Lanigan with Lanigan and Lanigan attorneys in Winter Park Florida talks about hiring an attorney who has the legal background to give your case the knowledge to litigate your case. Does your attorney have your case experience? You’d better find out before you hire a lawyer.

Hire a Litigator for Contracts

The reality is, you see the ads that say, “I’ll fight for you,” but the bottom line is you want a litigator who’s a good negotiator; so by definition, they know how to negotiate. And you want them to write that contract because they’ve been to court.

Is It Bad to File Bankruptcy?

One thing that many people fear about filing bankruptcy is that everyone around them will find out and judge them. And there is no social stigma because no one knows you filed bankruptcy unless you tell them or by some random chance they read it in the newspaper or have to run a credit check on you. It’s probably something that people can find out, but they would have to really look hard for.

Examples of White Collar Crimes

White collar crime is a non-violent crime that’s committed usually to defraud, deceive individuals or businesses for financial reasons. Money laundering, embezzlement, Ponzi schemes, securities fraud are white collar crimes. Hire a white collar criminal attorney vs. a criminal attorney for these crimes.

The Best White Collar Lawyer Has Experience

I’m Eric Lanigan, of Lanigan and Lanigan in Winter Park Florida and the best white collar lawyer has experience so if you’re charged with a white collar crime, look for an attorney with white collar criminal law skill. The first time I even became involved in what we would call a white collar criminal case was with somebody who was in the securities business. And they were selling a particular investment opportunity to their clientele, their financial planning clientele, mostly senior citizens. Well there was no doubt about what they were selling and the product was right there literally in black and white. I was retained by the criminal lawyer, who was an excellent criminal lawyer, in fact I would say in our area at the time was probably one of the top 3 or 4 criminal lawyers in all of central Florida in my opinion. And they brought me in because they said quite frankly that they didn’t know anything about the securities industry and there was a lot of the securities techno-babble that the prosecutors were talking about. He quite frankly had no idea what it was they were even talking about, so he brought me in as the sort of co-counsel to understand what it was this guy was actually being charged with doing. They asked me if there was an understanding of the nature of his business and what business activity he was actually involved in, did his activity fall within the purview of what was prohibited under the Florida Securities Act? And why either a.) what he was doing is not illegal or b.)...