Legal Newswire Blog

Archive for the ‘The Economy’ Category

September 8, 2009 – According to the Tampa Bay News Journal, The Kennedy Law Group, a law firm that is known for providing legal advice on a local Florida television station, is seeking protection from its creditors through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Kennedy Law Group, known as A Advocates & Attorneys of Kennedy Law Group PA, has formally done business as A Professional Association of Trial Lawyers and A Personal Injury Law Firm.

They have filed for Chapter 11 reorganization with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s Middle District of Florida Friday, reporting asses of between $100,000 and $500,000 and liabilities of between $1 million and $10 million.

Thomas J. Kennedy is president of the firm, which is located at 5100 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa. Kennedy appears on WFLA-Channel 8 weekday mornings to answer general legal questions from viewers, according to the firm’s Web site.

A Advocates & Attorneys owes $2.5 million to its top 12 creditors, according to court filings, with $1.5 million of that earmarked for advertising expenses.

The firm says it owes Idearc Media LLC, the official publisher of print telephone directors for Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), $1.1 million. Idearc filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Dallas in March.

A Advocates & Attorneys also owes Dex Yellow Pages of Maitland, a publisher owned by R.H. Donnelley Corp. that prints telephone directories for Embarq, nearly $182,000.

A Advocates & Attorneys also said it owes AT&T Yellow Pages $124,000, Wenstrom Communications of Clearwater $70,000 and Yellow Book of Dallas $44,500 in advertising fees.

The firm also owes on two lines of credit including one for just under $400,000 with Wachovia Bank and another for $132,000 with Bank of America.

Washington Redskins

Last Oct. 8, the Redskins sued Pat Hill, a 72 year old grandmother, in Prince George’s County Circuit Court for backing out of a 10-year ticket-renewal agreement after the first year. In the lawsuit the Redskins sought payment for every season through 2017, plus interest, attorneys’ fees and court costs.

Due to hard economic times, loyal Washington Redskins’ fan, Pat Hill, from Alexandria VA., can’t afford to pay for her season tickets anymore.

Hill is a real estate agent and loyal fan of the Washington Redskins and has  had season tickets since the early 1960s.

Because Hill  could not afford a lawyer, the Redskins ended up winning a default judgment of $66,364.

Hill says, that the judgment is now forcing her into bankruptcy.

“It really breaks my heart,” Hill said. I don’t even believe in bankruptcy. We are supposed to pay our bills. I ain’t trying to get out of anything.”

According to the Washington Post, Redskins General Counsel David Donovan said the lawsuits are a last resort that involve a small percentage of the team’s 20,000 annual premium seat contracts. He added that the team has accommodated people in hard-luck circumstances hundreds of times.

“The Washington Redskins routinely work out payment plans and alternate arrangements with hundreds of ticket holders every year,” Donovan said. “For every one we sue, I would guess we work out a deal with half a dozen.”

Donovan said he was unaware of Pat Hill’s case.

Michael Jackson and Arnold Klein

According to TMZ – Dr. Arnold Klein, Michael Jackson’s doctor, has been sued for eviction from his Beverly Hills medical offices.

Documents were filed August 6 in L.A. County Superior Court aganst Dr. Klein stating that he failed to pay July rent, totaling $28,515.69. The lawsuit alleges the owners of the building gave Klein the first 5 days of August to make good on his rent, but the doc didn’t so the landlord sued for eviction.

However,  Dr. Klein did finally pay his back rent. The landlord’s lawyer told TMZ that Dr. Klein paid the back rent on August 10 and the landlord’s lawyer will dismiss the case this week.

The L.A. County Coroner has requested files from Dr. Klein on Michael Jackson’s treatments at his office.

TMZ left word with Dr. Klein’s  lawyer but so far no comment.

Locate A Lawyer is an attorneys directory where one can find a lawyer by practice and location. Here you can find Beverly Hills real estate attorneys.

Bernie Madoff

Procsecutors asked for 150 years and they got it.  There will be no parole or light of day for Bernard Madoff.  Bernnie Madoff has finally been sentenced to 150 years as the mastermind of a multibillion dollar Ponzi scheme perpetrating Wall Street’s biggest investment fraud. Although his victims asked for the maximum and got it, their lives have been virtually destroyed.

Judge Denny Chin said the sentence was a symbolic one for a crime that showed “extraordinary evil” and “took a staggering human tool.” Madoff , addressing the court in a dark suit for about six minutes, said that when he started the scam, he thought he’d be able to “work my way out.” He said he lives in a tormented stated and expressed regret of leaving a “legacy of shame” to his family and grandchildren.” Madoff said his wife Ruth will make a statement later today. He maintained that he acted alone, saying, “How do you excuse lying to brother and sons? How do you excuse lying and deceiving a wife who stood by you for 50 years and still stands by you? There is no excuse for that and I don’t ask for forgiveness.” He then faced his victims in court and said, “I’m sorry.”   Madoff expressed regret before he received the maximum sentence for his crimes.

Watch Bernie Madoff Sentencing Video

Prosecutors continue to look into charges against Madoff’s wife and family.

Locate A Lawyer is an attorney directory where one can find a lawyer by practice and location. Here you can find criminal defense lawyers.

What would happen if we as average citizens issued IOU’s to cover our debt or to pay our taxes? You can imagine. Yet California is doing just that. Why don’t they start by cutting the jobs of the legislators who got us into this mess in the first place?

Reuters reports California’s controller, John Chiang, said on yesterday that he would have to issue IOUs in a week if lawmakers can’t quickly solve a $24 billion budget deficit, and the state’s treasurer plans to tap a reserve fund to meet debt service costs.

The legislature is gridlocked and has failed to pass a proposed $11 billion in cuts.

“Next Wednesday we start a fiscal year with a massively unbalanced spending plan and a cash shortfall not seen since the Great Depression,” Controller John Chiang said in a statement announcing that he would be forced to use IOUs to pay the state’s bills beginning on July 2.

“The state’s $2.8 billion cash shortage in July grows to $6.5 billion in September and after that we see a double digit freefall,” Chiang said. “Unfortunately, the state’s inability to balance its checkbook will now mean short-changing taxpayers, local governments and small businesses.”

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, meanwhile, is planning to draw on reserves for economic recovery sales tax bonds, according to a spokesman.

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s warned it may downgrade the bonds, given the problems California is likely to face in replenishing its emergency funds.

The state is expecting to file a material event notice on Thursday to alert bondholders to the move that comes in response to plunging sales tax receipts, said spokesman Tom Dresslar.

“The senior coverage account will be drawn on and debt service on all economic recovery bonds will be paid in full on July 1,” Dresslar said.

California has been in crisis since the housing slump and credit crunch caused a severe decline in revenues. The state has seen its unemployment rate climb steadily to 11.5 percent in May from 6.8 percent a year earlier, according to labor department data.

Legislature Rejects Proposed Cuts

The government dipped into the same reserve fund in December to make a principal payment on economic recovery bonds, but was able to top the reserve back up within days.

The California Legislature on Wednesday voted down $11 billion in proposed cuts to state services, sending members seeking a budget deal back to the drawing board.

The vote failed largely along party lines in both houses, with the Republicans saying it falls short of the savings needed and amounted to posturing by Democrats.

Standard & Poor’s said it will review its economic recovery bond, or ERB ratings “after further evaluation of state projections as to the size and timing of potential draws on the ERBs’ reserves.”

The bonds, which were approved by voters in 2004 to help the state through another fiscal crisis, are secured by a sales tax and a general obligation pledge of the state.

California has about $8.6 billion of the bonds outstanding, although some have credit support and will not be affected by any rating change, S&P analyst David Hitchcock said.

S&P rates the bonds at A-plus, or fifth-highest investment grade and six notches above speculative, or “junk” status.

That’s one notch above the A rating assigned to California’s $57 billion of general obligation debt, the lowest rating of any U.S. state.

S&P has the GO debt on alert for a downgrade.

Moody’s also has the state on review and has warned of a potential multi-notch downgrade.

Draws on debt service reserve funds are rare and will likely make waves in the bond market, said Dick Larkin, director of credit analysis at the Iselin, New Jersey, office of broker Herbert J. Sims & Co.

“I am not aware of a situation where an issuer has drawn on a debt reserve for sales tax bonds,” he said in emailed comments.

“I am also not aware of a situation where a unit needed to draw on a formal debt reserve fund to pay normal debt service on general obligation bonds,” he said.

Larkin said the latest developments reflect the strain on California’s cash flow and may signal a situation that leads to a temporary disruption of normal debt service payments.

“In the end, though, I still believe that California debt holders would be paid in full, even if there is a temporary disruption because of this financial crisis,” he said.

Locate A Lawyer is an attorney directory where one can find a lawyer by practice and location.  Find California attorneys and lawyers.

June 17, 2009 – Famous clothing retailer, Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc., has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court of the District of Delaware. It reported a $44.5 million loss for the first quarter.

Eddie Bauer is based in bellevue Washington. The Wall Street Journal reported that the company is likely to be acquired by private-equity company CCMP Capital Advisors.

Find bankruptcy attorneys at LocateaLawyer.com

Republican leaders are looking forward to the 2010 midterm congressional elections. Their case is that Obama is spending recklessly. It is true that George W. Bush and democratic congress contributed to our economic mess by excessive borrowing and expansion of entitlement, but at what point do the fiscal choices and excessive spending now become Obama’s responsibility?

“The reckless fiscal policies of the past have left us in a very deep hole,” Obama said last week. “And digging our way out of it will take time, patience and some tough choices.”

If the previous administration’s fiscal policies were reckless, then why is Obama’s spending policies (which are magnified from the previous administration) not being viewed as reckless? How do you dig one’s way out of the mess by doing more of the same?

During a town hall forum in New Mexico last month, Obama acknowledged that the “long-term deficit and debt that we have accumulated is unsustainable.” The statement followed several fiscal reform initiatives, including changes in defense procurement policy, that advisers say will save tens of billions of dollars a year.

Other measures proposed appear have an air of desperation. In April, he publicly instructed his Cabinet secretaries to find $100 million in savings, a fraction of the more than $3 trillion annual budget.

“Everything that the White House does concerning this deep recession contains an element of gambling because no one has been here before,” said Robert B. Reich, labor secretary under President Bill Clinton and a professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. “There’s no formula that can be applied, and that’s why the president’s popularity and credibility are vitally important.”

Reich noted, “Very soon we’ll be in the gravitational pull of the midterm elections, and it seems clear that Republicans want to challenge Obama on the economy and will run on tax cuts, deficit reduction, and a much more scaled-down and privatized health-care plan.”

“If they can get their act together and come up with something that is halfway respectable, and if the public begins to lose patience by Election Day, Democrats could have some real problems,” he said. “And those problems, of course, could possibly extend through 2012.”

Obama’s spending plans reflects a fiscal philosophy that differs from that of the last Democratic administration.

I fear we are gambling with our country’s future. Nowhere in history has spending of this magnitude been a solution to long term economic expansion.

Locate A Lawyer is an attorney directory where one can find a lawyer by practice and location.  Here you can find business lawyers , economic, political and legal news.

June 13. 2009 – Six Flags amusement park filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in a Deleware court Saturday.

Six Flags has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to reorganize and rid itself of over $1.8 billion in debt. The company plans to stay open while bankruptcy takes place. Six Flags, which operates theme parks in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, says  they plan to continue their the day to day operations.

Although Six Flags did well in 2008, it was unable to handle it’s onerous debt.

Locate A Lawyer is an attorney directory where one can find a lawyer by practice and location. Here you can find bankrupcty attorneys.

Taxpayer tea parties are as American as it gets. These protests are made up of people of all party affiliations who are fed up with a government that thinks it knows better than the people. Apparently this administration believes government is the solution, unlike Ronald Reagan, who said government is the problem, not the solution. The government couldn’t even run the post office. They couldn’t even manage their own cafeteria. What a joke. Why anyone in the media wants to discredit this movement, especially MSNBC is beyond me. This movement represents a government for the people and by the people, everything America stands for. I’m proud to be an American, whose roots are founded in the Constitution.

CNBC’s Rick Santelli calls the movement inspirational. “I don’t know about cultural phenomenon, but I’ll tell you what,” Santelli said. “I think that this tea party phenomenon is steeped in American culture and steeped in American notion to get involved with what’s going on with our government. I haven’t organized. I’m going to have to work to pay my taxes, so I’m not going to be able to get away today. But, I have to tell you – I’m pretty proud of this.

He also said despite the claims from others in the media, including people at CNBC’s sister network MSNBC, calling the movement “Astroturf,” Santelli declared it a grassroots movement.

“I think from a grassroots standpoint, I’m sure some of the media out there is not going to peg it that way, but isn’t it about as American as it gets – for people to roll their strollers and make their signs and go voice their opinion about the direction of the country?” Santelli said. “Good, bad or indifferent – that’s a great thing. There’s not a lot of countries, of course, that afford their people that, that type of right. It’s a great thing.”

Americans are standing up for their rights before they may not have any.

The scandal in Washington over millions of dollars in corporate bonuses paid last week on Wall Street refuses to go away. President Barack Obama’s recent show of anger over bonuses paid at insurance company AIG was undermined over the weekend by a revelation that his own treasury secretary was ultimately responsible for the mysterious disappearance of a clause that would have limited corporate bonuses.

Obama nevertheless supported Timothy Geithner in a TV interview on Sunday, saying his work wasn’t done yet and that he had no reason to heed growing calls for his resignation. “If he were to come to me, I’d say, ‘Sorry, buddy. You’ve still got the job,’” Obama said in the interview with TV newsmagazine 60 Minutes. “He’s got a lot of stuff on his plate. And he is doing a terrific job.”

The Financial Times Deutschland writes:

“It’s not unusual for a incumbent politician to think of a tax hike as an ‘interesting activity’ — but it is unusual for her to say so in public. German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted with those words to a resolution by the US House of Representatives that could tax bonus payments for corporate managers, in certain circumstances, at a rate of 90 percent.”

“With that, an idea may now be introduced to German politics that will cause obvious legal problems and shake one bulwark of freedom in our economic system: the reliability of private contracts. Even if bonuses paid to managers of companies heavily supported by government funds might anger the population, they are still a part of legal contracts.”

“The bonus debate is a convenient distraction. It dominates public attention and hides other questions over what the new US government has actually achieved in the banking crisis.”

The conservative daily Die Welt writes:

“The AIG riddle was solved on Sunday evening. After a period of stonewalling, Treasury Secretary Geithner admitted that his department removed the bonus-limitation clause. Denying it would have been more expensive than paying out the bonuses, he argued. Now there are new questions: Did Geithner know the exact size of the bonuses from the start? Did he nevertheless torpedo the clause? And was Barack Obama informed about any of this?”

We are not in support of executives taking bonuses if they have failed.  Is  specifically target one group such as AIG executives and taxing 90% of AIG’s bonus income legal? Is it constitutional? Does contract law matter anymore?

Any thoughts?