Bankruptcy: Pros and Cons with its Alternatives

Declaring bankruptcy is when your debts are unmanageable or facing foreclosure. It is a legal process judged by federal bankruptcy courts. A court proceeding in which a judge and court trustee examine the assets and liabilities of individuals and businesses with debts so oppressive that they have become unable to repay. 

 

 Bankruptcy is a complex process involving rigid rules and regulations that govern bankruptcy proceedings. 

  

 Who declares themselves Bankrupt? 

  

 Bankruptcy is generally considered the final solution for people who have far more debts and see no way to pay their bills.  

 In 2019, 70% of the bankruptcy cases were from real estate companies. The filers owed $116 billion and had assets of $83.6 billion. This is surprising to know that individuals are filing for bankruptcy cases, not businesses. They owe money for a mortgage, credit card debt, auto loan, or student loan and don’t have the income to pay for it. 

  

  

Pros and Cons of Bankruptcy 

  

 Below are some of the Pros of filing for bankruptcy 

  

 1. Granting Full Discharge
 

 Discharge means the debts are forgiven, and the individual is no longer responsible for them. If individuals have been unable to pay your bills, they may be able to have these debts legally waived.  

  

 Another alternative is to file for Chapter 13, which allows them to reorganize the debts and consolidate them into a single monthly payment.  

  

  

2. Granting an Automatic Stay 

  

  If you are granted an automatic stay, it means the creditors will not be able to chase payments or take actions against the payee until the bankruptcy is discharged or a repayment plan is finalized. 

 

 3. Appointment of Representative 

  

 A trustee is appointed who will closely examine the case until the case is disposed of. They act as catalysts, handling all the communication between payee and creditor. 

  

 4. Prevention Against Further Legal Action 

 It would prevent future legal trouble that is related to the non-payment of the debt. 

  

 5. Give a fresh start

Bankruptcy can potentially provide a much-needed clean chit to rebuild your financial life and healthily re-establish your credit. 

  

 Below are some of the Cons of filing for bankruptcy 

  

 1. Heavy Costs: 

 Filing for bankruptcy is a highly expensive affair. With filing fees, bankruptcy trustees fees, credit counseling fees, and attorney fees, they can really add up the bankruptcy cost. 

  

 2. Lengthy Process

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy is quite quick and typically discharges within a few months, whereas Chapter 13 bankruptcy is a much longer process. Filing for bankruptcy can last for more than 10 years. Significantly it becomes more challenging to secure a loan in the future. 

3. Loss of Business 

 If you have owned a business and the trustee can determine its value, they can be forced to sell them. In some instances, the trustee may operate the business until its sale. 

  

 4. Drop in your credit score

There could be a significant drop in your credit card score. 

  

 5. Loose value of assets 

 The equity of the assets like home, car, and other items are lost.  

  

 
Alternatives to Bankruptcy 

 The coronavirus pandemic has affected business in many ways, but they still make moves to protect their financial future. Filing for bankruptcy will erase many bills. Bankruptcy might be a good option when one is clashing with debts. 

  

 Credit/Debt Counselling & Debt Management Plans 

 Debt counseling is the best way to manage your debts. The debt management plan helps make regular payments to the credit counseling company, making payments on your behalf to the creditors. 

Debt Settlement 

Debt settlement may be an option If the debt is severely controllable. In debt settlement  

 Creditors can forgive a portion of the debt, whereas, in debt management plans, the entire debt needs to pay off.  

  

 Liquidating Assets 

 Selling or liquidating an asset allows us to pay off the debts quickly and easily.  
 

Debt Consolidation Loan 

 Get hassle-free payments to several creditors using debt consolidation loans. A home equity loan is a way to repay creditors. 

 

Conclusion 

  

 Bankruptcy only after they pursue debt management, debt consolidation loan, and most people consider liquidating Assets. These options can help them resolve all the finances back on track and won't negatively impact your credit score. Regardless of what type of debt relief to choose, always take better care of your credit immediately by putting simple, responsible, credit-positive actions into practice. 

You can consider Legal Support World - a reputed Legal Process Outsourcing firm, providing legal support service services to lawyers and law firms across the globe since 2008.

  

 

Remote Working: The Future of Law Firms!

 Many organizations have ventured down the Digital Transformation route to refine work operations to improve work potency and safety.  The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered the need for new remote operating policies and protocols, offices to go virtual for a long time, and more.  

 Currently, now is the time for “virtual law firms” 

 

Virtual law firms seem to witness exponential growth within the future, and all the legal work operations must go online. We have a tendency to live in an exceedingly convergent world wherever the digital revolution paves a wave. 

Eventually, this transformation can facilitate elite companies’ transition to virtual law companies.  

 

Recent technological developments in machine learning, AI, and different technological advancements facilitate the terrible foundations of the way legal support services are practiced and delivered. 

 

According to a Forbes report, there was an astounding increase in investment up to 713% in the legal tech sector in 2018. That shows swift consolidation inside the Legal and technical school sector. Now, clients do not visit a lawyer’s office as they simply use a video, phone, or text option for communicating. E-signing is another major positive of remote working since courts have agreed to accept documents that are e-filed, e-served, and e-signed. Remote and virtual hearings are the “new normal”. Handshakes are creating taboos; entire deals are being negotiated and closed virtually.  

 

Alarming law firms' rates lead to in-house legal advisers being self-contained as a result of clients wanting immediate litigation services. To contemplate these points, organizations mitigate themselves against compliance hazards and draft new plans of actions to curb challenges like cloud security. 

 

Technology has had a colossal impact on the manner we have a tendency to live, work, and manage business processes. Law firms follow technology-powered models that can meet business demands and provide clients with extraordinary expertise to tackle the challenges they face. Besides, technology has also accelerated legal delivery’s transformation to promote efficiency. 

 

 

Reasons for the increase of virtual law firms: 

 

1. Thanks to the pandemic, lawyers are compelled to work from home, usually for the first time in their careers. They found this new tradition effective because it helped them avoid long commutes and enhance the work potency. 

 

2. Work from home flexibility makes their work-life balance sorted. 

 

3. Traditional law firms charge heavy fees from their clients. Clients get relief as they get individual attention from lawyers at affordable prices and cause less potential conflict issues. 

 

 

There is no doubt the coronavirus pandemic is gearing up the virtual law office trends. In May 2020, when the United States supreme courts reopened for business, they created a historical moment of hearing oral arguments over the phone. Supreme Court Justices are embracing the tech and moving with the times. 

 

 

Conclusion: 

 

Whether you’re firmly settled in your brick-and-mortar law workplace or are already a savvy virtual professional person, the time has returned. And that too, with several accessible technologies that will modernize the manner of managing your work operations and interacting along with your clients. 

 

 

Top Ways to Improve Your Legal Research Task!

 Legal Research and Writing is one of the most important aspects of legal proceedings. Without this, lawyers cannot start their case, but it is a much time-consuming and labor-intensive process than other legal works. 

Here are the best ways lawyers can follow to handle Legal Research and Writing jobs better.

Understanding the Legal Questions: It is vital first to understand the type of legal research from the present scenario. Here are some useful points you may observe during legal research.

• Read what you are given thoroughly.
• After reading, analyze the given facts and frame answers.
• Evaluate what you know and need to learn new.
• Create a final list of potential terms.

Types of Sources: This is the 2nd important step to improve research. There are three sources for lawyers to make their work smooth and flawless, primary research, secondary research, and tertiary research. Depending upon the case, lawyers choose the best source that is much helpful for them. Usually, secondary sources are more useful and time-saving sources than the other two. It mainly includes the given below points:

• Give basics of every particular area of law.
• Understanding the key terms of an area.
• Identify essential case clues.

Recognize the Limits of Free Research Services: This is one of the best ways when you are under pressure to control costs. In this, lawyers can get massive research sources for free for a long time. There are many features and are useful for small cases, but some valuable features may be missing for long and time-taking cases. Lawyers may be using this type of source only for the cases which are restricted for costs.  

These points mentioned above are useful for lawyers to improve their Legal Research, making it easy for them to quickly win a case. If you are overburdened with various cases, then you can take help from a third-party Legal Service Provider and focus on delivering quality services to your clients within the set time. You can consider Legal Support World - a reputed Legal Process Outsourcing firm, providing legal support service services to lawyers and law firms across the globe since 2008.

How to Get Relief from Stressful Personal Injury Litigation?

Litigation often brings a high level of stress to attorneys. Also, their job is challenging; for example, if they lack at some point, it becomes difficult to convince clients why they are losing the case, especially in case of personal injury litigation. There are several ways attorneys can get relief from the stressful personal injury litigation process: The best way for attorneys to get rid of stress during the litigation process is to hire an expert or an outsourcing service provider, which helps attorneys relieve work stress. The British Government’s Ministry of Justice will introduce the whiplash reforms in April 2021. Solo, busy lawyers, and law firms can take expert guidance and personal injury litigation support from reliable third-party legal outsourcing firms that keep themselves updated about all reforms done to different laws and regulations

The areas where lawyers can get help from professionals are given below: 

1. Financial Compensation

Personal injury lawyers help people who have sustained injuries in accidents and help them to recover financial compensation. It is one of the difficult tasks to manage, get money, and make a report. There are professionals specialized in law, knowing everything about injuries and wrongdoings. So it is better to take help from experts and save your time, and simultaneously work for other clients. 

2. Representation in Courts 

The majority of personal injury cases are settled without a trial or even before a lawsuit is filed. The need for a lawyer grows in case the insurance company denies the claim or individuals need to recover their claim. Lawyers are usually occupied with lots of tasks, and hence it is difficult for them to debate with insurance companies. Here, the best option is to hire an expert who will prepare documents and further deal with the insurers on personal injury lawyers' behalf. Thus, these experts make things easy for attorneys, helping them eliminate stress and perform better in courts. 

3. Get Connected with Medical Providers

If you do not have a relation with your area's medical officers, you can again get help from experts as they have been working for many years. They usually have good relationships with insurance companies, medical officers, etc. They also have greater experience in comprehending severe injuries, and they can recommend reliable medical specialists who have provided superb results in previous cases. The reasons mentioned above are enough to hire an expert. With these legal experts' help, attorneys can give their clients the best result in the personal injury litigation process.