Thank you for taking the time to visit this website.  I would like to explain its origins.

 

I am a member of the California State Bar.  I reside in the Sacramento, California area.  As a result of attorneys approaching me for representation, by the early 2000s I had become a "lawyer's lawyer."   Around 2004, I began representing clients who had been sued in Los Angeles by a Los Angeles-based attorney.   Eventually I took that case to trial and obtained judgments for my clients.  My clients thereby became "judgment creditors."  

 

In 2011, the judgment debtor (the Los Angeles attorney) attempted to escape his sizeable judgment liabilities by filing a bankruptcy petition in the Central District of California.  The Central District encompasses the greater Los Angeles area, where he resided.  

 

In light of the amount at issue and other considerations, a decision was made not to let that judgment debtor get away so easily.   Through an "adversary proceeding" we sought to prevent that debtor from discharging the particular debts at issue or, alternatively, to prevent him from discharging any debts whatsoever.   Through "contested matters" we challenged what appeared to be inapplicable, over-reaching exemption claims.   These efforts were successful:  The debtor was denied exemptions he had claimed in putative retirement accounts; denied any enhancement to a homestead exemption; and denied a discharge in bankruptcy.  (These results, of course, were based on the facts of the case and there is no guaranty that any other case will enjoy such success).

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Providing representation in a distant venue can be stressful.  From the standpoint of logistics, however, the litigation in the Los Angeles federal bankruptcy court was easier than litigation in the Los Angeles-area state courts.  Why?  The federal courts have been ahead of their state counterparts in the implementation of electronic filing and service systems.  Additionally, the bankruptcy court routinely allowed out-of-town counsel to appear by telephone. 

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I have concluded that the rates charged by Los Angeles attorneys, like the prices of so many other things in Los Angeles, tend to be higher than the rates charged in the Sacramento area.  Depending on the expected needs of the case, a creditor considering litigation in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District (or in appellate venues including the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit, and the Ninth Circuit) may be able to save a substantial sum of money by avoiding Los Angeles attorneys.   

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