Illinois Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog

Fr0m The American Lawyer's Nate Raymond comes this piece about NYC IP boutique Morgan & Finnegan

Morgan & Finnegan, the New York IP boutique that dissolved in February after a raft of partner departures, filed for bankruptcy Tuesday. The Chapter 7 filing, first reported on the blog Above the Law, came six days after a New York state judge placed the firm into receivership in response to a lawsuit by lender JPMorgan Chase. The boutique, whose revenue declined 38 percent last year, listed $6.37 million in assets and $10 million in liabilities. [read the whole article]

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Excerpted from the March 5 post, Worst is yet to come for job market, by Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer

It's no secret that the job market is bad. The Labor Department will release its latest jobs report Friday. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast that the unemployment rate rose to 7.9% in February and that 650,000 jobs were lost. Still, as bad as those numbers are, some have argued that this jobs downturn is not as bad as the early 1980s. The unemployment rate peaked at 10.8% in late 1982. But several experts say it would be a mistake to come to that conclusion. They argue that unemployment rate only hints at why this jobs downturn is worse than any since the Great Depression ... If the job loss forecasts for February turn out to be accurate, it would be the worst monthly drop since 1949. It would also bring total job losses over the last six months to 3.1 million, the largest six-month job loss since the end of World War II. Even adjusting for the large growth in the nation's job base in recent decades, this would be the biggest six-month job loss since 1975. [read the rest of the article]

From CNN.com

Obama foreclosure fix open for business The Obama administration's foreclosure prevention program is open for business. The multipronged fix calls for companies to help struggling borrowers by modifying loans so monthly payments are no more than 31% of monthly gross income. Under the program, homeowners who haven't missed a payment can refinance into lower-cost loans even if they have little or no equity. The $75 billion plan will provide incentives to borrowers and loan servicers and investors to spur mortgage modifications. The government will also subsidize interest rate reductions to get borrowers to affordable monthly payments. "This plan will help make home ownership more affordable for nine million American families and in doing so, help to stop the damaging impact that declining home prices have on all Americans," said Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan. Borrowers can now contact their servicers to see whether they are eligible for assistance. Federal officials will promote the program at homeownership events nationwide.

Excerpted from March 9, 2009 post Manufacturing Index Contracts for 13th Straight Month by CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER - economics writer for the Associated Press

A private measure of the nation's manufacturing sector contracted for the 13th straight month in February, but at a slower pace than expected. The reading suggested to some economists that the decline of the ailing factory sector could be bottoming out, though they expect a recovery is still far in the future. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing executives, said Monday its manufacturing index actually rose to 35.8 from 35.6 in January. Analysts had expected a drop to 33.8, and a reading below 50 indicates the sector is shrinking. [full story]