What are your thoughts when your client asks, “Do you really think that a person like me could commit such a horrible crime?” Is this projective sentence a simple statement, or is it an evasive response that she’s using as a defense mechanism? According to research on nonverbal communication, this question, and the answer, are quite complicated.

Mrs. Annie Taylor learned she was being sued for conversion when a man appeared at her apartment door and handed her a notice requiring her attendance in Tuscaloosa County Small Claims Court. The man told her she was being sued and that the lawsuit was scheduled for trial.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse. We all learned that in law school. Still, you don’t know what you don’t know. And when it comes to bankruptcy law, too many of us just don’t know some basics, like how to protect your fee. Non-bankruptcy lawyers routinely represent debtors or their litigation opponents in non-bankruptcy disputes, such as personal injury claims. To comply with your duty to competently represent clients who are in bankruptcy or litigating against a debtor, and to protect your fee, know these fundamentals.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy has been a graveyard for far too many small businesses. Too often, small businesses enter a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case only to have the bankruptcy case subsequently dismissed or converted to liquidation in Chapter 7.

Rising interest rates, inflation, and a global economic slowdown create the perfect storm, pushing some companies into financial distress. These conditions can also create opportunities for investors to make strategic acquisitions of distressed assets.

As a lawyer who defends healthcare providers that continued to care for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, I take a different view from my opposing counsel who published an article in the September edition of The Alabama Lawyer.[i] See David Wirtes, Jr., Joseph D. Steadman, Aaron N. Maples, & Joseph D. Wirtes, Are There Constitutional Issues with Alabama’s Gubernatorial and Legislative Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic?, 83 Ala. Law. 311 (Sept. 2022) (the “September Article”).

ABAP is a statewide project created to help debtors who need a chapter 7 bankruptcy but can’t afford the attorney’s fees to file. All five volunteer lawyer programs in the state participate, enabling ABAP to serve each of Alabama’s 67 counties.

That dreaded word – “bankruptcy!” No other area of practice quite strikes fear into the minds of state court practitioners and newbie attorneys than bankruptcy.

Because bankruptcy can intervene into many other areas of the law, every lawyer, even ones who never practice in the bankruptcy courts, should be aware of the general provisions outlined in this article so that they and their clients can avoid violating the automatic stay.

The coronavirus known as COVID-19 reportedly infected the first American on January 21, 2020.[1] According to the Alabama Department of Health, Alabama has to date suffered 19,890 deaths[2] and 45,976[3] hospitalizations from the virus. In this same time period, 1,053,969 Americans have died,[4] while 92,761,865 Americans have been confirmed as infected.[5]