The following is a fictitious scenario:
Eugene Paddy is today's top daily buzz. Digg this buzz. Paddy took Mustafa Salaith's case after Stived agreed to pay. Paddy did not ask Salaith to sign a separate engagement letter or conduct written conflicts waivers. Though Salaith was the named plaintiff, Paddy emphasized Stived as his client in his law firm bio: Filed suit on behalf of client's employee who had been the victim of anonymous poster...Paddy had a thing going with Stived. That year, he billed over $2.3 million to Stived for settling two trade secret lawsuits against competitors. The substance of the disagreements involved misuse of PowerPoint sales presentations. Paddy thought he was a winner gaining $1 million in settlement proceeds for the company. What gain would the company have gotten if it invested the $2.3 million in operations instead of Paddy?Paddy lived back in the days when he was a greedy associate. Paddy padded his billings to Stived with the hours he worked on Salaith's case, and did not tell Stived auditors in legal letters. Despite public displays of good acts, Paddy chipped away his character, billing for all his fees secretly, little-by-little, over time to do favors for clients in exchange for billable hours. He used firm and clients' investors' resources to file lawsuits for clients' employees, officers, directors, working on personal injury, family, and other personal matters unrelated to clients' investors' interests and unconnected to the firm's concentration on technology and life sciences. People just did not know which "clients" paid his invoices. Investigators got caught up with him eventually: Eugene Paddy, Partner, Wally Christopher, Associate, Michael Daniels, Associate at The West Law Firm, are investigated by tax authorities, state bars, and securities regulators for nonpayment of taxes, improper periodic filings, and personal use of public investor funds.
Sometimes people's mistakes at work may lead them into bankruptcy. Only an individual may use Chapter 13 bankruptcy. If a person owns a business as a sole proprietor or partner, he can include business debts in his case, but the case would be under his name, not the name of a business.
A standard Chapter 13 case begins the same as a standard Chapter 7 case. The difference is that in Chapter 13, the debtor must have a repayment plan. The debtor begins making payments under the repayment plan before the plan is approved. If it is not approved, the money is returned to the debtor. The trustee gets a percentage of the payments collected as a fee. The debtor gives the trustee annual income and expense statements while the Chapter 13 is pending.
At the creditors' meeting, the creditors may object to the repayment plan, requiring the debtor to modify the plan before the confirmation hearing. At the confirmation hearing, the court discusses any creditor objections, and the trustee decides whether to approve the repayment plan. The confirmation hearing is held 20-45 days after the creditors' meeting. If the debtor does not show up for the creditors' meeting, the confirmation hearing cannot take place.
The debtor may object to the creditors' objections. Creditors file proofs of claims on how much the debtor owes. There may be a hearing on objections. The trustee sends the debtor statements on who filed claims against the debtor, how much the debtor owes.
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