The Detroit Free Press Sunday printed an interesting article on Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes. Most telling, was the reiteration by Judge Rhodes that the residents of Detroit deserve a better city. Here in lies the goal of bankruptcy resolution – to obtain a better standard of living by resolving debts when insolvent.
If you do not have a bankruptcy lawyer, but are in debt, you should contact one. A bankruptcy lawyer can detail a plan to restructure or totally eliminate your debt.
Many of our clients struggle to pay their creditors each month. Money is tight in Michigan these days and most creditors want their money immediately. If you have several creditors pursuing you each month, there is a better way to handle finances than stretching every dollar and borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.
An experienced bankruptcy lawyer will guide you through the process of debt elimination and remove garnishments. If you do not have a bankruptcy lawyer, you should feel free to give our firm a call.
As bankruptcy lawyers, we have had many clients struggle with payments to creditors only to find that they have been sued and will be garnished. It is best to resolve your debts head on before a lawsuit judgment is granted.
Once your creditor has received a judgment against you they can place a lien on your house, garnish 25% of your wages, and seize vehicles and money in your bank accounts.
If you have debt issues, do not wait before it is too late. You should contact a bankruptcy lawyer right away and start on your path to a better life.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes, the man who will decide the fate of the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, repeatedly has put lawyers from the city and its creditors on notice: The people deserve a better city.
Time and again, Rhodes has warned attorneys from both sides that every day they spend squabbling with each other in court is another day that residents, retirees and employees are forced to live with a dysfunctional city government, dangerous neighborhoods and uncertainty over their financial future.
To be sure, his legacy is on the line. And his decision, expected any day now, on whether the City of Detroit is eligible for Chapter 9 bankruptcy will be widely scrutinized.
He has earned praise for a fierce commitment to expediency, a willingness to read tens of thousands of pages of court filings and a dedication to transparency and to carefully examining laws and legal precedent.
Along the way, he has frequently exposed holes in the arguments offered by the city and creditors.
“This is obviously the most important case of his career,” said Laura Beth Bartell, a bankruptcy law professor at Wayne State University. “People are looking at this ruling more than his other rulings.”
To understand Rhodes, 64, is to grasp his loyalty to efficiency. He almost always enters the courtroom at the exact minute a hearing is scheduled to begin. And he has little patience for weak or repetitive arguments.
There also have been glimpses of the softer side of Rhodes, who has shown a sense of humor and at times sympathy for the plight of Detroit’s residents and retirees.
In a rare appearance outside the court, Rhodes, at a conference in Atlanta on Oct. 31, recited what he called “the trial judge’s motto.”
“You all know that motto? You raise your right hand if you’re a trial judge, and you say to yourself virtually every night, ‘I am often erroneous, but not often clearly erroneous,’ ” he joked.
It was a lighter moment in the midst of a tense several months.
Rhodes, a University of Michigan Law School graduate who has been a bankruptcy judge in the Eastern District of Michigan since 1985, has handled Detroit’s bankruptcy with deep intensity and an eye toward how his actions will affect the city’s nearly 700,000 residents, its employees and retirees.
Here are 10 key exchanges with Rhodes that give insight as to how he has managed Detroit’s historic bankruptcy case and how he views key issues.
1. Sets the tone on Day 1
Rhodes made it clear during the very first hearing in July that his top priority is to keep the plight of the public in mind.
“In the context of a Chapter 9 case, and especially this Chapter 9 case, that is probably the most important factor of all,” Rhodes said as he rejected efforts by pension funds, unions and other creditors to halt Detroit’s Chapter 9 filing until state courts ruled on whether the city’s bankruptcy violates Michigan’s constitutional protections of public pensions.
The city’s team of high-priced Jones Day attorneys won a clean sweep in court that day, but rougher waters loomed ahead.
2. Grills Orr on pensions remarkAfter creditors repeatedly lambasted Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr for telling a retiree at a June 10 meeting that pension rights are “sacrosanct” under the Michigan Constitution, Orr was forced to explain the comment in light of his June 14 proposal to reduce pensions.
“What would you say to that retiree now?” Rhodes asked Orr directly during the trial.
“I would say that his rights are in bankruptcy now,” Orr said. “I would say that his rights are subject to the Supremacy Clause of the (U.S.) Constitution.”
Rhodes responded, “That’s a bit different than ‘sacrosanct,’ isn’t it?”
Detroit Free Press: http://www.freep.com/article/20131124/NEWS01/311240064/judge-steven-rhodes-detroit-bankrupt
