Author Archives: David A. Blansky, Esq.

Will Student Loans Be the Next Bubble to Burst?

By David A. Blansky, Esq. | Published November 8, 2011

First the dot.coms popped, then mortgages. Are student loans and higher education the next bubble, the latest investment craze inflating on borrowed money and misplaced faith it can never go bad?Some experts have raised the possibility.

Last summer, Moody’s Analytics pronounced fears of an education spending bubble “not without merit.” Last spring, investor and PayPal founder Peter Thiel called attention to his claims of an education bubble by awarding two dozen young entrepreneurs $100,000 each NOT to attend college.

Recent weeks have seen another spate of “bubble” headlines — student loan defaults up, tuition rising another 8.3 percent this year and finally, out Thursday, a new report estimating that average student debt for borrowers from the college class of 2010 has passed $25,000.And all that on top of a multi-year slump in the job-market for new college graduates.So do those who warn of a bubble have a case?

The hard part, of course, is that a bubble is never apparent until it bursts. But the short answer is this: There are worrisome trends. A degree is an asset whose value can change over time. Borrowing to pay for it is risky, and borrowing is way up. The stakes are high. You can usually walk away from a house. Not so a student loan, which can’t even be discharged in bankruptcy.

But there are also important differences between a potential “student loan bubble” and an “education bubble.” Furthermore, many economists think the whole concept of a bubble is a misleading way to think about what’s happening, and may actually distract from the real problems. College affordability is a serious issue, but it’s a different one. Borrowing for college and borrowing for, say, a house, are fundamentally different in important ways.

Read the full article via Will Student Loans Be the Next Bubble to Burst?.

Bar Pass Rate Up Slightly for First-Time Takers

By David A. Blansky, Esq. | Published November 4, 2011

The state Board of Law Examiners has released the list of successful candidates who took the July bar exam. Of the candidates who took the test for the first time and graduated from American Bar Association-accredited schools, 86.1 percent passed, an increase of 0.5 percent for the same group last year. The passing rate for first-time test takers who graduated from New York law schools, however, was 86.3 percent.Of all the 11,182 candidates who took the July exam, 69.2 percent passed. Last year, 70 percent of the record-breaking 11,557 test takers passed, compared with 72 percent in 1009 and 74.7 percent in 2008.The list of successful candidates can be found here, or on page S1 of the print edition of today’s Law Journal.

via Bar Pass Rate Up Slightly for First-Time Takers.

Madoff Trustee Says Defendants ‘Eviscerate’ Court, ‘Pervert’ Law

By David A. Blansky, Esq. | Published October 13, 2011

The liquidator of Bernard Madoff’s firm said people and companies he has sued in 247 actions are “eviscerating” the bankruptcy court and “perverting” the law by rushing to find new judges for their cases.

Defendants in lawsuits by trustee Irving Picard including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and the New York Mets owners have asked district judges to decide whether Picard has a right to sue them, and for how much. They seek an “escape hatch” from bankruptcy court, which Congress intended to handle such cases as clawbacks of money withdrawn from a Ponzi scheme, the trustee said yesterday.

Picard made the statements in a filing after Melvyn Weiss, the disbarred co-founder of the law firm Milberg LLP, tried to move a lawsuit to district court. Higher court rulings that challenged bankruptcy judges’ power, including in the Anna Nicole Smith case, have enabled Picard’s targets to try to get a hearing elsewhere.

“With the floodgates fully flung open, more and more parties are blatantly engaging in forum shopping,” Picard said in the filing. “Through this procedural gamesmanship, the Weiss defendants — along with the defendants in the 246 other actions presently before this court — are eviscerating the bankruptcy court’s nearly three years of hard work,” he said, referring to the start of the Madoff firm’s liquidation in 2008 after the con man’s arrest.

Read the full article here: Madoff Trustee Says Defendants ‘Eviscerate’ Court, ‘Pervert’ Law – Bloomberg.

Miscellaneous Bankruptcy Fees Increasing as of November 1, 2011

By David A. Blansky, Esq. | Published October 12, 2011

Miscellaneous Fees to Increase November 1, 2011
Effective November 1, certain miscellaneous fees for the bankruptcy court will increase. The newly
approved court fee schedule, the first inflationary increase in eight years, is expected to result in an
estimated $10.5 million in additional fee revenue for fiscal year 2012. Fees in appeals, district, and
bankruptcy courts are affected. The income the Judiciary receives through miscellaneous fees allows it
to reduce its annual appropriations request to Congress.

Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule (28 U.S.C. § 1930)

Current Fee Proposed New Fee
Certification $9.00 $11.00
Exemplification $18.00 $21.00
Audio Recording $26.00 $30.00
Amended Bankruptcy Schedules $26.00 $30.00
Record Search $26.00 $30.00
Adversary Proceeding Fee $250.00 $293.00
Document Filing/Indexing $39.00 $46.00
Title 11 Administrative Fee $39.00 $46.00
Record Retrieval Fee $45.00 $53.00
Returned Check Fee $45.00 $53.00
Notice of Appeal Fee $250.00 $293.00
Motion to Lift/Stay Fee $150.00 $176.00

The Bankruptcy Court’s notice can be found here: http://www.nyeb.uscourts.gov/announcements/Miscellaneous_Fees_Increase_11-01.pdf.

MLB Commissioner Should Be Able to Sell Dodgers, Sinatra Heirs Tell Judge – Bloomberg

By David A. Blansky, Esq. | Published October 12, 2011

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig should be allowed to sell the bankrupt Los Angeles Dodgers, said season-ticket holders including the heirs of singer Frank Sinatra.

The request was among dueling court papers filed yesterday in which Selig, News Corp. (NWSA)’s Fox Sports and ticket holders lined up against team owner Frank McCourt, who is battling to retain control of the club.

The Dodgers claim that since McCourt bought the team in 2003 for about $325 million the club has seen record success financially and on the field. The team wants court permission to auction future television rights to raise enough money to exit bankruptcy.

Fox, Selig and the Ad Hoc Committee of Season Ticket Holders asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross in Wilmington, Delaware, to say no.

The auction “appears to be self-motivated by Mr. McCourt and his personal financial issues and not the interests of the Dodgers and its core creditors, the season ticket holders,” the ticket owners said.

Yesterday was the deadline for written arguments on competing proposals that would either force McCourt to sell the team or allow him to auction the TV rights.

The Dodgers filed for bankruptcy in June after Selig refused to approve a new television contract that McCourt negotiated with Fox Sports, the current broadcaster.

Read the full article here: MLB Commissioner Should Be Able to Sell Dodgers, Sinatra Heirs Tell Judge – Bloomberg.

LaMonica Herbst & Maniscalco, LLP