Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Brown Dean Out
Texas based law firm Brown Dean has decided to drop all 35 of its former SSH student clients and urge them to immediately seek legal counsel elsewhere. The majority of these former Brown Dean clients have already committed to joining our SSH client group. We welcome them, and wish a full and speedy recovery to Charles Mitchell, the attorney who formerly was handling this matter for the Brown Dean firm. Mr. Mitchell is the father of two former SSH students. He is recovering from a heart attack that he suffered in March and quadruple bypass surgery.
AES Changes Course
This week, many our our clients received letters from AES stating that they do not have to begin making any payments to AES. This is a 100% reversal of the position taken by AES in late March when it issued payments demands to most of its SSH student borrowers. Here is an exact quote of one of these new letters from AES:
"On March 25, 2008, we sent you a letter regarding your outstanding loan and your repayment schedule. Please disregard that letter. It was sent to you in error.
We are in the process of reviewing the current situation and options, and, until you receive further information from us, your outstanding loan will be treated as it it is still in the grace period. During that time, interest on your outstanding loand will accrue, but you will not be required to make any payments.
If you have any other concerns please contact at the address or telephone number shown above. Our office hours are Monday though Friday 7:30 A.M. to 9:00 P.M., Eastern Time
American Education Services"
Who or what is responsible for this 100% change in AES' position? When AES says that it is "reviewing the current situation and options," does that include the fact that we now represent 999 former SSH students and have unequivocally proclaimed our intent to sue AES to void these bad loans? Gail and Georgeann believe that we are what caused AES' change of position. I can only say that we welcome AES's change of position. Our advice not to make payments on these loans while they are in dispute is now easier for everyone to take.
"On March 25, 2008, we sent you a letter regarding your outstanding loan and your repayment schedule. Please disregard that letter. It was sent to you in error.
We are in the process of reviewing the current situation and options, and, until you receive further information from us, your outstanding loan will be treated as it it is still in the grace period. During that time, interest on your outstanding loand will accrue, but you will not be required to make any payments.
If you have any other concerns please contact at the address or telephone number shown above. Our office hours are Monday though Friday 7:30 A.M. to 9:00 P.M., Eastern Time
American Education Services"
Who or what is responsible for this 100% change in AES' position? When AES says that it is "reviewing the current situation and options," does that include the fact that we now represent 999 former SSH students and have unequivocally proclaimed our intent to sue AES to void these bad loans? Gail and Georgeann believe that we are what caused AES' change of position. I can only say that we welcome AES's change of position. Our advice not to make payments on these loans while they are in dispute is now easier for everyone to take.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Final Deadline: April 18, 2008
The final deadline for all SSH students to hire me and my law firm to represent them in the SSH case is April 18, 2008. Any retainer fees and contracts must be postmarked and in the mail on or before April 18, 2008. There will be no further extensions of time. There will be no exceptions. We will be filing our Request for Special Notice listing all of our SSH clients later this month. Our lawsuit against the lenders will be filed in late April or early May and you will either be with us or be left out. This is NOT a class action lawsuit. We are seeking relief only for our clients. If you are still unrepresented in this case, I urge you to consider hiring the attorneys that you feel are most qualified to represent you. As of today, we represent 901 former SSH students -- more than twice the number of former SSH students represented by all of the other attorneys in the country put together. While I am proud that so many SSH students have chosen us, I am concerned about the many SSH students that are not represented by any legal counsel. It is my belief that most of these students will end up being sued by the lenders and found liable for the entire balance of their student loans plus interest and attorneys fees. So please, if you know any of these unrepresented students, tell them about us.
New Deadline For Filing Proofs of Claim in the SSH Case
Trustee James F. Lisowski filed and served a Trustee's Notice of Finding Assets, Notice to File Proof of Claim and Notice of Time Limitation on March 31, 2008. Many of our clients have asked us about this Notice. Here is what you need to know: (1) The trustee has found assets in the estate from which a payment of dividends to creditors appears possible; (2) The deadline for creditors to file a proof of claim has been extended from the former date of June 9 to July 7, 2008; and (3) If you are our client, we will file the Proof of Claim for you. We will be filing the proofs of claim for you in April and May, long before the July 7 deadline. We will contact our clients one by one if and when we need additional information from you to prepare the proof of claim. We will notify each and every one of our clients by e-mail when his or her proof of claim has been filed.
There is a typo in the Notice sent out by the Trustee. The Case Number refers to the Silver State Helicopters, LLC bankruptcy, but the caption says "Silver Helicopters." This is not a third Silver State case, it is simply the Silver State Helicopters, LLC bankruptcy case.
There is a typo in the Notice sent out by the Trustee. The Case Number refers to the Silver State Helicopters, LLC bankruptcy, but the caption says "Silver Helicopters." This is not a third Silver State case, it is simply the Silver State Helicopters, LLC bankruptcy case.
As Seen On TV
The local ABC affiliate Channel 7 will air a story about the SSH bankruptcy on Thursday, April 10 @ 5:00 pm. on its ABC7 Eyewitness News program. This story features former SSH student Christian Shaffer and attorneys Michael Berger and Gail Higgins. Rick Romero is the on air reporter and Elaine Hogue is the reporter who interviewed all of us for the story.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Road Show
Geo and Gail hit the road this weekend to spread the word about what we are doing for SSH students. Georgeann is in St. Louis, Missouri where she will meet with SSH students today, April 5, at 3:00 pm at Culpeppers Restaurant in O'Fallon, Missouri 4401 Hwy K. To relax on Sunday, Geo will run the St. Louis Marathon.
Gail is in Melbourne Florida where she will meet with SSH students today, April 5 at 1:00 pm at the Atlantic Jet Center, 1401 General Aviation Drive in Melbourne, Florida 32935. Gail will lead an additional meeting with Florida SSH students at Bennigan's Grill & Tavern on Monday, April 7 at 6pm. Bennigan's is located at 900 S Apollo Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901
Gail is in Melbourne Florida where she will meet with SSH students today, April 5 at 1:00 pm at the Atlantic Jet Center, 1401 General Aviation Drive in Melbourne, Florida 32935. Gail will lead an additional meeting with Florida SSH students at Bennigan's Grill & Tavern on Monday, April 7 at 6pm. Bennigan's is located at 900 S Apollo Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Why You Should Hire Me And My Law Firm To Represent You
Here are the highlights of why you should hire me and my law firm to represent you in the SSH matter:
1. We are Certified Specialists in Bankruptcy Law and this is a bankruptcy matter. I am Certified as a Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the California Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California. My Senior Associate Attorney Gail Higgins is Certified as a Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification. To see my resume, follow this link: http://www.bankruptcypower.com/resume.html.
2. We have substantial experience in bankruptcy law (26 years of experience for me). This includes handling major fraud cases and suing lenders to discharge student loans.
3. We are top rated attorneys. Martindale-Hubbell publishes peer review ratings regarding an attorney’s legal ability and ethics. I have been awarded their highest rating, "AV," A for excellent legal ability and V for very high ethics. My firm and I have had this rating for more than 15 years. This can be independently verified by you by going to Martindale.com or go directly to the webpage with my profile http://www.martindale.com/Michael-J-Berger/77858-lawyer.htm or the web page with my law firm's profile
Here is more information about the Martindale-Hubbell pier review process as posted on the Martindale.com website:
"For over a century, lawyers have relied on the Martindale-Hubbell® Law Directory for authoritative information on the worldwide legal profession. The Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ play an integral role in this service to the legal community.
Buyers of legal services, as well as those making referrals, consider Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings invaluable when evaluating a lawyer. Whether choosing between two equally qualified candidates or looking for counsel in another jurisdiction, lawyers and consumers need to have confidence in the individual under consideration. Using ratings, they can select counsel with superior ethics, as well as the desired level of professional experience.
Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings attest to a lawyer's legal ability and professional ethics, and reflect the confidential opinions of members of the Bar and Judiciary. They appear in all formats of the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, in the online listings on martindale.com, on the LexisNexis® services, on CD-ROM, and in print.
An objective way to assess a lawyerA Martindale-Hubbell rating guides buyers of legal services and those referring business in making faster, smarter decisions. A rating's third party validation of ethics and legal ability provides that extra level of confidence that the right lawyer or firm has been selected. By combining a rating with a review of other data in a lawyer's Professional Biography - such as practice areas, bar memberships, professional affiliations, education and clients - a person can be certain he or she has made the right choice for that particular legal matter.
A cooperative effort with the legal professionMartindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings are established by lawyers. The legal community respects the accuracy of ratings because it knows that its own members — the people best suited to assess their peers — are directly involved in the process"
4. Our clients consistently give us 5 star ratings and tell the world about how we have helped them. To verify this, go to the City Search Los Angeles website and look up Michael Berger in Los Angeles, or go directly to this link:
http://losangeles.citysearch.com/review/41833096?rpp=20&providerSource=cs
These reviews are independent reviews and are posted on an independent website.
5. We are geniuses. Both Gail Higgins and I are members of Mensa, the International High IQ Society.
6. We are compassionate. We enjoy helping people. This is why I chose to be a bankruptcy lawyer. This is why my Senior Associate Attorney Georgeann Nicol does the AIDS ride every year, riding her bicycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles and raising tens of thousands of dollars to fight AIDS in the process.
7. We are high energy people, and we put that energy into helping our clients. I am a 17 time Marathon finisher with a Boston qualifying personal best time of 3:24:18 set at the St. George Marathon on October 7, 2006. I will be going back to Boston this April 21 for my 5th Boston Marathon. Senior Associate Georgeann Nicol paces others in Marathons, teaches spin, and is an Ironman Triathlete.
8. We are the overwhelming choice of the Silver State Helicopter Students. As of today, more than 700 SSH students have hired us to represent them in the SSH case. This is far more than every other law firm combined. The combination of our experience, intelligence, compassion, hard work and reasonable fee has made us the choice of SSH students from every location across the Country. Again and again, students who have done their research and consulted their attorney friends have chosen us.
9. Attorney Peter Lown of Jonesboro, Georgia has given us his unqualified endorsement and referred his SSH clients to us. Mr Lown represented approximately 40 SSH clients, making him the attorney with the third largest group of SSH clients, behind the Law Offices of Michael Berger and the Dan Reed/Harward & Associates firm. On Tuesday, March 18, Mr. Lown sent the following e-mail to all of his SSH clients:"Folks:I have been continuing my investigation and research on the evolving situation with Silver State post bankruptcy. In this vein, I have reviewed and spoken to two other law firms stepping up to represent former Silver State students, the Brown, Dean law firm in Texas and the Berger law firm in California. At this point I feel you will be better represented by one of the other firms and it is my recommendation that you all sign-up with the Berger Law firm without delay. I have reviewed Mr. Berger’s qualifications and discussed his litigation plan with him. I believe Mr. Berger is eminently qualified to handle this litigation and he has now signed up over 400 other students. There is considerable strength in numbers, and Mr. Berger has already made a considerable investment in the case. I also met two of his attorneys at the bankruptcy 341 hearing and they were very aggressive and on target in their questioning. I will be refunding any remaining trust funds and I plan to have the meeting with you scheduled for April 6th at the usual location in Casa Grande.Pete Peter Charles LownHARRINGTON & LOWN9425 South Main StreetJonesboro, GA 30236-6023Tel.: 404-520-0171Fax: 404-506-9149"Earlier that same day, Mr. Lown sent me the following e-mail:"Michael:Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. With the information you have provided regarding your plan for litigation against the various parties involved the Silver State operation and your substantial client base, I am convinced that you are best positioned to represent former Silver State students in attempting to make them whole. I will be recommending that the 40 clients Randall Stone and I represent in Arizona retain your firm to continue their litigation with Silver State. I am very pleased that someone of your ability and determination has come forward to help these people.I am looking forward to working with you.PetePeter Charles LownHARRINGTON & LOWN”
Attorney Steven Sayler of San Diego, with approximately 20 SSH students, has followed suit and has referred all of his SSH clients to us.
10. Our flat fee of $800/SSH client is the only flat fee being offered by any law firm, and is by far the most reasonable fee. There is no hourly fee, no contingent fee, and no chance of us asking you for any more money on this matter, ever.
11. We have already been highly active on this case. For example, when other attorneys stayed home, we sent our 2 Senior Associates to the First Meeting of Creditors in this case, and took a leading role in the questioning of the debtor. For more information about this and our other work on this case, check out my blog http://www.bankruptcypower.blogspot.com/
12. Our 4 part plan of attack makes sense:
A. Assisting with filing a proof of claims and assisting the Trustee and Office of the United States Trustee in actions to recover fraudulent and preferential transfers so that assets can be brought into the SSH bankruptcy estate for the benefit of creditors.
B. Negotiating with AES, Student Loan Xpress, KeyBank and Citibank re discharge/voiding of loans made to our SSH student clients and the filing of one or more Adversary Proceedings in the SSH bankruptcy to accomplish this.
C. Cooperate with all governmental authorities interested in criminally prosecuting and fining all individuals and entities criminally responsible for the disappearance of tens of millions of dollars in student loan funds.
D. Investigating every government program, state and federal, that may provide relief to our clients.
13. We take the time to answer every phone call and every e-mail.
There is much, much more to say, but I think that is enough for now. We are the law firm that is best qualified to represent SSH students.
1. We are Certified Specialists in Bankruptcy Law and this is a bankruptcy matter. I am Certified as a Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the California Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California. My Senior Associate Attorney Gail Higgins is Certified as a Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification. To see my resume, follow this link: http://www.bankruptcypower.com/resume.html.
2. We have substantial experience in bankruptcy law (26 years of experience for me). This includes handling major fraud cases and suing lenders to discharge student loans.
3. We are top rated attorneys. Martindale-Hubbell publishes peer review ratings regarding an attorney’s legal ability and ethics. I have been awarded their highest rating, "AV," A for excellent legal ability and V for very high ethics. My firm and I have had this rating for more than 15 years. This can be independently verified by you by going to Martindale.com or go directly to the webpage with my profile http://www.martindale.com/Michael-J-Berger/77858-lawyer.htm or the web page with my law firm's profile
Here is more information about the Martindale-Hubbell pier review process as posted on the Martindale.com website:
"For over a century, lawyers have relied on the Martindale-Hubbell® Law Directory for authoritative information on the worldwide legal profession. The Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ play an integral role in this service to the legal community.
Buyers of legal services, as well as those making referrals, consider Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings invaluable when evaluating a lawyer. Whether choosing between two equally qualified candidates or looking for counsel in another jurisdiction, lawyers and consumers need to have confidence in the individual under consideration. Using ratings, they can select counsel with superior ethics, as well as the desired level of professional experience.
Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings attest to a lawyer's legal ability and professional ethics, and reflect the confidential opinions of members of the Bar and Judiciary. They appear in all formats of the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, in the online listings on martindale.com, on the LexisNexis® services, on CD-ROM, and in print.
An objective way to assess a lawyerA Martindale-Hubbell rating guides buyers of legal services and those referring business in making faster, smarter decisions. A rating's third party validation of ethics and legal ability provides that extra level of confidence that the right lawyer or firm has been selected. By combining a rating with a review of other data in a lawyer's Professional Biography - such as practice areas, bar memberships, professional affiliations, education and clients - a person can be certain he or she has made the right choice for that particular legal matter.
A cooperative effort with the legal professionMartindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings are established by lawyers. The legal community respects the accuracy of ratings because it knows that its own members — the people best suited to assess their peers — are directly involved in the process"
4. Our clients consistently give us 5 star ratings and tell the world about how we have helped them. To verify this, go to the City Search Los Angeles website and look up Michael Berger in Los Angeles, or go directly to this link:
http://losangeles.citysearch.com/review/41833096?rpp=20&providerSource=cs
These reviews are independent reviews and are posted on an independent website.
5. We are geniuses. Both Gail Higgins and I are members of Mensa, the International High IQ Society.
6. We are compassionate. We enjoy helping people. This is why I chose to be a bankruptcy lawyer. This is why my Senior Associate Attorney Georgeann Nicol does the AIDS ride every year, riding her bicycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles and raising tens of thousands of dollars to fight AIDS in the process.
7. We are high energy people, and we put that energy into helping our clients. I am a 17 time Marathon finisher with a Boston qualifying personal best time of 3:24:18 set at the St. George Marathon on October 7, 2006. I will be going back to Boston this April 21 for my 5th Boston Marathon. Senior Associate Georgeann Nicol paces others in Marathons, teaches spin, and is an Ironman Triathlete.
8. We are the overwhelming choice of the Silver State Helicopter Students. As of today, more than 700 SSH students have hired us to represent them in the SSH case. This is far more than every other law firm combined. The combination of our experience, intelligence, compassion, hard work and reasonable fee has made us the choice of SSH students from every location across the Country. Again and again, students who have done their research and consulted their attorney friends have chosen us.
9. Attorney Peter Lown of Jonesboro, Georgia has given us his unqualified endorsement and referred his SSH clients to us. Mr Lown represented approximately 40 SSH clients, making him the attorney with the third largest group of SSH clients, behind the Law Offices of Michael Berger and the Dan Reed/Harward & Associates firm. On Tuesday, March 18, Mr. Lown sent the following e-mail to all of his SSH clients:"Folks:I have been continuing my investigation and research on the evolving situation with Silver State post bankruptcy. In this vein, I have reviewed and spoken to two other law firms stepping up to represent former Silver State students, the Brown, Dean law firm in Texas and the Berger law firm in California. At this point I feel you will be better represented by one of the other firms and it is my recommendation that you all sign-up with the Berger Law firm without delay. I have reviewed Mr. Berger’s qualifications and discussed his litigation plan with him. I believe Mr. Berger is eminently qualified to handle this litigation and he has now signed up over 400 other students. There is considerable strength in numbers, and Mr. Berger has already made a considerable investment in the case. I also met two of his attorneys at the bankruptcy 341 hearing and they were very aggressive and on target in their questioning. I will be refunding any remaining trust funds and I plan to have the meeting with you scheduled for April 6th at the usual location in Casa Grande.Pete Peter Charles LownHARRINGTON & LOWN9425 South Main StreetJonesboro, GA 30236-6023Tel.: 404-520-0171Fax: 404-506-9149"Earlier that same day, Mr. Lown sent me the following e-mail:"Michael:Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. With the information you have provided regarding your plan for litigation against the various parties involved the Silver State operation and your substantial client base, I am convinced that you are best positioned to represent former Silver State students in attempting to make them whole. I will be recommending that the 40 clients Randall Stone and I represent in Arizona retain your firm to continue their litigation with Silver State. I am very pleased that someone of your ability and determination has come forward to help these people.I am looking forward to working with you.PetePeter Charles LownHARRINGTON & LOWN”
Attorney Steven Sayler of San Diego, with approximately 20 SSH students, has followed suit and has referred all of his SSH clients to us.
10. Our flat fee of $800/SSH client is the only flat fee being offered by any law firm, and is by far the most reasonable fee. There is no hourly fee, no contingent fee, and no chance of us asking you for any more money on this matter, ever.
11. We have already been highly active on this case. For example, when other attorneys stayed home, we sent our 2 Senior Associates to the First Meeting of Creditors in this case, and took a leading role in the questioning of the debtor. For more information about this and our other work on this case, check out my blog http://www.bankruptcypower.blogspot.com/
12. Our 4 part plan of attack makes sense:
A. Assisting with filing a proof of claims and assisting the Trustee and Office of the United States Trustee in actions to recover fraudulent and preferential transfers so that assets can be brought into the SSH bankruptcy estate for the benefit of creditors.
B. Negotiating with AES, Student Loan Xpress, KeyBank and Citibank re discharge/voiding of loans made to our SSH student clients and the filing of one or more Adversary Proceedings in the SSH bankruptcy to accomplish this.
C. Cooperate with all governmental authorities interested in criminally prosecuting and fining all individuals and entities criminally responsible for the disappearance of tens of millions of dollars in student loan funds.
D. Investigating every government program, state and federal, that may provide relief to our clients.
13. We take the time to answer every phone call and every e-mail.
There is much, much more to say, but I think that is enough for now. We are the law firm that is best qualified to represent SSH students.
Silver State Update
To our Silver State clients:
AES
Yesterday, March 31, 2008 we received almost 150 calls about a billing memo from AES. Each student wanted reassurance and an explanation. It took up most of the day for 3 of our 4 lawyers. It also taught me a valuable lesson. When we are besieged by dozens of SSH clients all asking the same question, we will immediately post an answer to the question on our bankruptcy blog, www.bankruptcypower.blogspot.com. We are putting our explanation of the AES letter on our blog, http://www.bankruptcypower.blogspot.com/. We will follow the same procedure for common questions in the future. We want students with questions to look to our blog first, then email their questions to us. When the same question comes in many times, we will compose an answer and cover that question quickly and then concentrate on the unique problems.
Most of the happenings are things we have previously explained or warned about but this is a good time to go over the issues.
AES is the present servicing company for several of the banks that made loans for Silver State Students. Many of you signed original documents with US Bank, KeyBank, or Student Loan Express and now are getting letters from AES. AES now owns the notes; AES is the company expecting payment.
Many of the Students have paperwork stating that their repayments were not to start until June or ‘09 or later. Unfortunately, the small print says – ‘or when you are no longer a student’. Well, Silver State closed; you are no longer a student (and yes, I know it was through no fault of your own) – so AES accelerated all the loans and wants payment in June 08.
Most of the loans are scheduled out in 3 groups – from when they supposedly paid the money to Silver State – so the letter says $200 something on loan disbursement #1 and $200 something on loan disbursement #2 and so on… - for a total of over $600 per month - starting June 2008.
This loan is what we are trying to get eradicated in the bankruptcy court. (I chose that word carefully – there are tax ramifications of getting a loan forgiven; we want it nullified as to you and your cosigner.
To Pay Or Not To Pay?
The students are asking: should we pay it? We think that the loans are fraudulent and that we will prove it up in Court. We don’t want you to pay anything. However, if you don’t pay, AES may place negative entries on your credit reports. We are contacting the 3 major credit bureaus to give them a heads up and maybe forestall some of that problem, but we anticipate that your lender will place negative entries on your credit reports if you do not pay your lenders what they want when they want it. You could get sued. You could get a nasty phone call. (Oh, please let that happen, because you will all tell them to contact your lawyers: us).
So, what do you do? Wait a bit. Give us time to do the ’lawyer stuff’. We are working on our Adversary Proceeding Complaint and will be filing it in May, 2008.
The Proofs of Claim must be in by July 7, 2008. We will do them for you and will be contacting you all through May to see that they are done.
One piece of good news: those students who were ‘inadvertently’ filed in the wrong case when they sent in their Proofs to the Debtor’s attorney, are in the right case now. The Trustee listened to us when we complained about her and merged the cases.
AES / Xpress Loans Request for Hardship Forbearance
Don’t sign the Xpress Loans Request for Hardship Forbearance form being sent by AES to SSH students. This form contains language such as “I intend to repay my loan(s)” that is not true and that can be used against you later in Court. The AES form is not appropriate for SSH students who are planning on suing AES and their lender.
Time Extension
To accommodate clients referred to us by attorney Peter Lown of Jonesboro, Georgia and attorney Steve Sayler of San Diego, to accommodate clients who had difficulty raising our $800.00 fee, and to further increase the size and strength of our group, we are today announcing a final extension of time for SSH students to hire us to represent their interests in the SSH matter to postmarked by April 18, 2008. Due to the need to commence legal action against the SSH lenders, there will be no further extensions of this deadline.
The Winner Is
I am proud to announce that as of today, we have signed up more than 700 SSH students. This is far more than every other law firm combined. The combination of our experience, intelligence, compassion, hard work and reasonable fee has made us the choice of SSH students from every location across the Country. Again and again, students who have done their research and consulted their attorney friends have chosen us. We thank you for your trust. We will continue to use our best efforts on your behalf. We are passionate about helping you.
Road Show
Georgeann and Gail, my two Senior Associates, are hitting the road again to meet with SSH students, to tell them about our work on their behalf, and to answer all of their questions in person.
Georgeann will be in St. Louis, Missouri on Saturday, April 5 @ 3 pm. For more information about this meeting, send an e-mail directly to Georgeann.Nicol@bankruptcypower.com.
Gail will be in Melbourne Florida on Sunday, April 6. For more information about this meeting, send an e-mail directly to Gail.Higgins@bankruptcypower.com.
AES
Yesterday, March 31, 2008 we received almost 150 calls about a billing memo from AES. Each student wanted reassurance and an explanation. It took up most of the day for 3 of our 4 lawyers. It also taught me a valuable lesson. When we are besieged by dozens of SSH clients all asking the same question, we will immediately post an answer to the question on our bankruptcy blog, www.bankruptcypower.blogspot.com. We are putting our explanation of the AES letter on our blog, http://www.bankruptcypower.blogspot.com/. We will follow the same procedure for common questions in the future. We want students with questions to look to our blog first, then email their questions to us. When the same question comes in many times, we will compose an answer and cover that question quickly and then concentrate on the unique problems.
Most of the happenings are things we have previously explained or warned about but this is a good time to go over the issues.
AES is the present servicing company for several of the banks that made loans for Silver State Students. Many of you signed original documents with US Bank, KeyBank, or Student Loan Express and now are getting letters from AES. AES now owns the notes; AES is the company expecting payment.
Many of the Students have paperwork stating that their repayments were not to start until June or ‘09 or later. Unfortunately, the small print says – ‘or when you are no longer a student’. Well, Silver State closed; you are no longer a student (and yes, I know it was through no fault of your own) – so AES accelerated all the loans and wants payment in June 08.
Most of the loans are scheduled out in 3 groups – from when they supposedly paid the money to Silver State – so the letter says $200 something on loan disbursement #1 and $200 something on loan disbursement #2 and so on… - for a total of over $600 per month - starting June 2008.
This loan is what we are trying to get eradicated in the bankruptcy court. (I chose that word carefully – there are tax ramifications of getting a loan forgiven; we want it nullified as to you and your cosigner.
To Pay Or Not To Pay?
The students are asking: should we pay it? We think that the loans are fraudulent and that we will prove it up in Court. We don’t want you to pay anything. However, if you don’t pay, AES may place negative entries on your credit reports. We are contacting the 3 major credit bureaus to give them a heads up and maybe forestall some of that problem, but we anticipate that your lender will place negative entries on your credit reports if you do not pay your lenders what they want when they want it. You could get sued. You could get a nasty phone call. (Oh, please let that happen, because you will all tell them to contact your lawyers: us).
So, what do you do? Wait a bit. Give us time to do the ’lawyer stuff’. We are working on our Adversary Proceeding Complaint and will be filing it in May, 2008.
The Proofs of Claim must be in by July 7, 2008. We will do them for you and will be contacting you all through May to see that they are done.
One piece of good news: those students who were ‘inadvertently’ filed in the wrong case when they sent in their Proofs to the Debtor’s attorney, are in the right case now. The Trustee listened to us when we complained about her and merged the cases.
AES / Xpress Loans Request for Hardship Forbearance
Don’t sign the Xpress Loans Request for Hardship Forbearance form being sent by AES to SSH students. This form contains language such as “I intend to repay my loan(s)” that is not true and that can be used against you later in Court. The AES form is not appropriate for SSH students who are planning on suing AES and their lender.
Time Extension
To accommodate clients referred to us by attorney Peter Lown of Jonesboro, Georgia and attorney Steve Sayler of San Diego, to accommodate clients who had difficulty raising our $800.00 fee, and to further increase the size and strength of our group, we are today announcing a final extension of time for SSH students to hire us to represent their interests in the SSH matter to postmarked by April 18, 2008. Due to the need to commence legal action against the SSH lenders, there will be no further extensions of this deadline.
The Winner Is
I am proud to announce that as of today, we have signed up more than 700 SSH students. This is far more than every other law firm combined. The combination of our experience, intelligence, compassion, hard work and reasonable fee has made us the choice of SSH students from every location across the Country. Again and again, students who have done their research and consulted their attorney friends have chosen us. We thank you for your trust. We will continue to use our best efforts on your behalf. We are passionate about helping you.
Road Show
Georgeann and Gail, my two Senior Associates, are hitting the road again to meet with SSH students, to tell them about our work on their behalf, and to answer all of their questions in person.
Georgeann will be in St. Louis, Missouri on Saturday, April 5 @ 3 pm. For more information about this meeting, send an e-mail directly to Georgeann.Nicol@bankruptcypower.com.
Gail will be in Melbourne Florida on Sunday, April 6. For more information about this meeting, send an e-mail directly to Gail.Higgins@bankruptcypower.com.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Attorney Peter Lown Endorses Michael Berger
Attorney Peter Charles Lown of the Georgia Law Firm of Harrington & Lown has decided to stop working on the SSH matter and refer all of his SSH clients to the Law Offices of Michael Berger. Mr Lown represented approximately 40 SSH clients, making him the attorney with the third largest group of SSH clients, behind the Law Offices of Michael Berger and the Dan Reed/Harward & Associates firm. On Tuesday, March 18, Mr. Lown sent the following e-mail to all of his SSH clients:
"Folks:
I have been continuing my investigation and research on the evolving situation with Silver State post bankruptcy. In this vein, I have reviewed and spoken to two other law firms stepping up to represent former Silver State students, the Brown, Dean law firm in Texas and the Berger law firm in California. At this point I feel you will be better represented by one of the other firms and it is my recommendation that you all sign-up with the Berger Law firm without delay. I have reviewed Mr. Berger’s qualifications and discussed his litigation plan with him. I believe Mr. Berger is eminently qualified to handle this litigation and he has now signed up over 400 other students. There is considerable strength in numbers, and Mr. Berger has already made a considerable investment in the case. I also met two of his attorneys at the bankruptcy 341 hearing and they were very aggressive and on target in their questioning. I will be refunding any remaining trust funds and I plan to have the meeting with you scheduled for April 6th at the usual location in Casa Grande.
Pete
Peter Charles Lown
HARRINGTON & LOWN
9425 South Main Street
Jonesboro, GA 30236-6023
Tel.: 404-520-0171
Fax: 404-506-9149"
Earlier that same day, Mr. Lown sent me the following e-mail:
"Michael:
Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. With the information you have provided regarding your plan for litigation against the various parties involved the Silver State operation and your substantial client base, I am convinced that you are best positioned to represent former Silver State students in attempting to make them whole. I will be recommending that the 40 clients Randall Stone and I represent in Arizona retain your firm to continue their litigation with Silver State. I am very pleased that someone of your ability and determination has come forward to help these people.
I am looking forward to working with you.
Pete
Peter Charles Lown
HARRINGTON & LOWN
9425 South Main Street
Jonesboro, GA 30236-6023
Tel.: 404-520-0171
Fax: 404-506-9149"
"Folks:
I have been continuing my investigation and research on the evolving situation with Silver State post bankruptcy. In this vein, I have reviewed and spoken to two other law firms stepping up to represent former Silver State students, the Brown, Dean law firm in Texas and the Berger law firm in California. At this point I feel you will be better represented by one of the other firms and it is my recommendation that you all sign-up with the Berger Law firm without delay. I have reviewed Mr. Berger’s qualifications and discussed his litigation plan with him. I believe Mr. Berger is eminently qualified to handle this litigation and he has now signed up over 400 other students. There is considerable strength in numbers, and Mr. Berger has already made a considerable investment in the case. I also met two of his attorneys at the bankruptcy 341 hearing and they were very aggressive and on target in their questioning. I will be refunding any remaining trust funds and I plan to have the meeting with you scheduled for April 6th at the usual location in Casa Grande.
Pete
Peter Charles Lown
HARRINGTON & LOWN
9425 South Main Street
Jonesboro, GA 30236-6023
Tel.: 404-520-0171
Fax: 404-506-9149"
Earlier that same day, Mr. Lown sent me the following e-mail:
"Michael:
Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. With the information you have provided regarding your plan for litigation against the various parties involved the Silver State operation and your substantial client base, I am convinced that you are best positioned to represent former Silver State students in attempting to make them whole. I will be recommending that the 40 clients Randall Stone and I represent in Arizona retain your firm to continue their litigation with Silver State. I am very pleased that someone of your ability and determination has come forward to help these people.
I am looking forward to working with you.
Pete
Peter Charles Lown
HARRINGTON & LOWN
9425 South Main Street
Jonesboro, GA 30236-6023
Tel.: 404-520-0171
Fax: 404-506-9149"
Friday, March 14, 2008
Geo’s and Gail’s report on the Silver State Helicopters, LLC 341(a) hearing on 3/10/08 at 3pm
Georgeann Nicol and Gail Higgins of the Law Offices of Michael Jay Berger represented all of our SSH clients at the 341a hearing of Sliver State Helicopters, LLC in Las Vegas, NV at 3pm on 3/10/08. Here is Geo and Gail’s report:
The hearing started out in the Bankruptcy court at 300 S. Las Vegas Blvd. but because over 300 people (mostly former SSH students) were in attendance, the meeting was moved across the street to a hearing room in the District Court building, (which was still filled to capacity).
Silver States was represented by its Attorney Jeanette McPherson, its Chief Accountant James Little, Stenning Schupert, a representative of EOS, and EOS’s attorney Mark First. Stenning Schueppert is the Corporate Secretary of both Silver State Services (hereinafter SSS) and Silver State Helicopters (hereinafter SSH). He is the person that signed the bankruptcy petition for SSS and the bankruptcy petition for SSH. We were there on behalf of approximately 300 students who attended the hearing and all our other clients who could not make the hearing. Local media was also in attendance.
Prior to the hearing, the atmosphere was one of excitement and hopefulness that some answers might be forth coming today. Side note: there were several clever t-shirts worn by the former SSH students reflecting their feelings about this situation.
The Trustee began the hearing by advising everyone of the rules of the hearing, i.e. no cell phones, no talking … unless asking questions, and about the time limit for questions of the Debtor’s representatives.
The Trustee announced one very important piece of information. In the future, there will be a web link to the Silver State information that will be accessible to everybody. (We noted that he recently filed a request with the Court to be allowed to Limit Notice - his mailings were costing $3,000 a pop, and would quickly eat up available funds.) The direct link is: www.silverstatehelicoptersbankruptcy.com. This will save individuals from having to pay for PACER access to the Bankruptcy Court’s website.
The Trustee noted that there were actually two bankruptcy cases, SSH , the case that we are all familiar with, and SSS, the holding company for SSH. (Note: In a short discussion after the Hearing, the Trustee informed us that he is “Consolidating” these two cases. That means that all the Proofs of Claim that the Debtor’s attorney “mistakenly” filed in the wrong case will be automatically applied to the proper case. This is a good thing.)
The Trustee had a few simple questions for the representative of SSS and the Trustee’s counsel had a couple of follow up questions and then the Trustee concluded that hearing.
The Trustee then began the 341(a) hearing for the case we are all interested in, SSH. He asked the usual questions, who are you , how are you the person most knowledgeable for SSH, and so on. It should be noted that Mr. Schueppert explained essentially that the EOS contingent decided to file the Bankruptcy and that Jerry Airola refused to sign the paperwork, so Schueppert signed the paperwork on orders from the Board of Directors of SSS. Consequently, most of Schueppert’s answers to questions were “To the Best of My knowledge.”
This Q&A period went on for approximately 10 minutes. We learned that the person ‘most knowledgeable’ for SSH was: new to the entire operations because he: “had no knowledge of any real substantive SSH information prior to August of 2007.” He testified that EOS purchased 60% of SSH for $30,000,000.00 in November of 2007. When asked by the Trustee what precipitated this chapter 7 filing, he said the following three things:
1 - No more school loans were going to be funded by Citibank and Citibank was the only remaining bank writing student loans for SSH;
2. Enrollment was down, hence the income would be limited; and
3. The 01/31 sale of the Commercial side of SSH had not gone through as planned - hence no commercial contracts.
He testified that the decision to file Bankruptcy was made on Feb 4, the day of filing.
He testified that prior to EOS purchasing the 60% of SSH, excuse me: “investing in SSH,” EOS looked into the following issues: the lawsuits, the commercial activities, and the student enrollment/ the cash flow of SSH. They made a plan with Airola for the Recapitalization of SSH .
Schueppert testified that EOS had never been involved in any type of aviation company and had never been involved with any school. Based on an outside audit which Shueppert claimed was done by an independent company, EOS concluded that this would be a good investment for EOS clients and they consummated the deal in November of 2007. Of the $30,000,000.00, EOS gave Jerry Airola and Steve Pickett $13,000,000.00 cash, $13,000,000.00 supposedly went into SSH operating funds and the balance of $4,000,000.00 was for fees for the transaction itself. (Comment: EOS probably took its profit right there). (It should be remembered that this was a transaction for Jerry’s stock and ownership of SSH - it supposedly did not affect SSH directly.)
Jerry Airola and Steve Pickett failed to attend the 341(a) hearing. ORIX, the secured lender on the birds, had previously scheduled a 2004 examination of Airola, which he also did not attend, despite a Court Order that he appear. A new 2004 exam for Airola has been ordered by the Court, - set for a date to be determined. Airola must attend this examination or be subject to a Bench Warrant for his arrest.
The Trustee’s counsel broke in from time to time and asked his own questions.
After the Trustee and Trustee’s counsel asked questions for about 15 minutes, the floor was thrown open to questions from various creditors and creditors’ reps. For the next 2.5 hours, SSH’s representative had to respond to questions pertaining to the following subjects: The relationship between AES, EOS and SSH. Why did EOS file bankruptcy so quickly after buying 60% of SSH? Did EOS know about helicopters that were still flying out of the Cheyenne airport in Vegas? What was the explanation for the $180,000.00 paid to various law firms and PR firms on the exact day of the filing? It was noted by the Trustee’s attorney that these funds were probably not all earned and some of these fees should likely come back into the estate. We agree.
There were also several student and their parents who expressed their general outrage at the representatives of EOS.
The Trustee allowed the expression of their feelings and did not ask them to tone it down, nor did he ask marshals to escort them from the room. (To our knowledge the only one excluded was a cell phone violator).
Conspicuously absent at the 341(a) meeting was James Harward and Dan Reed of Harward and Associates. Also absent was any representative from the law firm of Brown & Dean.
During his testimony, the representative for EOS revealed that the reason SSH was longer using AES was because AES was caught receiving kickbacks from student loan funding in another school and thus could no longer write this type of loan. This confirmed our research and we will be posting more on this later.
Mr. Schueppert testified that EOS did not attempt to push through more students and more student loans prior to filing the bankruptcy. This is in direct contradiction to information that we have from several sources.
Gail believes that EOS’s plan was to carve out the commercial aspects of SSH and sell them off, and then close down the school. EOS advertises that it handles companies in “ownership transition” and does “recapitalizations.” We will post information on EOS separately.
Our plan right now to: 1) try to get the loans declared null and void and to 2) try to get monies returned to those who have already paid in, is underway.
The hearing started out in the Bankruptcy court at 300 S. Las Vegas Blvd. but because over 300 people (mostly former SSH students) were in attendance, the meeting was moved across the street to a hearing room in the District Court building, (which was still filled to capacity).
Silver States was represented by its Attorney Jeanette McPherson, its Chief Accountant James Little, Stenning Schupert, a representative of EOS, and EOS’s attorney Mark First. Stenning Schueppert is the Corporate Secretary of both Silver State Services (hereinafter SSS) and Silver State Helicopters (hereinafter SSH). He is the person that signed the bankruptcy petition for SSS and the bankruptcy petition for SSH. We were there on behalf of approximately 300 students who attended the hearing and all our other clients who could not make the hearing. Local media was also in attendance.
Prior to the hearing, the atmosphere was one of excitement and hopefulness that some answers might be forth coming today. Side note: there were several clever t-shirts worn by the former SSH students reflecting their feelings about this situation.
The Trustee began the hearing by advising everyone of the rules of the hearing, i.e. no cell phones, no talking … unless asking questions, and about the time limit for questions of the Debtor’s representatives.
The Trustee announced one very important piece of information. In the future, there will be a web link to the Silver State information that will be accessible to everybody. (We noted that he recently filed a request with the Court to be allowed to Limit Notice - his mailings were costing $3,000 a pop, and would quickly eat up available funds.) The direct link is: www.silverstatehelicoptersbankruptcy.com. This will save individuals from having to pay for PACER access to the Bankruptcy Court’s website.
The Trustee noted that there were actually two bankruptcy cases, SSH , the case that we are all familiar with, and SSS, the holding company for SSH. (Note: In a short discussion after the Hearing, the Trustee informed us that he is “Consolidating” these two cases. That means that all the Proofs of Claim that the Debtor’s attorney “mistakenly” filed in the wrong case will be automatically applied to the proper case. This is a good thing.)
The Trustee had a few simple questions for the representative of SSS and the Trustee’s counsel had a couple of follow up questions and then the Trustee concluded that hearing.
The Trustee then began the 341(a) hearing for the case we are all interested in, SSH. He asked the usual questions, who are you , how are you the person most knowledgeable for SSH, and so on. It should be noted that Mr. Schueppert explained essentially that the EOS contingent decided to file the Bankruptcy and that Jerry Airola refused to sign the paperwork, so Schueppert signed the paperwork on orders from the Board of Directors of SSS. Consequently, most of Schueppert’s answers to questions were “To the Best of My knowledge.”
This Q&A period went on for approximately 10 minutes. We learned that the person ‘most knowledgeable’ for SSH was: new to the entire operations because he: “had no knowledge of any real substantive SSH information prior to August of 2007.” He testified that EOS purchased 60% of SSH for $30,000,000.00 in November of 2007. When asked by the Trustee what precipitated this chapter 7 filing, he said the following three things:
1 - No more school loans were going to be funded by Citibank and Citibank was the only remaining bank writing student loans for SSH;
2. Enrollment was down, hence the income would be limited; and
3. The 01/31 sale of the Commercial side of SSH had not gone through as planned - hence no commercial contracts.
He testified that the decision to file Bankruptcy was made on Feb 4, the day of filing.
He testified that prior to EOS purchasing the 60% of SSH, excuse me: “investing in SSH,” EOS looked into the following issues: the lawsuits, the commercial activities, and the student enrollment/ the cash flow of SSH. They made a plan with Airola for the Recapitalization of SSH .
Schueppert testified that EOS had never been involved in any type of aviation company and had never been involved with any school. Based on an outside audit which Shueppert claimed was done by an independent company, EOS concluded that this would be a good investment for EOS clients and they consummated the deal in November of 2007. Of the $30,000,000.00, EOS gave Jerry Airola and Steve Pickett $13,000,000.00 cash, $13,000,000.00 supposedly went into SSH operating funds and the balance of $4,000,000.00 was for fees for the transaction itself. (Comment: EOS probably took its profit right there). (It should be remembered that this was a transaction for Jerry’s stock and ownership of SSH - it supposedly did not affect SSH directly.)
Jerry Airola and Steve Pickett failed to attend the 341(a) hearing. ORIX, the secured lender on the birds, had previously scheduled a 2004 examination of Airola, which he also did not attend, despite a Court Order that he appear. A new 2004 exam for Airola has been ordered by the Court, - set for a date to be determined. Airola must attend this examination or be subject to a Bench Warrant for his arrest.
The Trustee’s counsel broke in from time to time and asked his own questions.
After the Trustee and Trustee’s counsel asked questions for about 15 minutes, the floor was thrown open to questions from various creditors and creditors’ reps. For the next 2.5 hours, SSH’s representative had to respond to questions pertaining to the following subjects: The relationship between AES, EOS and SSH. Why did EOS file bankruptcy so quickly after buying 60% of SSH? Did EOS know about helicopters that were still flying out of the Cheyenne airport in Vegas? What was the explanation for the $180,000.00 paid to various law firms and PR firms on the exact day of the filing? It was noted by the Trustee’s attorney that these funds were probably not all earned and some of these fees should likely come back into the estate. We agree.
There were also several student and their parents who expressed their general outrage at the representatives of EOS.
The Trustee allowed the expression of their feelings and did not ask them to tone it down, nor did he ask marshals to escort them from the room. (To our knowledge the only one excluded was a cell phone violator).
Conspicuously absent at the 341(a) meeting was James Harward and Dan Reed of Harward and Associates. Also absent was any representative from the law firm of Brown & Dean.
During his testimony, the representative for EOS revealed that the reason SSH was longer using AES was because AES was caught receiving kickbacks from student loan funding in another school and thus could no longer write this type of loan. This confirmed our research and we will be posting more on this later.
Mr. Schueppert testified that EOS did not attempt to push through more students and more student loans prior to filing the bankruptcy. This is in direct contradiction to information that we have from several sources.
Gail believes that EOS’s plan was to carve out the commercial aspects of SSH and sell them off, and then close down the school. EOS advertises that it handles companies in “ownership transition” and does “recapitalizations.” We will post information on EOS separately.
Our plan right now to: 1) try to get the loans declared null and void and to 2) try to get monies returned to those who have already paid in, is underway.
Monday, March 10, 2008
San Diego Union Tribune Writes About The Plight of the SSH Students
JACIE LANDEROS / Union-Tribune
Left in the lurch
Lenders expect students to repay private loans even if school goes bankrupt
By Bruce V. Bigelow
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
March 9, 2008
Hector Leon was a freshly divorced father with two small children when he
decided in 2006 to enroll in a helicopter flight school offered at El Cajon's
Gillespie Field by Nevada-based Silver State Helicopters.
The flight school required all students to pay the full amount of their
$69,900 tuition up front. Leon said Silver State made it easier by arranging
a private student loan for the full amount, with payments deferred until six
months after graduation.
“When I heard their ads, which said you could make upwards of $150,000 to
$180,000 a year, I thought it was the way to get a better income and provide
a better life for my two kids,” the San Diego resident said.
But Leon's helicopter dreams began to spin out of control when he learned
on Super Bowl Sunday that Silver State had ceased operations and was filing
for bankruptcy liquidation in Las Vegas.
The privately held company has refused to comment since itsFeb. 4 Chapter
7 filing, when it issued a brief statement that blamed its abrupt liquidation
on “a rapid, unprecedented downturn in the U.S. credit markets.”
The credit squeeze “severely curtailed the availability of student loans” Silver
State said, “and resulted in a sharp and sudden downturn in new student
enrollment.”
By some accounts, Silver State's bankruptcy was triggered after a major lender informed the company it would no
longer make loans to its students.
Now Leon and some 2,500 other Silver State students nationwide
are facing a double bind not of their making: fighting for scraps of
their paid tuition in Silver State's bankruptcy while battling
lenders who insist the students are still on the hook for repaying
the loans. “My first reaction was a sick feeling,” said Leon, 36.
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CHARLIE NEUMAN / Union-Tribune
A bankruptcy notice was taped to the door at Silver
State Helicopters, which required students to pay
tuition upfront.
CHARLIE NEUMAN / Union-Tribune
Local Silver State students are among
those battling lenders who insist that the
students are on the hook for repaying
their loans.
To consumer rights advocates, the situation is reminiscent of a
wave in trade school scams and student loan abuses in the 1980s
and early 1990s. They suggest Silver State may be an early
casualty as credit woes squeeze lenders and pose problems that
may be especially painful for students at postsecondary vocational
schools and private, for-profit educational institutes.
“The new twist this time around is that most of them have these
private student loans,” said Deanne Loonin, a staff attorney at the
National Consumer Law Center in Boston. Students today “don't
have the same protections and remedies” available 20 years ago, when most education loans were federally
backed, Loonin said.
For one thing, the federal Bankruptcy Act of 2005 made it far more difficult for individuals to discharge a student
loan in personal bankruptcy.
A California law established to protect students at private postsecondary and vocational schools expired June 30,
2007. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation to renew the program, calling the existing statutes
“fundamentally flawed.”
At the time the law expired, California had about 2,400 postsecondary
schools, including technical-training institutes, cosmetology, culinary and
truck-driving schools, as well as educational chains operated by Corinthian
Colleges, Career Education Corp. and others.
Since then, there has been little if any state oversight.
The company at the center of the latest controversy was founded in 1999 in
Henderson, Nev., by Jerry Airola, who rapidly expanded Silver State's
business to at least 33 flight schools nationwide. In addition to its school in
El Cajon, the company operated in six other California cities: Long Beach,
Camarillo, Chino, Los Banos, Oakland and Sacramento.
Many, if not most, of Silver State's students received private student loans to
cover all or part of their $70,000 enrollment. But because Silver State did
not participate in federal education aid programs, its students were
ineligible for federally guaranteed student loans.
After Silver State's bankruptcy, many students learned that private student
loans usually cannot be discharged if their school goes out of business –
unlike federally guaranteed education loans.
Shortly after the bankruptcy, San Diego-based Student Loan Xpress, which
worked closely with Silver State's California flight schools, indicated it had
no plans to write off its loans to Silver State borrowers.
In a statement, Student Loan Xpress urged students to contact Silver State's bankruptcy attorney to file individual
claims for a refund on the “unearned” portion of their paid tuition.
“We also encourage those students whose tuition was financed by SLX to contact us to implement mutually
satisfactory repayment plans,” the lender said.
Students may have little recourse, but Elena Ackel of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles offered one sliver
of hope, known as “the FTC rule.”
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The rule, based on a Federal Trade Commission regulation, gives consumers the right to legally raise a financial
claim against a lender in cases where a seller and lender have a business arrangement, Ackel said. It applies to
private, for-profit schools and educational lenders.
To Loonin, Silver State exemplifies the sort of hidden risks the credit crunch has forced into the open as the cost
of education has skyrocketed in the United States.
She views private student loans as one of the biggest hazards because they aren't subject to the rate caps that fix
the interest rates on most federally backed loans at 6.8 percent.
In a recent study of 28 representative loans, Loonin found the average initial rate was 11.5 percent, and the
highest was nearly 19 percent. Most had origination charges that added, on average, 4.5 percent to the loan
amount.
Private loans, which were once used chiefly by graduate students, have grown dramatically, from about 5 percent
of all student loans a decade to nearly 25 percent today, Loonin said.
In 2005-06, students took out $17.3 billion in private loans, compared with $1.3 billion a decade earlier,
according to the College Board.
The dramatic growth in private student loans is due chiefly to the enormous profitability of the lightly regulated
industry, Loonin said.
As in the subprime mortgage market, one of the biggest factors driving profitability has involved packaging
student loans and selling them to hedge funds, mutual funds and other investors as “asset-based securities.”
Selling “securitized” student loans has been a key source of revenue for many lending companies, especially those
not affiliated with banks.
In a recent report issued by the National Consumer Law Center, Loonin and co-author Julia Devanthery found
the market for such securitized student loans jumped from $9.4 billion in 2005 to $16.6 billion in 2006 – a 76
percent increase.
But Wall Street lost its appetite for such deals as investors' bets on securitized subprime mortgages began turning
into disastrous losses last year. The resulting credit squeeze has prompted many lenders to make drastic cutbacks
and sever their ties with financially troubled schools, which apparently is what happened at Silver State.
Some lenders also have raised their loan requirements, left less-profitable loan programs and, of course,
increased their interest rates and fees.
“It all helps unmask the larger problem, which is that students are having trouble affording the cost of education,”
Loonin said. “We've masked that problem by throwing all these predatory loans at them.”
She contends that many postsecondary schools mislead students through aggressive marketing that makes
exaggerated promises about high-paying careers without disclosing the exorbitant costs of their classes or the
burdensome nature of private student loans.
Like a receding tide, the industry's cutbacks have exposed some hazards that students face. But nowhere has this
reef been exposed more clearly than in Silver State's bankruptcy.
In the hierarchy of bankruptcy law, students rank as unsecured creditors who stand near the end of the line of
people who hope to get their money back. Silver State has said in its filings that it does not expect any proceeds
will be left over from its liquidation to reimburse such creditors.
Still, Michael Berger, a Beverly Hills bankruptcy lawyer who is intervening on behalf of hundreds of students in
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California and elsewhere, said there are fraudulent aspects of the case he intends to challenge.
“We have students who got their loans funded the day before the bankruptcy, the day of the bankruptcy and the
day after the bankruptcy,” Berger said.
He also asserted that federal investigators and attorneys general in several states, including California, have
launched inquiries into Silver State's operations.
Meanwhile, Leon and other students say they are learning details about their loans – such as higher interest rates
– that they knew nothing about before now.
Leon said the interest rate on the $69,900 loan he signed in 2006 was supposed to be 10 percent. But after
looking over his paperwork, Leon discovered that his rate had jumped to 14 percent and that another lender,
American Education Services, was servicing his loan.
Another Silver State student, Tony Vaca of Long Beach, said as many as 70 Silver State students in California also
have discovered to their surprise that someone had co-signed their student loans, presumably to help them
qualify. But the co-signer's name was not familiar to any of them – and they all had the same co-signer.
Vaca and Leon said they plan to attend a key creditors meeting in Silver State's bankruptcy case that is set for
tomorrow afternoon in Las Vegas, and they plan to fight however they can.
“A lot of students are just sort of throwing up their hands ... not knowing that those $70,000 student loans are
going to be following them around for the rest of their lives,” Vaca said.
Bruce Bigelow: (619) 293-1314; bruce.bigelow@uniontrib.com
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Left in the lurch
Lenders expect students to repay private loans even if school goes bankrupt
By Bruce V. Bigelow
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
March 9, 2008
Hector Leon was a freshly divorced father with two small children when he
decided in 2006 to enroll in a helicopter flight school offered at El Cajon's
Gillespie Field by Nevada-based Silver State Helicopters.
The flight school required all students to pay the full amount of their
$69,900 tuition up front. Leon said Silver State made it easier by arranging
a private student loan for the full amount, with payments deferred until six
months after graduation.
“When I heard their ads, which said you could make upwards of $150,000 to
$180,000 a year, I thought it was the way to get a better income and provide
a better life for my two kids,” the San Diego resident said.
But Leon's helicopter dreams began to spin out of control when he learned
on Super Bowl Sunday that Silver State had ceased operations and was filing
for bankruptcy liquidation in Las Vegas.
The privately held company has refused to comment since itsFeb. 4 Chapter
7 filing, when it issued a brief statement that blamed its abrupt liquidation
on “a rapid, unprecedented downturn in the U.S. credit markets.”
The credit squeeze “severely curtailed the availability of student loans” Silver
State said, “and resulted in a sharp and sudden downturn in new student
enrollment.”
By some accounts, Silver State's bankruptcy was triggered after a major lender informed the company it would no
longer make loans to its students.
Now Leon and some 2,500 other Silver State students nationwide
are facing a double bind not of their making: fighting for scraps of
their paid tuition in Silver State's bankruptcy while battling
lenders who insist the students are still on the hook for repaying
the loans. “My first reaction was a sick feeling,” said Leon, 36.
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CHARLIE NEUMAN / Union-Tribune
A bankruptcy notice was taped to the door at Silver
State Helicopters, which required students to pay
tuition upfront.
CHARLIE NEUMAN / Union-Tribune
Local Silver State students are among
those battling lenders who insist that the
students are on the hook for repaying
their loans.
To consumer rights advocates, the situation is reminiscent of a
wave in trade school scams and student loan abuses in the 1980s
and early 1990s. They suggest Silver State may be an early
casualty as credit woes squeeze lenders and pose problems that
may be especially painful for students at postsecondary vocational
schools and private, for-profit educational institutes.
“The new twist this time around is that most of them have these
private student loans,” said Deanne Loonin, a staff attorney at the
National Consumer Law Center in Boston. Students today “don't
have the same protections and remedies” available 20 years ago, when most education loans were federally
backed, Loonin said.
For one thing, the federal Bankruptcy Act of 2005 made it far more difficult for individuals to discharge a student
loan in personal bankruptcy.
A California law established to protect students at private postsecondary and vocational schools expired June 30,
2007. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation to renew the program, calling the existing statutes
“fundamentally flawed.”
At the time the law expired, California had about 2,400 postsecondary
schools, including technical-training institutes, cosmetology, culinary and
truck-driving schools, as well as educational chains operated by Corinthian
Colleges, Career Education Corp. and others.
Since then, there has been little if any state oversight.
The company at the center of the latest controversy was founded in 1999 in
Henderson, Nev., by Jerry Airola, who rapidly expanded Silver State's
business to at least 33 flight schools nationwide. In addition to its school in
El Cajon, the company operated in six other California cities: Long Beach,
Camarillo, Chino, Los Banos, Oakland and Sacramento.
Many, if not most, of Silver State's students received private student loans to
cover all or part of their $70,000 enrollment. But because Silver State did
not participate in federal education aid programs, its students were
ineligible for federally guaranteed student loans.
After Silver State's bankruptcy, many students learned that private student
loans usually cannot be discharged if their school goes out of business –
unlike federally guaranteed education loans.
Shortly after the bankruptcy, San Diego-based Student Loan Xpress, which
worked closely with Silver State's California flight schools, indicated it had
no plans to write off its loans to Silver State borrowers.
In a statement, Student Loan Xpress urged students to contact Silver State's bankruptcy attorney to file individual
claims for a refund on the “unearned” portion of their paid tuition.
“We also encourage those students whose tuition was financed by SLX to contact us to implement mutually
satisfactory repayment plans,” the lender said.
Students may have little recourse, but Elena Ackel of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles offered one sliver
of hope, known as “the FTC rule.”
SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Business -- Left in the lurch 3/9/08 1:35 PM
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The rule, based on a Federal Trade Commission regulation, gives consumers the right to legally raise a financial
claim against a lender in cases where a seller and lender have a business arrangement, Ackel said. It applies to
private, for-profit schools and educational lenders.
To Loonin, Silver State exemplifies the sort of hidden risks the credit crunch has forced into the open as the cost
of education has skyrocketed in the United States.
She views private student loans as one of the biggest hazards because they aren't subject to the rate caps that fix
the interest rates on most federally backed loans at 6.8 percent.
In a recent study of 28 representative loans, Loonin found the average initial rate was 11.5 percent, and the
highest was nearly 19 percent. Most had origination charges that added, on average, 4.5 percent to the loan
amount.
Private loans, which were once used chiefly by graduate students, have grown dramatically, from about 5 percent
of all student loans a decade to nearly 25 percent today, Loonin said.
In 2005-06, students took out $17.3 billion in private loans, compared with $1.3 billion a decade earlier,
according to the College Board.
The dramatic growth in private student loans is due chiefly to the enormous profitability of the lightly regulated
industry, Loonin said.
As in the subprime mortgage market, one of the biggest factors driving profitability has involved packaging
student loans and selling them to hedge funds, mutual funds and other investors as “asset-based securities.”
Selling “securitized” student loans has been a key source of revenue for many lending companies, especially those
not affiliated with banks.
In a recent report issued by the National Consumer Law Center, Loonin and co-author Julia Devanthery found
the market for such securitized student loans jumped from $9.4 billion in 2005 to $16.6 billion in 2006 – a 76
percent increase.
But Wall Street lost its appetite for such deals as investors' bets on securitized subprime mortgages began turning
into disastrous losses last year. The resulting credit squeeze has prompted many lenders to make drastic cutbacks
and sever their ties with financially troubled schools, which apparently is what happened at Silver State.
Some lenders also have raised their loan requirements, left less-profitable loan programs and, of course,
increased their interest rates and fees.
“It all helps unmask the larger problem, which is that students are having trouble affording the cost of education,”
Loonin said. “We've masked that problem by throwing all these predatory loans at them.”
She contends that many postsecondary schools mislead students through aggressive marketing that makes
exaggerated promises about high-paying careers without disclosing the exorbitant costs of their classes or the
burdensome nature of private student loans.
Like a receding tide, the industry's cutbacks have exposed some hazards that students face. But nowhere has this
reef been exposed more clearly than in Silver State's bankruptcy.
In the hierarchy of bankruptcy law, students rank as unsecured creditors who stand near the end of the line of
people who hope to get their money back. Silver State has said in its filings that it does not expect any proceeds
will be left over from its liquidation to reimburse such creditors.
Still, Michael Berger, a Beverly Hills bankruptcy lawyer who is intervening on behalf of hundreds of students in
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California and elsewhere, said there are fraudulent aspects of the case he intends to challenge.
“We have students who got their loans funded the day before the bankruptcy, the day of the bankruptcy and the
day after the bankruptcy,” Berger said.
He also asserted that federal investigators and attorneys general in several states, including California, have
launched inquiries into Silver State's operations.
Meanwhile, Leon and other students say they are learning details about their loans – such as higher interest rates
– that they knew nothing about before now.
Leon said the interest rate on the $69,900 loan he signed in 2006 was supposed to be 10 percent. But after
looking over his paperwork, Leon discovered that his rate had jumped to 14 percent and that another lender,
American Education Services, was servicing his loan.
Another Silver State student, Tony Vaca of Long Beach, said as many as 70 Silver State students in California also
have discovered to their surprise that someone had co-signed their student loans, presumably to help them
qualify. But the co-signer's name was not familiar to any of them – and they all had the same co-signer.
Vaca and Leon said they plan to attend a key creditors meeting in Silver State's bankruptcy case that is set for
tomorrow afternoon in Las Vegas, and they plan to fight however they can.
“A lot of students are just sort of throwing up their hands ... not knowing that those $70,000 student loans are
going to be following them around for the rest of their lives,” Vaca said.
Bruce Bigelow: (619) 293-1314; bruce.bigelow@uniontrib.com
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Monday, February 18, 2008
Silver State Helicopters, LLC
Gail, Georgeann and I have taken on a new big case: representation of many of the 2,700 former students of Silver State Helicopters who are now creditors of Silver State Helicopters. These students never received the helicopter training and certifications that they were promised. Most were left with huge student loan debts. Tens of Millions of dollars are unaccounted for as Silver State Helicopters, LLC abruptly closed its doors and filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Nevada in Las Vegas. Anyone seeking representation in this bankruptcy case or more information about this case is invited to call me, Gail or Georgeann at the office 310 271-6223.
Silver State Student Christian Shaffer, Gail and I were all interviewed at our law offices on February 14, 2008 by local ABC news reporter Elaine Gouda. Our interview is part of a story on the Silver State Helicopters bankruptcy that will air on ABC local news later this week.
Silver State Student Christian Shaffer, Gail and I were all interviewed at our law offices on February 14, 2008 by local ABC news reporter Elaine Gouda. Our interview is part of a story on the Silver State Helicopters bankruptcy that will air on ABC local news later this week.
Friday, February 08, 2008
The Network Is Up!
As my bankruptcy practice has grown, I have continued to update our computers and computer software. This week, the IT crew from Dell Computers and All Covered installed a new Heavy Duty Dell Power Edge Server and linked all of our Dell desktop computers and HP 4250 Laser Jet printers in a high speed network. We are now running Best Case Bankruptcy Software, Act! 2008, Legal Solutions, and Microsoft Office on our network. This lets each one of our 4 attorneys, 2 paralegals and 2 law clerks access the same database and make changes on the same files. All of our contact and calendar information and our e-mail is synced to our Palm Treo 755 phones. With this technology, all of our attorneys and staff have instant access to all of the information about our clients' bankruptcy cases.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Boston Marathon, Monday, April 16, 2007
What's so great about Boston? It's not the weather. This year, on race day, it was cold and rainy, with constant headwinds of 15-30 mph and gusts to 46 mph. The running expo is great, with the best selection of running gear and inspirational speakers anywhere. The course is great, rolling, beautiful and historic. The runners are great, with many of the best amateur and professional runners from around the world gathering here again this year for the 111th Boston Marathon. But what is so great about the Boston Marathon? What is so great that I urge each and every TCLA member to run the Boston Marathon? It's the people of Boston. It's the Boston Athletic Association and the local town officials and local police and the thousands of volunteers who are there to assist the runners at every turn. The organization is great, every step of the way. Most of all, what makes the Boston Marathon so great is the incredible Boston Marathon fans who come out to support 20,000 strangers.
In Boston, the entire course is lined with fans that cheer for you. These fans care deeply about running and care deeply about each individual runner. They line the course from start to finish and scream their support for you as if you were a rock star. At the start, they say, "You are already a hero, you came out to run today." They reach out to you, young and old, to give you five. At Wellesley, the college girls shout "You are my hero," "Kiss Me," "I love you," and "Marry me!" Mostly they just scream so loud and so long that you can hear them half a mile away. This is why they call Wellesley "The Scream Tunnel." At each and every town that you run into, you are greeted like a conquering hero. Fans scream your name, over and over. "Go, Mike!" As you enter the City of Boston, the crowds of fans get deeper, and the encouragement given to every runner is amazing. "You are doing great!" "Your legs look great!" "You're almost there!" Groups of 10 or 15 start to chant your name: "Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike!" This year, they did all of this in the pouring rain, in the freezing cold, and in the gusting, howling winds.
This year TCLA sent 10 runners, including its first ever Boston Marathon teams. First for the TCLA Men's Masters Marathon team, and first for TCLA overall by almost 12 minutes was 52 year old Boston Marathon veteran Frank Tai. Frank had an excellent starting position, with his toes directly in front of the timing mat when the gun went off. Frank is a consistent sub 2:50 marathoner, but leg cramping caused by the weather and the course conditions slowed him to a 3:12:43. Shortly behind Frank, Bill Korthof enjoyed his Boston experience, albeit a bit slower one than he wanted. Third for TCLA was Bruce Reisenfeld. Bruce improved on his Boston Marathon time from last year by five minutes. Peter Glassman was next for TCLA. Peter is a regular with the Coffee Bean Crew, and he expressed his appreciation to all of them "who have made going to Boston possible" for him.
Sitting in his car in Hopkinton at 7:00 a.m. with his wife Ruth and watching "sheets of rain dancing across the parking lot," Dean Goodman heard "the newscasters describing the storm as a Category 2 hurricane." His wife literally begged him not to run. More than 2000 registered entrants for the Boston Marathon this year decided not to run. But not Dean, and not any member of TCLA. Dean ran strong for 20 miles and then suffered in the final 10K, but still managed to run a Boston Qualifying time on a tough day in the middle of the biggest "Noreaster" storm in New England in 15 years. 25 seconds behind Dean was your author Michael Berger. 6 weeks earlier at the Los Angeles Marathon, I made a strong effort and had a good finish. I knew that at Boston I might have to pay for this strong effort at LA, and I did.
First woman for TCLA by 21 minutes was Jennifer Liu. Jennifer led the TCLA Woman's Open Marathon Team and improved on her Boston Marathon time from last year by four minutes. Jennifer did not go out too fast, and actually negative split the course by two minutes. The next woman for TCLA was Gina Jamero. Gina "ran for fun" and said that she thoroughly enjoyed everything about the Boston Marathon long weekend, from her shopping spree at the expo and the great company at our TCLA/LA Leggers/LA-Tri Club Dinner on Saturday night at Legal Seafood, to the race and the "incredible fans" all along the course.
Wayne Joness ran the Boston Marathon in memory of his recently deceased sister, Jan. He carried her name and the date of her death on his running outfit, and the crowd support was "overwhelming." Wayne struggled with leg and hip injuries in the second half of the race, but never thought of quitting. Like your author, Julie Gutman ran the LA Marathon 6 weeks before Boston, and like your author, Julie had to pay. Julie decided that a little Advil might help her effort, so she took 2 Advil just before the start of the Boston Marathon. Then, as she felt pain, she took 2 more and another 2 more and another 2 more. This eased the pain enough for her to turn in a good finish for her first Boston Marathon. Don't try this yourself.
Special thanks to former single TCLA member and now married Boston resident Julie Kriger Ledwig. Every year, Julie stands at the foot of Heartbreak Hill and Cheers for TCLA and LA Legger runners, while holding a big sign just for us. This year, Julie gave me five, took my picture, and ran with me for about 100 yards. Julie, you rock! Special recognition to Bruce Reisenfeld's family, who once again came out in force to support him. Bruce's mom and his 2 twin brothers traveled back to Boston with Bruce and supported him and all of his TCLA teammates.
To those of you who have qualified for Boston and never run it, I urge you to try it. You will not be disappointed. To those of you who have yet to qualify for Boston, I hope that Boston dreams will motivate you all year long. The Boston Marathon is everything that you have heard and more. Next year in Boston!
Half Finish
Frank Tai 1:30:22 3:12:37
Bill Korthof 1:32:43 3:15:53
Bruce Reisenfeld 1:30:49 3:24:24
Peter Glassman 1:42:13 3:37:57
Dean Goodman 1:44:44 3:42:52
Michael Berger 1:45:43 3:43:17
Jennifer Liu 1:58:03 3:54:26
Gina Jamero 2:03:26 4:15:23
Wayne Jones 1:54:00 4:20:05
Julie Gutman 2:01:26 4:23:05
In Boston, the entire course is lined with fans that cheer for you. These fans care deeply about running and care deeply about each individual runner. They line the course from start to finish and scream their support for you as if you were a rock star. At the start, they say, "You are already a hero, you came out to run today." They reach out to you, young and old, to give you five. At Wellesley, the college girls shout "You are my hero," "Kiss Me," "I love you," and "Marry me!" Mostly they just scream so loud and so long that you can hear them half a mile away. This is why they call Wellesley "The Scream Tunnel." At each and every town that you run into, you are greeted like a conquering hero. Fans scream your name, over and over. "Go, Mike!" As you enter the City of Boston, the crowds of fans get deeper, and the encouragement given to every runner is amazing. "You are doing great!" "Your legs look great!" "You're almost there!" Groups of 10 or 15 start to chant your name: "Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike!" This year, they did all of this in the pouring rain, in the freezing cold, and in the gusting, howling winds.
This year TCLA sent 10 runners, including its first ever Boston Marathon teams. First for the TCLA Men's Masters Marathon team, and first for TCLA overall by almost 12 minutes was 52 year old Boston Marathon veteran Frank Tai. Frank had an excellent starting position, with his toes directly in front of the timing mat when the gun went off. Frank is a consistent sub 2:50 marathoner, but leg cramping caused by the weather and the course conditions slowed him to a 3:12:43. Shortly behind Frank, Bill Korthof enjoyed his Boston experience, albeit a bit slower one than he wanted. Third for TCLA was Bruce Reisenfeld. Bruce improved on his Boston Marathon time from last year by five minutes. Peter Glassman was next for TCLA. Peter is a regular with the Coffee Bean Crew, and he expressed his appreciation to all of them "who have made going to Boston possible" for him.
Sitting in his car in Hopkinton at 7:00 a.m. with his wife Ruth and watching "sheets of rain dancing across the parking lot," Dean Goodman heard "the newscasters describing the storm as a Category 2 hurricane." His wife literally begged him not to run. More than 2000 registered entrants for the Boston Marathon this year decided not to run. But not Dean, and not any member of TCLA. Dean ran strong for 20 miles and then suffered in the final 10K, but still managed to run a Boston Qualifying time on a tough day in the middle of the biggest "Noreaster" storm in New England in 15 years. 25 seconds behind Dean was your author Michael Berger. 6 weeks earlier at the Los Angeles Marathon, I made a strong effort and had a good finish. I knew that at Boston I might have to pay for this strong effort at LA, and I did.
First woman for TCLA by 21 minutes was Jennifer Liu. Jennifer led the TCLA Woman's Open Marathon Team and improved on her Boston Marathon time from last year by four minutes. Jennifer did not go out too fast, and actually negative split the course by two minutes. The next woman for TCLA was Gina Jamero. Gina "ran for fun" and said that she thoroughly enjoyed everything about the Boston Marathon long weekend, from her shopping spree at the expo and the great company at our TCLA/LA Leggers/LA-Tri Club Dinner on Saturday night at Legal Seafood, to the race and the "incredible fans" all along the course.
Wayne Joness ran the Boston Marathon in memory of his recently deceased sister, Jan. He carried her name and the date of her death on his running outfit, and the crowd support was "overwhelming." Wayne struggled with leg and hip injuries in the second half of the race, but never thought of quitting. Like your author, Julie Gutman ran the LA Marathon 6 weeks before Boston, and like your author, Julie had to pay. Julie decided that a little Advil might help her effort, so she took 2 Advil just before the start of the Boston Marathon. Then, as she felt pain, she took 2 more and another 2 more and another 2 more. This eased the pain enough for her to turn in a good finish for her first Boston Marathon. Don't try this yourself.
Special thanks to former single TCLA member and now married Boston resident Julie Kriger Ledwig. Every year, Julie stands at the foot of Heartbreak Hill and Cheers for TCLA and LA Legger runners, while holding a big sign just for us. This year, Julie gave me five, took my picture, and ran with me for about 100 yards. Julie, you rock! Special recognition to Bruce Reisenfeld's family, who once again came out in force to support him. Bruce's mom and his 2 twin brothers traveled back to Boston with Bruce and supported him and all of his TCLA teammates.
To those of you who have qualified for Boston and never run it, I urge you to try it. You will not be disappointed. To those of you who have yet to qualify for Boston, I hope that Boston dreams will motivate you all year long. The Boston Marathon is everything that you have heard and more. Next year in Boston!
Half Finish
Frank Tai 1:30:22 3:12:37
Bill Korthof 1:32:43 3:15:53
Bruce Reisenfeld 1:30:49 3:24:24
Peter Glassman 1:42:13 3:37:57
Dean Goodman 1:44:44 3:42:52
Michael Berger 1:45:43 3:43:17
Jennifer Liu 1:58:03 3:54:26
Gina Jamero 2:03:26 4:15:23
Wayne Jones 1:54:00 4:20:05
Julie Gutman 2:01:26 4:23:05
This article was written by Michael Berger and was originally published on the Track Club Los Angeles website @ http://www.trackclubla.org/results/07/boston07.shtml
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Finishing Strong at the LA Marathon, 2007
This is me on the way to a 3:26:55 finish at the LA Marathon on March 4, 2007. I placed 388/24,715. Now it is on to Boston where I hope to set a new marathon PR.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Recent Educational Programs
Even though I am already certified by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California as a Certified Legal Specialist in Bankruptcy Law, I am always learing more about bankruptcy law. Recent educational programs that I have take include the following:
March 2, 2007 American Bankruptcy Institute's Day Long "Battleground West" program at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
February 7, 2007 Beverly Hills Bar Association Bankruptcy Section Dinner Program on Chapter 11s for individuals.
Upcoming bankruptcy educational programs that I am registered for include the following:
March 26, 2007 Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum Dinner Program "How to Not Get Sued and How to Protect Your Fees."
March 27, 2007 Beverly Hills Bar Association Bankruptcy Section Program "Lunch with the U.S. Trustee Peter Anderson."
May 18-20 California Bankrupcy Forum's Annual Conference in Yountville, Napa Valley, California.
These programs give me a chance to continue to learn more about bankruptcy law so that I can give the best advice to my clients. In addition, these programs allow me to constantly network with Bankruptcy Judges, Trustees, and other bankruptcy counsel.
March 2, 2007 American Bankruptcy Institute's Day Long "Battleground West" program at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
February 7, 2007 Beverly Hills Bar Association Bankruptcy Section Dinner Program on Chapter 11s for individuals.
Upcoming bankruptcy educational programs that I am registered for include the following:
March 26, 2007 Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum Dinner Program "How to Not Get Sued and How to Protect Your Fees."
March 27, 2007 Beverly Hills Bar Association Bankruptcy Section Program "Lunch with the U.S. Trustee Peter Anderson."
May 18-20 California Bankrupcy Forum's Annual Conference in Yountville, Napa Valley, California.
These programs give me a chance to continue to learn more about bankruptcy law so that I can give the best advice to my clients. In addition, these programs allow me to constantly network with Bankruptcy Judges, Trustees, and other bankruptcy counsel.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
L.A. Leggers 2007 L.A. Marathon Runner 2nd Place Male Award
On March 11, 2007, I received an award from the L.A. Leggers for having the the second fastest Legger finishing time at the 2007 LA Marathon. The L.A. Leggers is a marathon training club with over 1800 members. It has been rated as the top running club in Los Angeles by both LA Sports and Fitness Magazine and Competitor Magazine. This trophy is now sitting on my desk, and serves as an inspiration to me to keep getting faster and stronger. The first place male Legger at the 2007 LA Marathon was my friend Bruce Reisenfeld. The first place female Legger at the 2007 LA Marathon was my friend Katie Sobczak.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Friday, July 21, 2006
Friday, February 24, 2006
Debt Settlement
In addition to our bankruptcy practice, we negotiate settlements of debts on behalf of our clients that can not or should not file bankruptcy. All of our negotiators are experienced bankruptcy attorneys, not clerks or paralegals. Our typical fee to negotiate a settlement for a client is $475.00/debt. We do not take any percentage of the money that we save the client. Typically, we save our clients 50-70% of the total debt amount. Our fees for this debt settlement work are much more reasonable than so called "debt consolidation" businesses. Unlike "debt consolidators," we work only for our clients and take no percentage of the money paid to the creditors. If you are interested in our debt settlement services, or any of our other services, please call Michael Berger or Georgean Nicol at 310 271-6223.
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