According to a report issued last week by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, U.S. bankruptcy filings have reached their highest levels since 2005.

The report showed that there were 422,061 bankruptcy filings between April and June this year, an increase of 9 percent from 388,148 in the prior three-month period, and up 11 percent from 381,073 a year earlier.

For the year ending June 30, there were 1.57 million bankruptcies, up 20 percent from 1.31 million a year earlier. Consumer bankruptcies rose 21 percent to 1.51 million, and business bankruptcies rose 9 percent to 59,608.

“We know the causes of bankruptcy are principally job losses and health care, with the overlay of the foreclosure crisis,” said Deborah Thorne, an associate professor of sociology at Ohio University. “It feels very unsettled, and I’m not surprised the numbers are going up. Until we get our feet on the ground, provide decent-paying jobs, and do something with the housing crisis, bankruptcies will continue to go up.”

If you or someone you know is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, contact the New Orleans Chapter 11 bankruptcy lawyers of The Law Offices of the Law Office of David D. Kervin, Jr., LLC at 504-599-5906 to learn more about your rights.

A court petition was filed on Friday seeking to force The Washington Times into involuntary bankruptcy.

The Summons to Debtor in Involuntary Case was filed by Richard Steinbronn, a lawyer who was recently fired from the  office of a Washington Times affiliate.

In the petition, Steinbronn alleges that his firing was wrongful and that the newspaper owes the Washington Times Aviation and another company over around $2 million.

The newspaper has 21 days to respond.

If you or someone you know is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, contact the New Orleans Chapter 11 bankruptcy lawyers of The Law Offices of the Law Office of David D. Kervin, Jr., LLC at 504-599-5906 to learn more about your rights.

The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy has produced to date over $1 billion in fees, paid out to advisers, lawyers, and bankers over the past two years.

On average, the financial firm has paid over $40 million a month for the last 2 years.

At the time of the firm’s collapse in September 2008, it was running $639 billion in assets. Experts claim that the fees are coming at the expense of creditors seeking to be repaid, while rising daily.

“If you are a creditor, every dollar that is going to (debtor) counsel is a dollar not going to a creditor,” said Stephen French, a managing partner at Legalbill, a Tennessee company that advises companies on managing their legal bills.

Alvarez & Marsal, the advisory firm running Lehman in the United States, has said that his firm’s work has improved recovery for creditors by more than $5 billion and that these increases justify the fees of hiring a huge number of advisers and accountants not only in the United States, but to close up shops throughout Asia and Europe.

Lehman expects to emerge from bankruptcy during the first quarter of 2011. Then, it can start paying back creditors.

If you or someone you know is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, contact the New Orleans Chapter 11 bankruptcy lawyers of The Law Offices of the Law Office of David D. Kervin, Jr., LLC at 504-599-5906 to learn more about your rights.

A number of Democratic lawmakers, including Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., have called on lenders to freeze foreclosures after Bank of America did so last Friday. This came after questions regarding the review process that BofA used, and whether or not the foreclosure proceedings were simply being sped through.

JP Morgan Chase & Co. and GMAC Mortgage Corp. have stopped foreclosure proceedings in 23 states but not Arizona.

“Bank of America has taken an important step and other major lenders should follow its lead,” California Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a statement.

Republicans have not yet voiced an opinion on the issue.

“We need to ensure that homeowners have long-term solutions to underwater mortgages and allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages on residential real estate for Chapter 13 bankruptcy filers, currently prohibited under law. This will stabilize the market, offer critical bankruptcy protection, and signify a long overdue shift in focus from helping lenders to helping borrowers,”said U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards, a Democratic representing Maryland suburbs of Washington.

If you or someone you know is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, contact the New Orleans Chapter 11 bankruptcy lawyers of The Law Offices of the Law Office of David D. Kervin, Jr., LLC at 504-599-5906 to learn more about your rights.

Malcom Bell, the Illinois hedge fund manager who played a part in the recent Petters Co. Inc. fraud scheme, was sentenced this week in federal court to six years in prison.

The 45-year-old owned Lancelot Investment Management, which had invested all of its money in PCI promissory notes. When PCI fell behind in paying notes held by Lancelot, Bell devised a plan to fool investors and make it seem like the note were being paid off.

In his plea bargain, Bell admitted that he had obtained more than $200 million from investors.

If you or someone you know is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, contact the New Orleans Chapter 11 bankruptcy lawyers of The Law Offices of the Law Office of David D. Kervin, Jr., LLC at 504-599-5906 to learn more about your rights.