As the unemployment rate has failed to improve and the recession remains in effect, I bet there are very few people out there who aren't worried at least a bit over their job security. During these tough economic times, you never can tell whether any job is completely secure, but there are some jobs will always be in demand. Here are eight jobs that appear to be the most "recession proof."
1. Entertainment
One of the only markets that continue to grow at a fast rate is the entertainment business. When people are dealing with a difficult recession, entertainment becomes increasingly important. Jobs involving movies, video games, alcohol, and nightlife venues become more in demand when times are tough.
2. Software Design and Development
According to the US Department of Labor, the software design and development industry is on track to be one of the fastest growing jobs through to 2016.
3. Accountants
The recession has resulted in an increased demand for accountants. There are tougher accounting and auditing regulations, and more accountants are needed to help people with their finances.
4. Education
No matter what shape the economy is in, the nation's youth must have access to education. Teachers and educators will always be needed; however location may play a part in where the jobs are located.
5. Law Enforcement
As times get harder, crime increases, putting law enforcement jobs such as police officers and security staff in high demand.
6. Funeral Services and Elder Care 
The high percentage of elderly today, and the aging population of baby boomers, keeps the funeral service business and care services for the elderly in high demand.
7. Doctors and Nurses 
Even during economic hardship life goes on, people get injured, have babies, get sick, and therefore will always need doctors and nurses.
8. Bankruptcy Attorneys
Here at Clark & Washington, we have only seen an increase in the amount of bankruptcy filings since this recession began. As long as people continue to suffer from financial hardship, we will continue to stand by to provide support for those interested in filing bankruptcy!
Filed under Bankruptcy and unemployment by Tennessee Bankruptcy
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MediaNews Group Inc. will be the latest in the string of troubled newspaper companies that have had to seek protection from creditors amid unsustainable debt loads. The holding company plans to file for bankruptcy protection by the end of the month.
MediaNews, which owns 54 daily newspapers, along with television and radio broadcasters, is expected to file bankruptcy in Delaware as early as this week. MediaNews has been nearing bankruptcy for months but had been trying to rework its debt load outside of bankruptcy court, said William Dean Singleton, the company's chairman and chief executive.
MediaNews will file a prepackaged bankruptcy, in which companies gather support from creditors ahead of a filing, creating a streamlined bankruptcy that can be approved by a judge quickly with little or no opposition from creditors. Sources familiar with the transaction said the company has been valued at approximately $200 million, including about $50 million of equity value.
Singleton, who has been able to retain control over MediaNews, represents a victory as bankruptcies often result in board and management changes. According to Singleton, cleaning up the company's debt allows him to help lead newspaper consolidation, which some say could help publishers stay in business by creating stronger, more efficiently run groups of papers.
Singleton wants to be aggressive in merging newspapers. Potential candidates for such a merge have been pointed out, including MediaNews's paper in St. Paul with the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, and adjacent papers in Southern California published by MediaNews, MediaNews Group Co., and MediaNews Group Inc. When asked what groups of newspapers may merge, Singleton simply said "you can look at the map."
Because only MediaNews's holding company is filing for bankruptcy protection, its newspapers should remain unaffected. The company remains current on vendor payments and should remain so, said Singleton. Also, the company's trade creditors, suppliers and employees should be unaffected by the filing.
Filed under Bankruptcy in the news by Tennessee Bankruptcy
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Here are some top reasons why people file for bankruptcy, and also a discussion of how filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy can help.
1. I filed to eliminate the legal obligation of paying off my debts.
This process of wiping the slate clean is called a discharge of debts. The goal of a discharge is to reduce debt to give you a fresh start. Whether it is through total elimination of debt via a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, or through reorganization of your current debt via a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, most or all of your current debts will be addressed.
2. I filed to stop foreclosure on my house and effectively make payments to catch up on missed payments of my mortgage.
If your home is in foreclosure, Chapter 13 Bankruptcy will stop the foreclosure any time prior to the sale. Bankruptcy does not eliminate mortgages on your property without payment. Rather, bankruptcy will structure a payment plan (usually lasting 5 years) in order for you to repay your mortgage the amount that you are behind.
3. I filed to prevent my car or other property from being repossessed.
Like foreclosure, repossession is another big reason people file bankruptcy. The past payments you have missed on your car or other personal property will be consolidated into your Chapter 13 Bankruptcy plan. After this you will no longer pay the finance company, rather you will make monthly payments to the trustee of your Chapter 13 Bankruptcy who will then pay the finance company.
4. I filed to reduce (or even eliminate) high medical bills.
Sometimes people get blind-sighted by an accident or an illness which can prove to be an expensive affair. Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy can greatly reduce the amount of those expensive medical bills.
5. I filed because I recently lost my job and am now unemployed.
According to studies, loss of work is one of the most common reasons people file for bankruptcy. Losing a job is closely tied to high medical bills and can mean that a family may be left without the protection of insurance that was once provided by their employer. Often times these two factors combined create an almost impossible situation to get out of without the help of bankruptcy.
6. I filed to stop the harassing behavior from creditors.
Often, creditors will persistently call the home of a particular debtor with demeaning and abusive behavior. Not only are these actions unethical, they can be unlawful. Bankruptcy will put on hold the demands of many creditors and stop their distressing behavior.
7. I filed to prevent my utilities from being shut off (or to restore already cut-off utilities)
If you have been failing to pay the utility companies, then there's a good chance your utilities may be in risk of being terminated. Filing bankruptcy can prevent the utility company from shutting off your utilities.
8. I filed to get help for large amounts of student loan debt.
While it is true that your student loans will not be eliminated like several other types of unsecured debt, bankruptcy can at least consolidate your student loan debt. This consolidation will allow a debtor to make monthly payments through Chapter 13 Bankruptcy that are within the financial ability of the debtor.
9. I filed to end wage garnishments.
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy can stop those wage garnishments which take away some of your weekly earnings - often times leaving you without necessities. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy allows you to purchase necessities for you and your family and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy will also help if you face wage garnishment.
10. I filed to challenge certain claims of fraudulent creditors.
Bankruptcy will allow you to challenge the fraudulent claims of creditors who are trying to collect more money from you than you really owe, or those creditors who are using illegal practices to collect your money. An experienced bankruptcy attorney can provide the expertise you will need to stop these creditors. A good bankruptcy attorney can often even the playing field between a big creditor and a single debtor. Filing bankruptcy with an attorney can stop fraudulent reporting by a creditor.
Filed under Chapter 13, Chapter 7, Common reasons to file by Tennessee Bankruptcy
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The Chattanooga Free Press reports that Chapter 13 debtors in Tennessee pay more back to creditors than much larger states like Texas, California or New York. As of September 30, 2008, Tennesseans had paid back over $558 million in active Chapter 13 cases. Texas Chapter 13 filers were second on the list, paying back $528 million, with Georgia third at $412 million.
Unlike most states, Tennessee debtors file a higher percentage of Chapter 13 cases. Here, 56% of debtors in 2008 filed Chapter 13, whereas in other states the percentage is much lower. In California, for example, Chapter 13 amounted to only 19% of cases filed - with 81% of California debtors filing Chapter 7.
Chapter 13, of course, is the repayment plan type of bankruptcy, whereas Chapter 7 permits debtors to wipe out debt.
What does this mean to you? The trustees and judges in Tennessee bankruptcy courts prefer repayment plans as opposed to debt elimination. These bankruptcy officials also will try to push you to pay back as much as they can get you to pay.
An experienced consumer bankruptcy lawyer working on your behalf will identify and pursue a form of debt relief that is most advantageous to you. A good bankruptcy lawyer will serve as your advocate and fight for Chapter 7 relief where appropriate, or create a payment plan that is liveable for you.
Filed under Bankruptcy in the news by Tennessee Bankruptcy
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The U.S Federal Reserve anticipates that in FY2009, the economy may shrink by a figure anywhere between 0.5% and 1.3%. It may be attributed to increase in unemployment, crisis in the housing market and credit crunch. Owing to the subprime mortgage crisis, incidence of foreclosure and bankruptcy have increased manifold. In fact, one of the reputed subprime lenders BNC Mortgage LLC, a subprime lending unit of Lehman Brothers had to close down.
The economic slowdown in United States and in the housing market specially has threatened many homeowners and many people have lost their homes already. To bring in some repose among the homeowners, President Barack Obama has unveiled his Mortgage foreclosure plan recently. More on Effect of President Obama's New Mortgage Program on the Housing Market and Mortgage Market
Filed under Bankruptcy in the news by admin
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One of the more interesting features of Chapter 13 law is something called the "co-debtor stay." Set out at Section 1301(a) of the Bankruptcy Code, the co-debtor stay disallows collection action on consumer debt against co-debtors of the person filing for bankruptcy. A typical scenario - you file Chapter 13 and include a debt to Best Buy for a new television. Your mother co-signed the loan with you. Your Chapter 13 protects your mother from collection efforts for as long as you remain in Chapter 13.
Now the obligation of the co-debtor does not disappear. If you repay a consumer debt at 30 cents on the dollar in your Chapter 13, your co-signer will be liable for the remaining 70% after your case is over. However, during the time you are in Chapter 13, your mother is protected. Often in these cases debtors will set up special payment classses in their chapter 13 plans to pay co-signed debts in full to protect the co-debtor. In other situations - such as when the co-signer is an ex-spouse, the co-debtor is left exposed.
The co-debtor stay only applies to consumer debt and it only applies in Chapter 13. If you have co-signed debts, make sure to tell your lawyer so that appropriate decisions can be made.
Filed under Automatic Stay, Chapter 13 by Tennessee Bankruptcy
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The Los Angles Times recently ran a feature story about payday loans - those short term, high interest loans that service customers who need a cash advance in advance of their regular paychecks to cover emergency expenses. According to the story, Cleveland is where W. Allan Jones founded Check Into Cash, the granddaddy of modern payday lenders, which cater to millions of financially strapped working people with short-term loans — at annualized interest rates of 459%.
As attorneys and financial counselors, we at Clark and Washington encourage our clients to avoid payday loans. If you find yourself turning to this lender of last resort, it should serve as a signal that you need to consider significant changes to how you handle your finances.
A Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy may be one of those changes that you should consider. While bankruptcy is a last resort, it can eliminate credit card debt, allow you to walk away from a house or a car with no penalty and it can provide a structure to pay back "permanent" debts like taxes and student loans.
If you find yourself turning to payday loan lenders, we encourage you to stop, step back and considr calling our office for a free debt evaluation. Bankruptcy may not be the right answer for you, but there is simply no reason not to learn if the bankruptcy option can improve your quality of life.
Filed under Common pre-bankruptcy mistakes, Debt collection issues by Tennessee Bankruptcy
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Not surprisingly, the financial strains that drive clients to our office also create problems in marriages. Clark and Washington regularly meets with clients who are separated from their spouses or who are actually going through a divorce.
Recently we met with a client who wanted and needed to file for bankruptcy, but who had just paid his divorce lawyer a $7,500 retainer. Despite the pressing need to file bankruptcy, we advised our client to wait until 90 days had passed from the date the check to his divorce lawyer cleared.
The basis for our advice arises from an area of bankruptcy law known as "preferences." Simply stated, Section 547 of the Bankruptcy Code provides that the trustee may recover payments to non-insider creditors paid within 90 days prior to the date of filing when such payments are not in the "ordinary course of business" (for insiders - relatives, business relations, etc. the lookback period is 1 year). Section 541 of the Code provides that the unused retainer, sitting in the divorce lawyer's trust account constitutes property of the bankruptcy estate.
In the case of our client, the $7,500 transfer would not be "ordinary course of business" unless there was a series of $7,500 payments. Our concern was that if we had filed a Chapter 7 on behalf of this client, the trustee would demand the $7,500 from the divorce lawyer. As you might imagine, this would make for a very unhappy divorce lawyer.
Preference issues arise in other situations, of course, meaning that you need to reveal to your lawyer any "out of the ordinary" payments to anyone made within the year prior to your projected filing date.
Filed under Bankruptcy and divorce, Common pre-bankruptcy mistakes by Tennessee Bankruptcy
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Much has been written about the 2005 changes to the United States bankruptcy laws, very little of it being positive - at least from the perspective of the struggling families who find themselves seeking counsel with a Clark and Washington attorney discussing bankruptcy options.
One trend we have noted has to do with the unforgiving nature of many of the requirements now set forth in the law. For example, the credit counseling and financial management education requirements of the law are generally seen as a waste of time, but bankruptcy judges from around the country have dismissed cases when debtors do not follow the law's requirements exactly.
For example one of our Tennessee bankruptcy judges dismissed a Chapter 13 case because the debtor obtained credit counseling the same day as he filed his bankruptcy case. According to the judge, the law requires that you obtain credit counseling at least one day prior to actually filing so a same day counseling and filing does not meet the requirement.
Imagine the heartbreak of a debtor who was not aware of this interpreatation of the law and loses a house or a car because his bankruptcy filing was deemed invalid.
We recently came across another example of a very harsh interpretation of the rules contained in the bankruptcy law. The law requires that debtor file with the court copies of pay advices for the 60 days prior to the date of filing. A New York judge recently dismissed a case where a debtor filed all but one of his pay stubs. The debtor's pay was exactly the same for each pay period but he was not able to find one of his pay stubs. The judge wrote that he had no discretion under the law to accept anything less than complete compliance. “While dismissal of this case may seem to be a harsh result, it is one that is mandated by the statute”.
If you get the sense that filing bankruptcy without experienced counsel can be difficult, you are correct.
Filed under Common pre-bankruptcy mistakes, Getting Started, Pre-bankruptcy planning by Tennessee Bankruptcy
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Clark and Washington encourages our clients to make use of accurate and free information about bankruptcy that is readily available on the Internet. Not everything published on the Internet is accurate, of course, but there are a number of web sites that can you trust.
An excellent resource for bankruptcy debtors who file in Chattanooga or Knoxville is the official website for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. This site contains links to bankruptcy forms, local court rules, written opinions of the judges and general information about the bankruptcy process. For filers in Nashville, the website for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee will be an online destination that you should visit. For individuals filing in Memphis or Jackson, you can check out the web presence of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Tennessee.
You should also be aware that federal courts in Tennessee are part of the 6th Federal Judicial Circuit. This means that other that Supreme Court decisions, rulings by 6th Circuit appellate judges will control how Tennessee bankruptcy judges interpret the law. Circuit Court or Supreme Court bankruptcy opinions are usually not something that a typical bankruptcy debtor needs to worry about but you should be aware of this hierarchy within the federal bankruptcy courts if you are researching bankruptcy and you run across an opinion from a California bankruptcy judge or an appeallate ruling from the 2nd Circuit.
Clark and Washington lawyers spend time each week studying changes in applicable bankruptcy law and observing trends in the 6th Circuit and in other circuits. Our firm makes internal continuing legal education a part of our practice and you can depend on Clark and Washington to be both knowledgeable and prepared to represent you when you call.
Filed under Bankruptcy Resources on the Internet by Tennessee Bankruptcy
