By:  LINDSEY O’NEILL, ESQ.

A new year, a fresh start?  Most industry experts believe bankruptcy will continue to boom in 2009. 

Bryan Marsal, Co-Chief Executive Officer at Alvarez & Marsal predicts a “tsunami” of bankruptcies and business restructurings for 2009.  With declining revenues all around, many individuals and businesses can’t afford to pay their debts.  On top of that, with the tight lending and credit markets, its tough to get a loan to “cover” through the difficult times. 

Bankruptcy has been booming for the last couple of years and new filings are predicted to increase even more for 2009.  According to BankruptcyData.com, filings among publicly traded companies increased 74 percent in 2008!  Personal bankruptcy also increased by nearly a third in 2008, according to data collected by the National Bankruptcy Research Center and published by the American Bankruptcy Institute.  

Increased business bankruptcy means more layoffs.  Analysts predict the unemployment rate could spike to 9.5%, which would represent a net loss of jobs for 3 million people beyond those who are already unemployed today.  With families already struggling to pay their mortgages and other bills, even more lack of income will result in additional foreclosures and personal bankruptcies as well. 

It’s a mad, mad, mad world out there.  Seek higher ground, put on those life jackets and try to stay afloat as the bankruptcy tsunami hits.  Your best life boat could be consulting with a bankruptcy attorney or foreclosure attorney today.  There may be options to help you make debt payments more manageable so you can avoid bankruptcy or other negative consequences of these troubling financial times.