Bankruptcy debtors no longer say, "I really don't want to do this."

Over the course of the last thirty years or so of working in bankruptcy law, I've found goofy ways to amuse myself. One was waiting for my consumer clients (who are utterly different than my business clients) to say, "I really don't want to do this."

Some took until the very last moment of the interview to get it out; and some said it before they said their names. But 99.9 per cent of all potential consumer bankruptcy debtors said it eventually during their first talk with me. Although some would wait until I was walking them back out to the entry area to utter the inevitable phrase.

But I recently noticed a sea change.

Potential debtors no longer say it.

I think I know why.

Whether they're the half of the debtor population who sees the bankruptcy as blessed relief, or the half that sees bankruptcy as a damned failure, debtors now know that we are in the middle of a depression, and that they have no other way out but to file a bankruptcy of one sort or another.

I think that my potential clients are a good deal smarter and better educated, as well; since I want them all to read and do the homework on my blog before they come in to visit with me for the first time, they may well have concluded that they pass the means test AND the Joseph C. McDaniel Rule of Inevitable Bankruptcy Filing, and that there is a bankruptcy in their future, regardless.

And for the record, even though I'm seeing a remarkable number of clients these days, I usually see a lot of clients just because I've done this so long, and during an economic upturn, there are plenty of debtors who tried to start a goofy business, or who found a "can't lose" investment vehicle, and those provide me with a lot of clients no matter the economy.

So for my part, enough already! Knock it off with the depression!