The problem is that people are in serious debt in this country. Outstanding consumer debt is at all-time highs, and debt is like an illness. You don't solve an illness by making it harder to get into a hospital, which is what bankruptcy court is for debtors.

People wait until the last minute to go to the bankruptcy lawyer's office because they don't want to be in the bankruptcy lawyer's office. We're hoping that people recognize that bankruptcy is still an option for them, and that if their home is at stake, that they need to get in earlier to get it done.

Contrary to the claims of proponents of the bankruptcy law changes that they would zero in on the alleged legions of 'deadbeats' who supposedly were crippling the U.S. economy ... the federal bankruptcy law changes that went into effect on Oct. 17, 2005, are doing no measurable good whatsoever.

I don't think the changes accomplished any of the stated goals of the proponents. The problem is there are many people in this country with financial difficulties, like a sickness, and you don't fix a sickness by making it more difficult to get into a hospital.

Credit counseling organizations now know what the bankruptcy lawyers and other experts said all along: Congress got it dead wrong when it passed the bankruptcy law.

We can say authoritatively that federal bankruptcy law changes are doing no measurable good whatsoever. They've done nothing more than put new hurdles in the path of people who are already flat on their back due to a financial crisis over which they have no control.

Congress got bankruptcy reform wrong, dead wrong. The federal bankruptcy law changes ... are doing no measurable good whatsoever. They've done nothing more than put new hurdles in the path of people who are already flat on their back.

They have put new hurdles in the path of people who are already flat on their back due to financial crises.

A hospital is supposed to treat the sick. The problem is that instead of treating the sickness, Congress has instead made it tougher for people with financial trouble to get into the hospital.