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THIS sure proves the adage "Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining"!

Bankruptcy lawyers are in HUGE demand, and they're making a killing with skyrocketing attorneys' fees.

It's not so much that people aren't suing as it is the fact that these corporate and real estate lawyers were as dependent as Ibankers on financial shenanigans to drive up business. The real gravy work in corporate law is all in mergers and acquisitions. All of that activity was heavily based on debt and has since come crashing to an almost total halt.

As some of the articles mention, these young corporate lawyers are really in a bad position. They have a very limited set of skills that are not easily transferable to other types of legal work that haven't yet been so badly affected (some types of litigation, intellectual property, bankruptcy). Their experience is likely limited to conducting due diligence, summarizing documents, taking notes at meetings, and various other mundane tasks partners order them to do.

I suspect some major primarily corporate law based firms will go under in the US and Canada. The managing partners in these firms are all drinking the kool-aid being doled out by politicians and central bankers. I've witnessed astonishing naivety coming from them first hand, believing that bailouts can fix everything. The good old times of 2003 to mid 2007 are still thought to be just around the corner. As a result, the layoffs are much smaller than they should be given the extent of the losses at these firms. Some won't be able to adjust in time. Others will announce unprecedented layoffs and survive based on what had been ancillary practices. My prediction: within a year, the trickle of layoffs of corporate lawyers there has been so far will turn into a tidal wave.

The lawyers are the 3rd people that the lynch mobs will chase down, after the bankers and politicians. Of course it's a bad time to be a lawyer.

Strange. The other day I was reading posts here, and I thought: "Are there any lawyers who could successfully defend someone charged with breaking a Martial Law (or, any of the others that we speculate could be put into place in the future).

Also: While the upgrades are being put into place, you might try this: Draft your post, copy it, then post. If you get the "You cannot post here" note, hit the page back arrow. Then, repost the post you copied. I find that if I copy (learned when I kept losing posts) the post, it will usually post the second time I try. I know it is a pain, but it Will get better! Honest!