It's the old "good news and bad news" syndrome. The bad news, of course, is that these tough economic times have led to more businesses filing bankruptcy. The good news is, that someone has to handle those bankruptcies and that "someone" is a law firm.
According to an article in the New York Lawyer, BigFirms such as Sidley & Austin, Skadden Arps and Weil Gotshal are gearing up to handle large corporate bankruptcies predicted to occur over the next two years. Skadden Arps' Greg Milmoe, head of the firm's corporate restructuring group, says the "tsunami is here."
A steady rise in corporate bankruptcy filings throughout 2008 is expected to crescendo in 2009 and 2010, with collapses spreading from the retail, auto-related, real estate and financial industries to almost any area affected by the downturn in consumer spending.
Paralegals, get thee to a bankruptcy course now! While bankruptcies rise and fall with the economy, knowing this practice area is a good way to make yourself more valuable to your firm. The knowledge can give you a fallback position in the event you are a candidate for lay-offs. According the the NYL article, the one area that is definitely hiring is bankruptcy. Hiring more attorneys naturally leads to hiring more paralegals. Your litigation skills, attention to detail, organization skills and fact finding talents are useful in large corporate bankruptcies.
Oh, that silver-lining, glass-half-full, make-lemonade-out-of-lemons mentality. It can save your life.