Law and Magic Blog

Steve Wyrick's Financial Crisis

Rick Lax writes about Steve Wyrick's bankruptcy and digs for reasons behind the magician's financial problems; read the Las Vegas Weekly article here. More from the Las Vegas Sun here.

More Magic Linguistics

For another example of "magic words" in the law, check out this post from bankruptcy law expert Rachel Lynn Foley (of the blog Bankruptcy Law Network) on the automatic stay exception bankruptcy and the operation of the "magic shield." She says in part,

11 USC 362(c)(3) states that if you have filed a previous case under 7, 11, or 13 within the last year and your case was dismissed and re-filed for something other than abuse under 707(b) than the automatic stay will only be able to protect you for 30 calendar days. This 30 day limit for the protection under the automatic stay is absolute UNLESS you file Motion to Extend the Stay and Receive an Order from the court within that 30 day period....

11 USC 362(c)(4) states that if you have filed a 2 or more cases within the last year and your case was dismissed and re-filed for something other than abuse under 707(b) than your automatic stay WILL NOT automatically go into effect. There is no magic shield that comes down around you automatically to protect you from your creditors. In order to receive this protection you MUST file a Motion to Extend the Automatic Stay and Receive an Order within 30 days of filing your new case. Your failure to do this will leave you unprotected and your creditors can pursue their collection efforts. [boldface is mine, not hers].

Read the rest of the post here.