"I won't be doing bankruptcies after Oct. 16. I'm going to find another line of work," he said.
Morgan's reasons are as basic as the new law is complicated. The new rules on personal bankruptcies will be so onerous and uncertain, the process so expensive, convoluted and fraught with risk for both himself and his clients that his best option is to call it quits, he said.
The law is meant to steer more people away from Chapter 7 and toward a stricter Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
Chapter 7 rules basically give some applicants a "fresh start" by erasing their debt. Under a Chapter 13, on the other hand, debtors can write off some liabilities but must repay others.
Republican lawmakers have been pushing to tighten bankruptcy laws for at least eight years, believing that consumers abuse the system by running up debt all the while planning to file bankruptcy.
However, bankruptcy judges, lawyers and consumer advocates say the system already weeds out abusers. Most who file for bankruptcy protection fall into debt as a result of serious illness, job loss or other calamity, say those in the bankruptcy system.
All three members of Montana's congressional delegation voted in favor of the 2005 law.
The one thing for certain in the debate is the ever-increasing number of bankruptcy filings.
Between 1989 and 2003, personal bankruptcies in the nation nearly tripled from 600,000 cases filed to 1.6 million, according to figures from the American Bankruptcy Institute.
In Montana, consumer bankruptcy growth has been slightly less steep, rising from 1,490 Chapter 7 cases filed in 1989 to 3,456 filed in 2004.
Critics say the new law removes a badly needed safety valve in a credit-laden economy where consumer debt can quickly mushroom because of high interest rates, late charges and other fees.
But the full effect of the 2005 law, which runs about 500 pages, remains to be seen, said Jeff Morris, a scholar at the American Bankruptcy Institute in Washington, D.C. That's because regulations that will put its provisions into effect have yet to be written. And judges have not yet had a chance to interpret the text of the law.
Nevertheless, plenty of judges, lawyers and others have a lot to say about the jumbled nature of the 2005 reform.
"We're all trying to sort it out," Kirscher said.
As well as general opinion about the reform.
"It's lousy public policy," said longtime Missoula bankruptcy lawyer Harold Dye.
And about the one effect of the law that appears certain.
"Bankruptcies are going to be more expensive and less accessible," said bankruptcy lawyer and trustee Bob Drummond.
If the law drives lawyers from the field, debt-ridden families will find it even more difficult to seek protection from creditors.
"The concern raised is a real one," said Peter Bronson, a Los Angeles lawyer and the incoming chair of the insolvency law committee of the California State Bar Association.
Yet no one knows how many lawyers will stop filing personal bankruptcies, said Morris of the Bankruptcy Institute.
In western Montana, about 10 lawyers file the majority of bankruptcy cases. Two who specialize in consumer bankruptcy cases say they plan to quit. Others say they will wait and see.
For attorney Tom Trigg, the decision to end his bankruptcy practice seemed the only logical alternative for three basic reasons.
First, the 2005 law requires him to certify the accuracy of the information given him by his clients.
"I make an awful pest of myself challenging the information they give me so I can put together as clean a package of paperwork as I can," he said. But he still counts on his clients to be honest.
"I can't go house to house throughout western Montana estimating the values of sofas, rifles and pickup trucks," he said.
Second, the law requires that the lawyer certify their clients' payment plans.
"How can I do that? I can't predict which of my clients will be stricken by financial calamities," he said.
Third, he worries that malpractice insurance will be unavailable or too expensive.
It adds up to a failing formula. Bankruptcies are relatively cheap for consumers, costing in the range of $700.
After the new law goes into effect, the cost will likely double - or more, said Morgan, Trigg and others.
On top of it all, both Morgan and Trigg are offended by the spirit of the 2005 legislation.
"I don't want to engage in a system that strikes me as primarily punitive to my clients," Trigg said.
"It feel's like we're a step away from debtor's prison," Morgan said.
Reporter Robert Struckman can be reached at 523-5262 or rstruckman@missoulian.com
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