JD Scoop : JD Supra’s Blog : Content Publishing, Document Sharing, Expertise Marketing for Legal Professionals

We are pleased to announce (for those of you who may have missed it) that The New York Times covered JD Supra and our contributors in an article entitled "Lawyers Open Their File Cabinets for a Web Resource" in the Business section of yesterday's paper.

The article featured a great picture of JD Supra contributor Mitchell Matorin, as well as comments about the site and its benefits from Mitchell, Marc Stern, and Elena Garella. It brought lots of new visitors to the site, many of whom joined our growing community of contributors, sharing court filings, decisions, and articles on diverse subjects of use to all of us. (Keep an eye out for an upcoming roundup of new contributors and documents). 

As the Times article noted, JD Supra:

• helps people who want more background on a legal issue, or who would like to find and contact lawyers with expertise in a particular area;
  
• provides a resource of lawyers (who can search the database for work by other legal professionals involved in similar cases).

And, not surprisingly, yesterday many more visitors searched the JD Supra documents and profiles for information about the law and the people behind it. Not surprisingly, the contributors who have shared the most documents received the most exposure.

We are keenly aware that JD Supra is only as good as the lawyers who participate and the content they share. The many visitors who emailed us over the past 48 hours, clearly found the site useful and the content compelling.

For example, a company seeking a class action firm to file suit relating to the mortgage crises wrote:

"Thanks for setting up this service. It will certainly help all who need access to legal expertise and opinions"

Another, who was seeking an attorney for advice on changing his estate plan wrote:

"I want to find an attorney with a specialty in estate planning, but one I can first research on your database. Thank you."

And yet another wrote:

"This is very close to the best thing that can be done for the public and for clients and lawyers in the US."

So, from the entire team at JD Supra, please accept our most sincere THANK YOU to all of you who have crafted such professional profiles and shared your high quality work!

JD Supra contributor Scott Riddle recently shared this decision by Judge Thomas Agresti of the Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in the Scoop section of JD Supra.  And the document certainly is Scoop-worthy.

In his decision, Judge Agresti ruled that the U.S. Trustee has the standing and power to investigate a creditor (in this case, Countrywide) - and not only regarding the specifics of the particular bankrupt debtor, but also the creditor's policies and procedures relating to bankruptcy claims. Though I am not a bankruptcy expert, this decision appears to be the first of its kind, and quite provocative.

Here is what  Brian McCaffrey of Leffler, Marcus & McCaffrey, LLC had to say about it:

This is the tip of the iceberg. It is ironic, and, personally pleasing, that the constituencies that shoved this amendment to the bankruptcy code down the throat of a compliant and complicit Congress are now squealing because the Courts are appropriately saying that fraud by anyone, whether creditor or debtor, is an issue of national concern. The Trustee not only has the authority to investigate Countrywide, but the obligation to look for assets of the bankruptcy estate - which may well include a claim against Countrywide for predatory lending practices. 

And bankruptcy attorney Marc Stern's reaction:

It's about time the U.S. Trustee's office did what it was intended to do - oversee the bankruptcy system and investigate fraud by not only debtors, but creditors, as well - who are some of the worst perpetrators. Most debtors do not have the resources to pursue these kinds of claims. Until now, the U.S. Trustee's office was basically a super-collection agency working for creditors. I am glad the judge did his job.

What are your thoughts about this decision? We'd love to hear them.