B. Phillips & Associates Smoothes Bankruptcy Filings for Businesses and Individuals with a Little Help from Intelligent Office.

For nearly ten years now the associates at B. Phillips & Associates, P.C. have been practicing bankruptcy and tax law from their offices in Forsyth County. With the turmoil in the U.S. real estate market, they’ve seen a significant bump in their business.

“Our bankruptcy filing business was up something like 38% in 2008, a pattern we expect to see continue well into 2009,” explains attorney Bob Phillips.

But not everyone who contacts the firm is advised to enter bankruptcy proceedings.

“In some cases, we advise clients not to file bankruptcy so that they can protect their personal property and avoid the long-standing negative implications of bankruptcy filings on their credit report, professional and personal lives,” continues Phillips.

Helping clients considering bankruptcy includes providing legal guidance as well as a thorough review of their personal and/or business’ financial situation.

“Before we allow a client to file for bankruptcy, we have to look at their entire situation to determine whether they are truly insolvent and unable to pay their debts,” says Phillips.

Once petitions for bankruptcy are filed, Phillips and his associates continue to provide representation during proceedings with the trustees, the attorney appointed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court (a division of the Department of Justice) to review their situation.

It is the trustee who takes over management of the assets and liabilities in a bankruptcy estate. They will handle the liquidation of non-exempt assets in an attempt to pay off liabilities.

Certain items are exempt from bankruptcy proceedings – personal property, real estate, and household items – up to a certain dollar amount as identified by the state of Georgia and the federal government. Trustees cannot sell or attempt to take possession of these exempt items.

How is tax law related to their bankruptcy practice?

“More than half of our clients who have a bankruptcy petition will also have delinquent tax issues or tax liens for failure to pay their taxes,” continues Phillips. “In addition, we see employers who have trust fund tax liabilities for failure to pay their portion of the employee taxes on a timely basis.”

The team at B. Phillips & Associates is comprised of Bob Phillips and three paralegals. Like many other law firms with a client base evenly divided between corporate clients, business owners and individuals, they receive most of their business on referral from other non-competing attorneys and previous clients. That’s what makes providing high quality service so important.

Improving their customer service was one of the reasons they came to Intelligent Office.

“In the past when clients needed to meet in other parts of the city, I would see them in a restaurant,” explains Phillips. “Without the conveniences of a modern office – like copy machines and a quiet space to discuss confidential items – this was a less than ideal situation, especially when meetings tended to run more than an hour.”

Today clients find options for meeting Phillips at any of his three offices detailed on his website: the main location in Forsyth plus his two Intelligent Offices in Roswell and at GlenLake.

For more information or to make an appointment with B. Phillips & Associates, P.C., please visit www.phillipslawassociates.com or call 770.205.1922.