WASHINGTON, March 5 (UPI) -- The International Council of Shopping Centers' prediction that 6,000 U.S. retail stores may close in 2008 offers a boon to bankruptcy businesses.
"A year or two ago, perhaps 5 percent of firms would say they're thinking of adding bankruptcy attorneys," the manager of a firm that places lawyers in jobs told The Washington Post. "Now it's about 85 percent."
Twice as many corporations filed for bankruptcy in the United States January and February compared with the 2007 figures covering the same months, the newspaper said.
The firm Fulbright and Jaworski, which runs one of the nation's larges bankruptcy practices, plans to double the number of attorney on staff, the report said.
When Shaper Image filed for bankruptcy in a federal court in Delaware recently, more than 70 lawyers showed up seeking to work with the company's various creditors, the Post said.
"Partners who specialize in reorganizations have been particularly hot in the last 18 months," said Tony Clark, who heads a reorganization practice which had $2 billion in revenues last year.
"But, people who do what I do saw the downcycle coming," he said. "And saw that bankruptcy and restructuring work will be picking up."
