When is it advantageous to hire an inexperienced bankruptcy attorney to handle local government bankruptcy finances? Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the capital city of a US state, has shown that this is possible. When complex political issues are involved in city bankruptcy cases, it is best to hire an attorney well versed in the politics of the area rather than the intricacies of bankruptcy law. Politicians are tough when it comes to saving their necks for the next election, and therefore it’s not worth asking them to sacrifice their future just to settle an ongoing city bankruptcy case. Politicians are very results oriented just like any other businessmen and therefore it is essential to point out to them the probability of achievement rather than designing actions that antagonize the voters.

The Harrisburg City Council has retained Cravath, one of the largest law firms in the United States, to represent them in their bankruptcy proceedings. Shortly thereafter, the City Council dropped Cravath and turned to Atty instead. Mark Schwartz, a one-man law firm in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Atti. Mark Schwartz worked as a legislative aide in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, serving on the House Rules Committee. There he acquired a lot of experience in legislative bargaining and maneuvering on sensitive issues such as municipal restructuring.

Several major law firms hire attorneys with experience in municipal restructurings. Atti. Levin, who clerked at Cravath, was a House Judiciary Committee staffer and was involved in writing the Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Code of 1978. He represented the California City of Gardena and the Pennsylvania Off-Track Gambling Corporation. New York City, and several small towns in financial restructuring. However, there are large law firms specializing in bankruptcy proceedings. One of them is Klee Tuchin Bogdanoff & Stern, headed by Atty. Kenneth Klee. The law firm successfully represented Jefferson County, Alabama through a financial crisis that began in January of this year. Another firm is Chapman and Cutler and Associates, run by Atty. James Spiotto. Successfully negotiated a bankruptcy case involving bondholders in the Sierra Kings Health Care District municipal restructuring case in the bustling state of California in 2009.

Chapter 9 of the Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Code of 1978 is too rare a case to classify as a separate specialization for attorneys. Atti. Bruce Bennett, an associate at the law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf, said there are very few cases involving municipal structuring and bankruptcy covered by Chapter 9. Only 630 cases covered Chapter 9 bankruptcy law compared to 13,000 cases. filed under Chapter 9. Chapter 11.

There is a lot of work available for financial advisors and bankruptcy consultants when municipalities are in serious financial trouble. Novak Consulting Group, founded in 2009, was organized for this purpose. He helped put together a rescue plan for Harrisburg that was sadly rejected by the City Council. Another is the Alvarez & Marsal law firm that was involved in the famous Lehman Brothers bankruptcy case in 2008. The City of Harrisburg turned to this law firm after their City Council rejected their bankruptcy and restructuring proposal.

Many cities facing bankruptcy proceedings are hesitant to seek professional help from legal advisors who can help them. This has always been the case with private companies dealing with government offices. Perhaps political affairs are too complicated for private companies to handle. While many feel that it is time for the most competent private bankruptcy law firms to take on government agencies, the resistance comes from government agencies. They may not want to be involved in tedious disputes or conflict of interest cases.