For several weeks now, I thought about writing a Bankruptcy blog that dealt with holiday spending. Specifically, the propensity of people to spend money they don’t have on their credit cards around this time of year and then be unable to pay for any of it in January. But, realistically, been there done that. Every Bankruptcy attorney in town does that and I think the advice isn’t necessarily earth shattering (stop spending money though, seriously). So, instead, before everyone goes off on vacation (like my associate), I wanted to take some time and discuss what I have planned for Daniel Gershburg, Esq., P.C. in the coming New Year.
A few months ago, we began to sit down and figure out what the direction of the Firm would be, moving forward, as we’ve grown since 2010. And we began to realize a few things:
1. The area of Bankruptcy law is getting more crowded in New York City as more and more attorneys are coming into the practice and each website slowly begins to look almost identical to one another.
2. Many people were (are) coming to us and complaining about problems with receiving a loan modification even when their lender told them to stop making payments (thus ruining their credit). Now these same people face foreclosure in New York.
3. We like doing work for the most underprivileged in our New York City area but realized we could do more.
4. I like donating money to charity.
So, over the next year, here’s our plan:
While I’ve no doubt that you like reading the blog (except the emails I receive that say ”I don’t like reading your blog.”) I overwhelmingly hear about how much you prefer our videos. So, we’re going to give you more of that. In early 2012, we’ll roll out a video page that, I think, is unlike anything you’ve seen before on a law firm’s website. As always, we’ll ensure that the videos are clear and understandable. But we also realize there is not a “one size fits all” approach to either Bankruptcy or Real Estate, and so our videos will be more tailored to you. Personalized. They’ll answer questions directly. Why? Because there is so much out there on the internet, and the last thing you want is to research for hours and fail to find anything that address your particular situation. In other words, I think we can do it in a different way that will be more easier, more direct, and more appealing for you.
Another issue we’ve identified is how many people across New York City have been victimized by their own lenders when it comes to loan modifications. I say victimized sincerely. Client after client complains about listening to their own lenders advice on not making future payments, to their detriment. We hope to change that. In 2012, we’re going to substantially expand our presence in Foreclosure Defense in New York City. It’s one thing if “Loan Mod USA “(fictional name) tricks someone into believing they can reduce their principal and payments. It becomes quite another when the very bank that financed your home is telling you to take steps that hurt your credit score, and then foreclose on that home. We hope to change that, and we believe we will. Look for a Gershburg Foreclosure Defense site in January 2012.
I’m perhaps most excited to address #3 and #4 above. Ever since I established this practice five years ago, I believed it was imperative that I give back to the community in the form of Pro Bono work. The reason? I basically learned the practice of Bankruptcy through doing volunteer work at the Brooklyn Bar Association. Each time I did a pro bono case I felt as if I was doing something good for the Brooklyn community. Is it cliche and cheesy? Maybe, but it was and continues to be, quite important for me. Having said that, at the time of this blog, the Brooklyn Bar Association has 30 open Pro Bono Bankruptcy cases waiting to be filed. I’ve called them and said that my firm would personally take on each one of them in 2012. We hope to bring the open case load down to 0 by December of 2012. Why? Because it’s important for us and it’s the right thing to do.
This year, we’ve been able to donate money to the Wounded Warrior Project, an amazing organization that helps develop programs for severely wounded Vets come back home. Also, in conjunction with the Street Academy for Financial Literacy and an absolutely amazing organization, Pencil.org, we’ve been able to bring Financial Literacy programs to a middle school in Brooklyn, and we are eager to expand this, with Pencil’s help, to several schools across Brooklyn in the coming year. We’re teaching kids the value of a dollar and how to save it. We’re teaching them about credit and debt and the relationship they have. And we’re teaching kids good money habits that can transform their lives as they grow older.
In addition, the communities where our offices are located (one in TriBeCa and one in Sheepshead Bay) are incredibly important to me. I’ve lived and worked in both areas and they are close to my heart. In 2012, we ‘ve pledge to donate up to 10% of the profits of Daniel Gershburg, Esq., P.C. to various charities working in both areas (email us if you know of worthwhile charities in either community). Beyond that, we’re putting even more of an emphasis on doing volunteer work . In fact, starting in 2012, our staff they will receive paid days off for doing volunteer work at the charity of their choice.
So, why am I telling you all of this? First, because I think it’s time we did this. I’m incredibly happy with our website, but it’s time we do something different…again. I think that law firms and social media and tech are a great combination. In fact they’re so great that everyone is doing it. In fact so many people are doing it that you can’t tell the difference anymore. Everyone is on Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIN and that’s fine. But this blog has never been here to scream “Look at us, we’re great!”; That’s unethical. This blog and site were designed to serve a purpose, which was to make finding the information you need easier for you while you search at work. We hope to do that with our new video page. We hope to do that with our new Foreclosure Defense Page. And, most importantly, we hope to do that by doing things you can’t possibly do online. We hope to do our part in changing our communities.
I wish you the very best in this holiday season and the New Year.
-Daniel
