Now that December 1 has come and gone, and another set of amendments of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure has become effective, time for a belated reminder that Bankruptcy Rule 9037 has been adopted. For those of you who, like me, have been too busy filing amended pleadings to replace outdated Official Forms and creating notice pleadings for small business case financial disclosures, it is time to turn your attention to 9037.

I have been sitting on this one a while, but when ALM and ABI picked up the story, decided it was worth a few electrons in this forum.

Recent conjecture that E-Trade may be forced to file bankruptcy as a result of the continuing sub-prime mortgage fiasco shows that even "e-commerce" is vulnerable to exposure. Outside of foreclosures and shocking re-adjustment of ARM's, this may be the first evidence of direct impact on individuals.

My friend John Sirman and his cohorts at the State Bar of Texas continue to amaze me. Earlier this year, the Texas Bar was the first bar organization in the country to offer its own on-line social network, known as Affinity Circles. This has already been a great tool for me to increase readership of this blog, to locate local counsel in other areas, re-connect with old friends, and develop new relationships.