Phoenix Bankruptcy Law Blog

Kodak filed for bankruptcy two weeks ago, and there has been a backlash from employees concerning the rapid demise of the company. These employees have invested time, energy and money into the company, and for some, their retirement plans have evaporated. One of the ways employees invested in their 401(k) retirement plan was through stock in the company. Once worth $31 per share, Kodak's stock was worth 35 cents per share as of Monday.

Responding to his depleted retirement savings as a result of Kodak's bankruptcy, one employee is filing suit against the company. Claiming that Kodak did not properly protect its workers and their retirement plans as the company took a nosedive, the employee says that Kodak is liable for the retirement losses suffered by its employees.

During the past few years as economic times have grown difficult, personal bankruptcy rates have seen a natural rise. Phoenix residents are all too familiar with filing for bankruptcy as the state of Arizona has been hit hard by Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases recently.

Some good news has been discovered by a Columbia law professor, who says that the national personal bankruptcy rate dropped 12% last year as compared to 2010. Roughly one in every 175 Americans found themselves filing for bankruptcy in 2011 - totaling an estimated 1.35 million people - as part of the first year-to-year drop in bankruptcy protection since 2006.

It is expected by many people attending collegiate or post-collegiate institutions that a large amount of debt will be accumulated. This is usually seen in younger age groups, but a new study indicates an increased amount of borrowing from an older demographic who are returning to school during these tough economic times.

According to the report which spans the past three years, educational borrowing has risen across all age groups, but for people aged 35-49 their debt jumped 47%. Younger people still have the largest average amount of debt, with those aged 26-29 holding about $14,000 in debt. Still, a subset of the older demographic, aged 38-41, saw their debt increase from under $9,000 to around $12,000 since 2009.