Credit Counselor: Rising Foreclosures and Bankruptcies Mean More Business for Lawyers.

With foreclosures on the rise, law firms that specialize in the area are seeing business booming.

"Over the last two to three years, the size of our bankruptcy department has as much as tripled," said Shell L. Rutledge, a partner with the law firm of McCalla, Raymer, Padrick, Cobb, Nichols & Clark LLC in Roswell, Ga.

Among McCalla, Raymer's services are foreclosures, loss mitigation, bankruptcies and deeds-in-lieu.

The firm attributes its growth, in part, to becoming a Fannie Mae designated bankruptcy counsel and the increased number of referrals that it receives from the government-sponsored enterprise.

Similarly, the bankruptcy department of the law firm of South & Associates, P.C., Kansas City, Ms., has "doubled" both in volume and staff, said Alan E. South, managing partner.

The expansions of bankruptcy departments within law firms is, in part, due to the decade long trend of an "increased rate of (bankruptcy) filings, every year," said Scott Lundberg, president of the law firm of Lundberg & Associates, Salt Lake City, Utah.

With the current slowing economy, Jay Morris, president of the United States Foreclosure Network, Tustin, Calif., commented, "we anticipate some further increases in bankruptcies, as we have seen a slight up-tick in foreclosures, and bankruptcies tend to follow foreclosures."