Miami, FLAttorney Stephen Nagin is a big picture guy. A well-known Florida attorney and an expert in debt settlement for consumers, Nagin sees even more cash flow trouble for people in the southern states that are directly or indirectly affected by the BP catastrophe.
The damage to the tourism industry means more job losses, foreclosures and bills people can't pay, says Nagin.
Trying to escape the clutches of debt can feel like drowning in quicksand. Seeing consumer debt almost as a national emergency, Nagin has pursued two avenues he believes will release consumers mired in their own personal credit crises.
"If you can assist people in dire financial straights, that is consistent with the rules of professional responsibility that say you should help the poor and near poor and provide them with legal services."
Reform for Consumers
Nagin is a proponent of the recent Financial Reform Bill, the first significant review of the country's financial regulatory industry since the 1930s. Among other things, it will scrutinize shady debt settlement companies that Nagin says "operate more like Ponzi schemes" than anything else.
"Many of them are not aligned with attorneys. They're essentially practicing law without a license."
Unfortunately, the prohibitively high cost of hiring an attorney prompts many people to turn to debt settlement companies, only to find themselves in more trouble than they started with.
"One person contacted us because she had been expecting services from a debt service company that it did not perform. They promised there would be lawyers to help her. Instead, they blocked her calls so she couldn't even get through the debt settlement company."
Nagin's Idea
The goal is to provide legal help to consumers struggling with debt at an affordable cost. "It drives the price down to near marginal costs, which is essential for near bankrupt debtors," says Nagin. "It they could afford legal services at hundreds of dollars an hour, that would be different. But by definition, they can't."
Nagin's company provides attorneys with software and outsourced paralegal help to make debt settlement an affordable option and keeps consumers out of the arms of nasty non-attorney aligned debt settlement companies.
"It is gives them an opportunity to become debt free and stabilize their lives," he adds.
Nagin believes that Morgan Drexen is the only company that keeps verifiable stats on debt settlements. "Our numbers show that with lawyers' oversight and supervision we are achieving great success. There are well over 800 people that are debt free entirely because of Morgan Drexen legal software in the last three years.
"It usually takes three to five years to pay off debts, and to have that many people in three years debt-free is phenomenal."
To find attorneys connected with Morgan Drexen and its software consumer-friendly debt settlement process that guarantees professional legal assistance, consult your state bar association or Morgan Drexen directly.
Stephen Nagin earned his JD at the University of Miami School of Law. Morgan Drexen is a legal software company that licenses products to attorneys through the US.
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