First there was an immigration raid, followed by hundreds of convictions of illegal immigrants. Then an array of state and federal charges against the owners for alleged child labor and immigration violations. The latest: bankruptcy.

For those following the fallout from the meltdown, let’s get you up to speed with a little legal news from the front lines.

He comes in waves, but there he is: Master Laird, rider of Big Waves, shredding a heavy. And you know what that means, Law Blog Readers: It’s bankruptcy time.

For months, bankruptcy lawyers in the U.S. have sounded a little like Marvin the Martian (pictured), the manic Looney Tunes character who ran around with his ray gun asking, “Where’s the kaboom?” (Sorry, Laird, we’ll bring you back for our next bankruptcy post). That’s the lead to Ashby Jones’s Legal Beat column in today’s Journal, [...]

He comes in waves, but there he is: Master Laird, rider of Big Waves, shredding a heavy. And you know what that means, Loyal Law Blog Readers: It’s bankruptcy time. As expected, Steve & Barry’s, the clothing company with fashionable clothes priced below $10, filed Chapter 11 today, blaming a liquidity squeeze for its failing [...]

Bankruptcy lawyers are happy; at least happier than they were a year ago. According to statistics cited in Jeffrey McCracken’s story in today’s WSJ, already there have been more corporate defaults in 2008 than there were in all of 2007. So why do the bankruptcy lawyers in McCracken’s piece seem so glum? Because they’re getting [...]

There’s Laird, Law Blog readers, “the guiding genius of crossover board sports,” doing his thing with that funny-looking paddle. And you know what that means: time for our weekly (or so) spin over to the wacky world of bankruptcy — and what a wacky world it is, with its DIP loans, second liens, exclusivity periods [...]