A law firm that at one time handled 40 percent of home foreclosures in New Jersey has filed for bankruptcy, blaming its mortgage-lender clients and tighter rules for its troubles, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Zucker, Goldberg & Ackerman LLC (ZGA) sought chapter 11 protection on Monday, and is in the process of handing off 30,000 active foreclosure and insolvency cases in preparation for liquidation, court papers say. Dubbed "foreclosure mills" by their critics, high-volume law firms that worked for the banks in the foreclosure crisis took heavy fire from consumer advocates and government regulators in the backlash against the collapse of the mortgage industry. In 2012, five of nation's biggest banks agreed to a $25 billion national foreclosure pact to settle accusations of improper practices, such as "robo-signed" documents and otherwise flawed court papers. The aftermath of the industry cleanup has lenders allegedly asking more from law firms, but paying the same "very small" fees for the work, ZGA managing member Michael Ackerman said in court papers.
