Bloomfield Cablevision (Channnel 16) in Bloomfield Hills and Bloomfield Township
Friday November 20, 2009 8:30 PM
Saturday November 22,2009 9:30 PM
Ken Gross appears as a guest and discusses Financial Crisis Management – the Plight of Michiganers. Practical Law is hosted by Henry Gornbein.
Small business spotlight: Economy redefines law firm’s focus
Practice thrives by shifting to tax cases, bankruptcies in crisis
Karen Dybis / Special to The Detroit News
It’s Business 101: When a practice area of your law firm suddenly becomes its sole focus, it’s time to revise your business plan.
That is exactly what Ken Gross and law firm Thav, Gross, Steinway & Bennett PC have done in light of the state and national economic crisis.
Previously, a quarter of the firm’s practice centered on bankruptcy and tax collection. Today, it makes up the majority of its business.
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To handle the sharp increase in these areas, the Bingham Farms firm has developed a Financial Crisis Management practice, added new tools for its attorneys to use and modernized its marketing strategy to get the word out.
The result is a vibrant practice that has attracted new clients, both individuals and corporations, said co-founder Ken Gross.
For businesses, Thav Gross creates strategies that tackle delinquent taxes and problems resulting from banks withholding or not renewing lines of credit. For individuals, the firm has designed new programs to help with loan modifications, debt resolution, bankruptcy protection and tax relief.
“Since 2007, we saw the writing on the wall,” Gross said. “Everything in the world felt unreal; people needed guidance.”
Nearly three dozen law firms nationwide have added similar practice areas, according to legal observers. Making this new practice area successful depends on whether you are an expert in financial issues and how well you have connected with clients both past and present, said Tom Kane, a former practicing attorney and principal of Kane Consulting, Inc., a legal marketing consulting firm in Sarasota, Fla.
“Legal marketing is all about relationships,” Kane said. “And before a relationship develops to the point where the prospective client trusts that you are capable of helping them, they have to reach a level of comfort about your talents as they relate to them and their issues.”
Clients get custom service
What makes the Thav Gross approach different than other credit-management services is its mix of services, Gross said. Every client’s situation is analyzed independently and only the appropriate products or solutions are used.
This is especially important in Michigan, Gross said. Consider this: more than one-third of all mortgage loans are underwater and people’s retirement accounts have taken serious hits in light of recent automotive bankruptcies.
“The economic crisis has cost us asset value and left us debt,” Gross said. “Our goal is to find how we can leverage your future so your income is working for you, not going toward your debt.”
To gain the public’s attention, Gross took his crisis-management services to the airwaves. In November 2008, he and partner David Einstandig started the “Financial Crisis Talk Center,” which airs at 9 a.m. Saturdays on radio station WDFN-AM 1130. They take questions and address major issues, including those surrounding Congress, Wall Street and the credit-card industry.
The firm also has a strong online presence with four Web sites. One focuses on the firm itself while the others ( www.StopTaxDebt.com, www.StopCreditorCalls.com and www.FinancialCrisisTalkCenter.com) center around the firm’s new financial crisis management division.
This Internet-based marketing provides “meaningful content and information to the public without the high cost of delivery existing in conventional media,” Gross said.
Thav, Gross, Steinway & Bennett PC was formed in 1982. Its 14 attorneys and support staff specialize in business and litigation matters for both people and companies.
Gross is the firm’s managing shareholder. He received his undergraduate degrees and his law degree from Wayne State University.
Karen Dybis is a Metro Detroit freelance writer.
Tara Kachaturoff interview Ken Gross
October 5, 2009 by Admin
Filed under Upcoming Programs on METV
Ken Gross, Managing Shareholder, Thav Gross Steinway & Bennett appears on Michigan Entrepreneur on Tuesday 11.03.09 11:00 a.m. and Thursday 11.05.09 7:00 p.m.
Money Mind–
Attorney has his finger on area’s financial pulse
By Debra Talcott
Legal News
Clients reap the benefits of his advice in the Bingham Farms offices of Thav, Gross, Steinway & Bennett. WDFN listeners tune in to his Saturday morning radio program, “The Financial Talk Center.” Workout buddies look for him at the Sports Club of West Bloomfield. Wherever he goes, attorney Ken Gross is happy to share his views on the current economic crisis and recession.
“Part of my practice as a business lawyer has been to address problems individuals and businesses face from a financial perspective,” says Gross. “Today’s problems are different from those of the past because people and businesses have lost the equity cushion in all real estate holdings. To add insult to injury, banks refuse to lend money, and credit card companies have slashed credit lines.”
Gross, who was born in Detroit and raised in Oak Park, took a rather circuitous route to becoming an attorney, but his divergent path was beneficial to his practice of business law and commercial litigation. After completing his freshman year at Michigan State University, he moved to Minnesota and worked as a teaching tennis professional and manager of an indoor tennis facility while attending college part time.
“The time spent working allowed me to adopt a business approach to school when I returned to Michigan,” explains Gross.
After earning his bachelor’s in business administration at Wayne State University, Gross attended Wayne’s law school.
“I look back at school with fond memories of accomplishment,” says Gross. “But I realize now that, at the time, I was too young and hungry to enjoy the flexibility and wide range of freedom that is afforded a student. Instead, I was in too big a hurry to complete school and begin a career,” he admits.
From early school years, the young Gross was the student others viewed as the future lawyer. Active in Student Council and never one to shy away from a debate, Gross gravitated to the profession, always intending to practice business law, which has been the focus of his practice for 27 years. Now, however, his practice emphasizes financial crisis management.
“The landscape for legal work in our community has changed dramatically. Real estate as a business no longer exists. Virtually every developer has been either put out of business or is forced to sit on the sideline and wait until a turnaround occurs,” says Gross. “The automotive industry, inclusive of the tier one, two, and three suppliers, is in a state of shock with the fallout from the GM and Chrysler bankruptcies,” he adds, explaining that legal work today is all about assisting business clients to stay in business.
The legal work of overseeing mergers, acquisitions, and real estate development–all part of a thriving economy–is currently nonexistent in Michigan.
Not one to mince words when it comes to talking about the credit card companies, Gross admits he “gets a kick” out of pushing the credit card companies as far as he can to negotiate debt resolution for a client.
“Just yesterday I was able to negotiate a $16,500 American Express balance down to $3,500 payable over three months,” says Gross. “In two calls, [the representative] went from $16,500 to $9,000 to $5,000 to $3,500. The wide range of abuse credit card companies were able to put over on the American public for so long is a classic example of what is wrong with our lobby-based system of government.”
Admitting that the credit card legislation slated to take effect in February 2010 is a positive step, Gross says he is, however, concerned about the actions the companies are likely to take in the ensuing nine months.
“Increased fees, reduced lines of credit, and increased interest rates are coming in the next few months,” Gross predicts.
Once this legislation becomes law, credit card companies will not be allowed to increase rates unless a cardholder is 60 days behind in payments. However, this protection applies only to consumers, making Gross suspicious that the industry will find ways to make money from business owners.
“I’m fearful the industry will walk around it by issuing a card to a business with a personal guaranty from its owner–and in that setting, the new law will not apply,” explains Gross.
Another area Gross’s firm excels in is assisting clients with delinquent tax problems. He explains that tax problems typically reside in two arenas: individuals who owe outstanding income taxes and business
owners who are delinquent in payroll taxes and are facing assessment for federal and state taxes and penalties for the unpaid portion of withholding taxes that are deducted from their employees’ paychecks.
“Under federal law there is an opportunity to compromise unpaid tax liabilities through an Offer In Compromise which allows a taxpayer to pay a small portion of the tax liability in full satisfaction of the debt,” explains Gross.
In such cases, Thav, Gross, Steinway & Bennett will arrange payment agreements for their clients to pay taxes over extended payment terms to avoid seizure of assets, closure of a business, or levies against wages.
When a client is in collection at the federal level, the process of negotiating payment terms requires the firm to contact the IRS. Gross credits partner Charles Thav, who has been handling such issues for 40 years, with a strategy that has worked time and again.
“I was sitting in his office one day, and he was beginning a telephone conversation with a collection officer. Suddenly, in mid-sentence, he hung up. When I asked why he’d done that, Thav replied, ‘I could tell he was going to be unreasonable, so when that happens, I hang up and call the 800 number back and keep calling until I speak with someone who sounds reasonable before I tell the agent the name of the client I am representing.’”
Gross laughed, but when he watched his senior partner call again and negotiate a successful payment arrangement with another agent, he became a believer.
“These are the type of strategies you don’t learn in a textbook or seminar,” he chuckles.
In a recent airing of his radio program, Gross spoke with guest Congressman Thaddeus McCotter, who represents Michigan’s 11th District. In their discussion of the “automotive apocalypse” that has radically changed U.S. manufacturing, Gross explained to the Congressman that the effects of automotive bankruptcies pose difficulties for citizens beyond those who directly work for an auto company or a supplier.
“The U.S. Treasury is calling the shots, and the outcome is difficult for dealers who are losing their livelihoods and for personal injury plaintiffs whose cases are being dismissed,” observed Gross.
Gross’s partner and co-host on the show, David Einstandig, explained that in representing a local dealership he sat at the Chrysler bankruptcy hearings for four days and learned that the Treasury was not the entity that required closure of dealerships. While the press has reported that “underperforming” dealerships were those that did not have their contracts renewed, Gross and Einstandig maintain that is not necessarily the case.
“Dealers had been strong-armed into taking more inventory to help the company, with a promise that the company would stand by them. The next thing you know, Chrysler files its Chapter 11, and 14 days later they send letters to 789 dealers, many of whom were long standing and profitable, notifying them that their dealership is terminated. To add ‘injury to insult,’ neither Chrysler nor the government offered to buy back the vehicle inventory.”
When Ken Gross is not helping business clients and consumers tackle their financial problems, he enjoys his life with wife Bonnie in the Farmington Hills neighborhood where they have lived for the past 20 years. The couple is proud of their two daughters, both of whom followed their father’s freshman year green-and-white footsteps by attending Michigan State University.
“Amy, who is 26, graduated from MSU as an English major and resides in Tel Aviv, where she works as a recruiter for a program that provides internships in Israel for college graduates. Jennifer, 21, is a senior at MSU and plans to become an elementary school teacher,” Gross explains.
With their daughters pursuing their own goals, the Grosses have been known to enjoy cruising the Eastern Caribbean. They also have another female family member on whom to dote–their Cairn Terrier MacyMoo.
“She watches television with us, and any time she sees another animal, she goes crazy, barking and crashing the television screen then scurrying around the house looking for her newfound friend,” Gross quips.
While Gross devotes time to family, friends, and his own fitness routine, a major part of his life is focused on helping people realize that their current financial troubles are not their fault and that they are not alone.
“I tell people to look to the left and look to the right. Two of the three of them are in financial distress,” says Gross. “It’s unfair, and I’m angry this has happened to us. Nobody had any way of predicting the real estate market would melt down and that the value of our homes would be 60 percent of what it was two years ago.”
Encouraging his radio audience to be proactive rather than embarrassed by their financial struggles, Gross advised listeners that have lost the equity in their homes to shed as much debt as they possibly can.
“Your responsibility to yourself and your family is to go forward,” he says. “You should not leverage your future to pay for your past.”
Published:6/25/09
National Press Release Back to Press Releases Index
Local Law Firm Provides Low Cost Customized Plan Amidst Financial Crisis
Michigan Law Firm Thav, Gross, Steinway & Bennett Offer Comprehensive Financial Crisis Management Program
BINGHAM FARM, Mich., Feb. 13 /PRNewswire/ — Northville based, contracting plumber Ray Case has been in business for nearly 31 years and has seen his fare share of financial ups and downs. Specializing in restaurants, Case has never seen such dire times, nor has it affected him so severely. While he has been able to stay in business by downsizing and taking projects out of state, more than 2 million Americans have become unemployed since 2008, with nearly 425,000 of them Michiganders.
While possible changes in legislature are likely, attorney’s experienced in financial crisis management at Thav, Gross, Steinway & Bennett P.C. are providing interim relief to Michigan residents and business owners. The firm’s Financial Crisis Management program is geared towards identifying the best strategies for individuals and businesses coping with financial crisis. Recognizing that the need for this type of service out ways the cost, the firm has restructured its program, setting fees based on the client’s ability to pay.
“We are in the midst of an economic meltdown, and Detroit is ground zero,” said Kenneth Gross, Managing Shareholder at Thav, Gross, Steinway & Bennett, P.C. “It is imperative that people consult someone who is an expert in the field, so that the proper mix of services is selected to address the specific needs of the person who has the problems.” “We are finding that people are being provided self serving and improper advice by firms that are single-service providers such as loan modification, debt settlement, tax relief and bankruptcy only firms.”
Noted Case:
“Our family became overwhelmed with debt, draining our finances just to stay afloat. We interviewed several other attorneys and the program at Thav, Gross, Steinway & Bennett, P.C. They were the only ones that understood how wide ranging our problem was. It wasn’t about only eliminating debt – it was about finding a way that we could stay in business and earn a living. They offered a comprehensive course of action, that best fit our financial crisis. Since working with the firm our debt is controlled.”
As the first to identify financial crisis management as a specific process, the firm has been providing this unique type of service to individuals and businesses in the Metro Detroit community for 26 years. The firm pools its resources in tax collection defense representation, bankruptcy, business transactions, mortgage modification and debt resolution in order to navigate its clients through the difficulties imposed by intransigent lenders, the taxing authorities, the credit industry and the current dismal economy. Ken Gross, recognizing the plight of Michiganders, started the “Financial Crisis Talk Center” which airs every Saturday mornings at 9 AM on WDFN 1130 AM. The show focuses on the Financial Crisis from the perspective of the plight of Michiganders and has included guests such as Congressman Thaddeus McCotter and State Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer.
For more information, please contact Thav, Gross, Steinway & Bennett, P.C. at 248.645.8200, or on the web at www.thavgross.com.
SOURCE Thav, Gross, Steinway & Bennett P.C.
I guess I’m irresponsible. How did I get here? I worked my way through college, paying my own tuition, with the benefit of student loans and scholastic scholarships. I purchased a starter home and followed the advice of the real estate experts – which in the 70-90’s was to extend yourself as far as you can – because residential real estate is a great investment and a guaranteed return and hedge against inflation. A few years later, I sold that home, with a nice $60,000 gain, which I used as the down payment to build our dream home at the time – a nice 4 bedroom home in the suburbs. Twenty years later –yes, I refinanced a couple of times – pulling equity out along the way to pay for my children’s college educations, to help finance their schooling abroad, as well as the summer camp experience and all those “things” that we believed would help our children to be well rounded and ready for the techno advanced next millennium. Yes – along the way, I also obtained credit cards, and carried relatively high balances, with reasonably low interest because I always had a stellar credit history.
So here I am now. In 26 years, I’ve never been late on a payment. Every bank that has extended me credit has been paid – timely and in accordance with the terms set. So what happened? Well – now my house that I paid $290,000 for 20 years ago, that appreciated to $480,000 over that period – is now worth $278,000. My mortgage – well that’s a nice fat $400,000. The President calls this “underwater.” I call this “upside down.” Many in Congress, who oppose aid to homeowners – say, “we’re not going to help the irresponsible.” Worse yet, the banks whom I have never missed a payment – have cut my credit lines so that I no longer have available credit. This action alone has caused my credit score to go into free fall because I now fail the critical “available credit” test.
Am I irresponsible? I have met all of my obligations, each and every day. I paid for my college and repaid my college loans. I paid for my children’s education and I raised two great kids. Now I’m “upside down” “underwater’ and irresponsible? Well – I may be “underwater” and “upside down” based on the value of my home. But I’m not the one that ran my business to the point where I was one day away from causing a catastrophic financial meltdown that could sink the entire world economy. I’m not the one who came hat in hand and begged our government for billions of $$$$$ of aid to stay in business. Who did that? We all know – Wallstreet did. The Banks did. AIG did. These same people are the ones that pumped up the real estate bubble with air — and then let it burst. They are the reason why my home has lost $200,000 in value in 2.5 years, and they are the ones who have put our country into free fall such that no one has the credit or desire to purchase a car. Worse yet – they are the ones who our government must now help or we will all fall off the cliff and become broken humpty dumpties.
Call me irresponsible? I don’t think so. In fact, if you’re not going to provide me any help – then I’ll tell you only once – don’t you dare call me irresponsible.
Join me Saturday mornings at 9 AM on www.wdfn.com (streaming); in the Metropolitan Detroit area that’s Sportsradio WDFN 1130. I am the host of “The Financial Crisis Talk Center” a one hour talk show hosted by me and our law firm, “Thav, Gross, Steinway & Bennett, P.C.”
If you’re mad and angry about the Financial Crisis and the mess we face today, this is your chance to speak your mind. Call me on the show at 248.848.1130 – that’s Saturdays at 9 AM.
Dave - many thanks and Happy Holidays to you and yours,...December 9, 4:32 am by Ken Gross
Touching commentary...makes me want to go see it. Mitch...December 9, 4:32 am by Dave Smith
