While most observers suspected that video rental Goliath Blockbuster was headed toward Chapter 11 bankruptcy, hometown paper The Dallas Morning News cited unnamed sources who say Blockbuster will file its petition by mid-September. Since the company is $1 billion in debt and has warned investors about a possible bankruptcy for nearly two years, no one should be surprised.

But a Blockbuster bankruptcy doesn't necessarily mean curtains for the once-dominant movie rental company. In fact, Atlanta bankruptcy lawyers would tell you that the process ideally is an opportunity for a fresh start.

Still, the question remains: What kind of a future should Blockbuster expect?

The Wall Street Journal's Bankruptcy Beat blog reported on a new study from the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review concluding that consumers pay substantially more to file for bankruptcy following the 2005 changes to the law.

And it's not just consumers, according to the study's authors.

Increased costs and time spent on Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 filings following passage of 2005's Bankruptcy Abuse Protection and Consumer Protection Act also are passed onto trustees, creditors and even Atlanta bankruptcy lawyers.

 Just getting by in this ravaged economy without slipping into deeper and deeper debt is difficult enough as it is. But according to a lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Jerry Brown, television's "Tax Lady" Roni Deutch has swindled millions of dollars from customers across the country, as reported by CBS MoneyWatch.

Her tax relief service is not the only one being targeted as a shady scam, as countless Atlanta bankruptcy attorneys  most likely have clients whose debts became even worse after contacting unscrupulous firms.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed urged Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to trim the state's workforce and channel some of the savings back into education, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He pointed out that Atlanta cut its city workforce from 9,654 in 2008 to 7,500 this year, "And we haven't gone far enough."

But Sonny Perdue said the state already is working with a skeleton crew, although he realizes Georgia needs to trim the budget somehow. Meanwhile, the state's unemployment rate remains high at 10.3 percent for June and many residents are just a pink slip away from needing Atlanta bankruptcy lawyers.

The great thing about bankruptcy is that it wipes out most consumer debts and gives individuals and households a fresh start, well sort of. In reality, those who file for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection have to work their way back to a respectable credit profile, as discussed in a Wall Street Journal article.

The WSJ article offers eight credit-repair tips consumers should consider once they walk out of their Atlanta bankruptcy lawyer's office.

The average consumer credit card debt dipped to its lowest level in more than eight years, according to an Associated Press story published by the Huffington Post. The data comes from credit reporting agency TransUnion.

Since heavy credit card debt is one of the main reasons consumers become insolvent and in need of an Atlanta bankruptcy lawyer, this certainly is good news. But it also shows that consumers are spending less, which negatively impacts chances of a broader economic recovery.

It may have just a sliver of the fan base enjoyed by the National Football League, but the Arena Football League is back after emerging from bankruptcy in December 2009, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

That means Duluth's Gwinnett Arena will soon see the return of hometown AFL team the Georgia Force, which was active between the years of 1987 and 2008. And according to the team's Web site, single-game and season tickets are now available for the 2011 season.

So if you're an arena football fan, you may want to thank the Georgia bankruptcy lawyers who helped broker the team's resurgence.

Nearly half of all individuals filing for bankruptcy protection in 2007 were between the ages of 45 and 64, according to a study published by the American Bankruptcy Institute's ABI Journal and cited by The Wall Street Journal.

Specifically, people generally lumped into the Baby Boomer generation accounted for 42 percent of bankruptcies during that year. More recent statistics were not available but a bankruptcy attorney in Atlanta could probably provide some anecdotal insight.

Think college education for your kids will cost an arm and a leg? It might, but often a child's first four years of day care cost even more for families where both parents must work in order to make ends meet.

And while scholarships and federal grants are available for aspiring university-bound students, the same cannot be said for early childhood education, often considered crucial to an individual's future success. A Macon Telegraph article explores this dilemma Georgia's struggling households, as well as the child care providers themselves, often face.

Most Georgia bankruptcy lawyers would probably tell you that their typical clients are households where both parents work outside the home; these are families that typically pay for child care.

Not surprisingly, the often-shady debt settlement companies promising 50-cents-on-the-dollar relief plans on late-night television are not succumbing to tough new federal regulations without a fight, as MSNBC's Red Tape Chronicles blog explained. In fact, consumers should expect a barrage of ads right up until the rules take hold late next month.

Simply stated, new rules intended to protect debtors taking effect on Sept. 27 will not guarantee that those using debt settlement firms won't also need the services of Atlanta bankruptcy lawyers.

Former credit counselor Steve Rhode, who now runs a consumer information site called GetOutOfDebt.org, said a "flurry" of TV and radio ads should be expected. But beyond that, some critics fear that a few of the less-scrupulous firms will exploit at least one potential loophole left by the Federal Trade Commission's new rules.