Going, going.

While would-be homebuyers are scanning the real estate section for foreclosures, a handful of lawyers are quietly busying themselves with bankruptcy auctions.

It's not the wide array of distressed assets up for grabs but rather the amount of money chasing deals that is driving the surge in activity, said Peter Gilhuly, a partner at Latham & Watkins LLP.

"I personally am busier than I've ever been," Gilhuly said. "I've never had so many auctions in such a short time. Hedge funds and private equity funds have a lot of money to buy distressed assets and they're looking for a place to put it to work and are increasingly looking into insolvency cases to find good buys."

He added that with interest rates expected to go up and a wave of foreclosures anticipated early next year, he could be getting even busier very soon. He said that he believes the feverish auction market is acting as a "Band-Aid" on the foreclosure market.

Gilhuly has handled several auctions recently, including one representing Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates, Ltd. in its $97 million acquisition of three California wineries run by Legacy Estate Group: Freemark Abbey in Napa Valley, Arrowood in Sonoma County and Byron in Santa Barbara County.

He's not the only one planning to get busier. Richard W. Lasater, managing partner Foley & Lardner LLP Los Angeles, confirmed that his office is staffing up on bankruptcy lawyers. Many other firms, including Sidley Austin LLP and Skadden Arias Slate Meagher & Flora LLP, maintain that their corporate and bankruptcy lawyers transition between caseloads driven by economic profitability and subsequent hardship.