I recently filed a Chapter 7 case for a young man to get out of debt from a car repossession and credit card debt due to loss of income. Two weeks later I filed a Chapter 13 case for his parents to help them save their home from mounting mortgage arrearages.
Both cases went very well. The son received a discharge of all of his unsecured debt through the Chapter 7; and his parents had their Chapter 13 plan confirmed and are now on their way to paying back a percentage of their unsecured debt while getting current on their home mortgage and keeping their home!
After the meeting of creditors for the parents’ Chapter 13 the father said something
interesting to me that I had not thought of before. He told me that he finds it very unique that our law firm can span the ages, making he and his wife comfortable, while also making his son comfortable going through the bankruptcy process.
This made me think about how true it is that each circumstance and situation is unique and individualized. We tout that we are not a cookie cutter law firm, and that we formulate plans to fit each individual client’s needs; but it had not occurred to me before that in doing so we also make each client feel important and comfortable in going through a very scary process.
Bankruptcy is a process that we deal with every day. I think it is often easy to become calloused towards what clients go through in making such a huge life decision, and I am glad that by keeping the focus on our clients we are able to lessen the burden and make them feel comfortable as we walk them through the process. I appreciated the compliment this client gave me, and the renewed focus it gave me to keep helping people as individuals, not just case files.
Julie J. Moradi-Lopes