Bankruptcy law firm declares bankruptcy
DebtStoppers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
This past spring, Semrad Law Firm (more popularly known as DebtStoppers) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Gloating about the misfortune of others is certainly not my style. However, the fact is sometimes businesses (just like people, including my clients) run into hard times, or may not have always made the wisest of decisions.
My larger point for bringing up the DebtStoppers case is that it reveals the numbers of cases the law firm has been handling and the way it has been handling them.
In the summer of 2019, the firm was filing over 1,000 bankruptcy petitions per month. That has now dropped off to “only” 632 in June of this year. DebtStoppers was handling this volume of cases by using paralegals and call centers in Bulgaria. Of course, Bulgarians and paralegals need to make a living, and I’m sure that most of them are pretty good at what they do.
It makes me wonder whether this firm’s approach to representing people really and truly took into consideration the particular circumstances of each potential client who called DebtStoppers.
That is, when people in dire financial circumstances reached out to DebtStoppers and got connected to one of these call centers, did anybody ask the caller about his or her overall situation? Did anyone try to figure out whether some of the debts might not be legit? Or, did anyone inquire about whether certain debts should be contested in court? Or, what negative impact (besides the obvious hit to the credit report) a bankruptcy filing might have on future job prospects or security clearances? Or were callers just shoveled into the bankruptcy hopper to keep feeding the machine?
These are just a few questions and larger reasons to consider an attorney who fully understands how debt-buyer defense works. You have options, and the least that can be done is to ask these questions before settling.
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