Bankruptcy lawyer markets to reluctant clients

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By Emily Kelchen | for Raise the Bar

If the threat of a recession is realized, bankruptcy filings are likely to increase. Or perhaps it would be better to say the number of people who could benefit from filing for bankruptcy will go up. Whether those people actually consider filing for bankruptcy and are able to find an attorney who is willing to take their case is another story. Raise the Bar sat down with Ryan Blay, a partner at WM Law in Lawrence, Kansas, to explore the challenges these issues present. 

How do you go about marketing a legal service like bankruptcy? I suspect that your potential clients may be reluctant to seek you out since bankruptcy is often a last resort and can hold a social stigma. 

It’s tricky. So part of what I do is market directly to clients to explain when to seek bankruptcy protection, when NOT to, what the pitfalls look like, if any, and so forth. The other part is marketing to referral sources like CPAs, real estate agents, non-bankruptcy attorneys and bankers. Some of these folks know just enough about bankruptcy to be dangerous. But in both cases, it is good practice to explain the concepts of bankruptcy in a simpler way without any bankruptcy lingo.

And you try to put a positive spin on it? 

There’s no spin. The fact is bankruptcy is one of the few safety valves we have for people who are struggling financially. It's not perfect and there are times that we can't file cases without our clients losing assets (or being forced into high repayment plans to keep those assets) but it's a major chance at a fresh start and an opportunity to eliminate the emotional strain that comes with debt. When people know what bankruptcy actually looks like, they are much more open to it. Part of my job is getting that message out there. 

You’re working to spread the word about the benefits of bankruptcy, but caseloads in your area are already full. You’ve even described it as a bit of a “legal desert.” What does that look like in practice?

When I was first starting 15 years ago, there were more attorneys who would take bankruptcy cases sporadically and dabble in it. Today, if you are looking at smaller Chapter 11 and Chapter 12 cases, there are maybe three to four other attorneys in the entire state of Kansas who can do what I do. That's nice job security for me, but it's a challenge, especially if one or two of those other attorneys are representing creditors. It’s a growing access to justice gap.

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Raise the Bar is curated and written by Emily Kelchen and edited by Bianca Prieto.