"First Step" Pro Bono Bankruptcy Project

by Becky Rolland

The idea to help battered women by providing pro bono bankruptcy services came to me when I asked a friend why she had continued to live with her abusive ex-husband. With a desperate look, she answered, "Financial difficulties." It was then that I thought: if I could help battered women find a way to get a "fresh start," a term often used in bankruptcy advertisements, perhaps they could find the strength to take their first step towards freedom from abuse.

An Idea Becomes Reality

The first two things I needed to begin were volunteers to help and clients who needed help. Since I have been a bankruptcy paralegal for ten years and have been a member of the Massachusetts Paralegal Association (MPA) since 1991, networking was the easy part. For six months I collected every business card, flyer, brochure, and phone book listing of social service agencies, women's organizations, and therapists or health care providers who had anything to do with assisting victims of domestic violence.

As I began to make phone calls, contacts led to more contacts. I knew it was time to start to compile a mega-mailing list.

Fortunately, at the MPA retreat in February, I met Janice Kennedy, former MPA pro bono chair and an MPA director, and newly elected MPA director Leonor Desmarais. When I explained the pro bono bankruptcy project, they told me that MPA was seeking a Project of the Year and that they would be happy to work with me in making this idea a reality.

After several telephone conversations and e-mails between Janice, Leonor, and the newly appointed pro bono co-director, Lisa Shapiro, we worked up a plan of action on who, what, when and how this project would take effect.

The Game Plan

The mission of First Step Pro Bono Bankruptcy Project is to help battered women and/or victims of domestic violence by providing pro bono bankruptcy services. First Step will monitor volunteer lawyers and paralegals to make sure that the same basic services will be provided free of charge to all who qualify. The First Step Project will start on a local level, with the hope that it will serve as a blueprint plan to be imitated in other states.

The most practical and cost-effective method to begin implementing the program will be to provide bankruptcy intake sheets to area shelters, social service agencies and volunteer lawyers. These intake sheets will be completed by potential clients and returned to our office along with necessary paperwork such as copies of outstanding credit card bills, mortgage and car loan information, a current pay stub and any other pertinent information regarding law suits pending, tax return status, etc.

Once this paperwork is received, a First Step volunteer paralegal will input the data into a bankruptcy software program. The bankruptcy forms, approximately 13 pages, will be printed and mailed to a volunteer lawyer from our referral list. Upon receipt, the attorney will set up an appointment to meet the client, review the drafted bankruptcy petition, make any necessary changes, and file the petition on the client's behalf.

Paralegal and legal services to prepare and file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition will be provided on a pro bono basis, but the client will be responsible for the $200 filing fee. As is usual in the bankruptcy arena, legal services will be provided pro bono up to and including attendance at the Section 341(a) creditors meeting. It will be up to the attorney's discretion as to whether there will be a charge for any additional court appearances or legal services required after the creditors meeting.

The Time Frame

In phase one of the First Step Project, paralegal volunteers will be involved in the initial planning stages. This includes defining who will qualify for pro bono services by utilizing a standard income guideline (although the intention is not to turn anyone away who needs assistance), advertising in order to provide a network of volunteer lawyers and paralegals, and working within our budget for mailings and advertisement.

By setting up the mailing list and by advertising for volunteers in any and all publications that allow public announcements free of charge, including public access television stations, we plan to get the word out immediately to potential volunteers and clients.

In phase two, the paralegal volunteers of the First Step Project will begin community outreach by visiting shelters and providing informative seminars to victims of domestic violence. Some victims may see bankruptcy as another form of shame. We hope that, by educating the public about the different types of bankruptcy, we will help to clear up the many misconceptions about bankruptcy.

By phase three, our project should be up and running. The leaders of the project - Leonor, Lisa, and I - will touch base weekly to review the status of pending bankruptcy petitions and determine whether the paperwork is being completed and forwarded to attorneys on a timely basis. If telephone availability becomes an issue, I will install a 1-800 help line that will provide the client with a pre-recorded message of how First Step works.

In phase four, we will apply for non-profit status from the Internal Revenue Service so that First Step may conduct monthly seminars on bankruptcy law and use the attendance fees to generate funds to cover filing fee costs for those in need. Should some cases be of a more complex nature, these funds would be available to cover any legal fees that may be incurred.

A Long-Term Commitment

When I first began thinking of this project, I knew the beginning would be like planting a seed, nurturing it, and then watching as the tree takes a life of its own, with branches of paralegals and lawyers reaching out to those in need.

I firmly believe that the good we put out into this world comes back to us three-fold. As the owner of my own business, I am extremely grateful that I am able to give back to those less fortunate than I, to a community that sometimes knows no way out and that is laden with shame.

I sincerely thank MPA, particularly Janice Kennedy, Leonor Desmarais and Lisa Shapiro, for their input and assistance with First Step. Thanks to NFPA for providing this national exposure for First Step.

Becky Rolland is the president/owner of Freelance Paralegal Services of Billerica, MA, which specializes in bankruptcy law. Prior to starting her own company, she worked as a bankruptcy paralegal specialist for the Chapter 13 Trustees in the Eastern and Western Divisions of the District of Massachusetts, the United States Justice Department as Interim Chapter 13 Trustee, and various law firms. Throughout her tenure as a bankruptcy paralegal, she has assisted attorneys with training paralegals. She has conducted seminars on bankruptcy law and self-employment for the Massachusetts Paralegal Association and Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education.