Paralegal School Students Have Difficult Time Understanding Bankruptcy Law

Yesterday, I served as a judge in a contest organized by a local paralegal school. The class of prospective paralegals had just completed their 4 week bankruptcy unit and the teacher divided the students into three groups. One group presented a paper and oral explanation about Chapter 7, another about Chapter 13 and a third about Chapter 11. Besides me, one of the bankruptcy judges from the Northern District of Georgia served as contest judges.

Although the students were motivated and enthusiastic, it was fairly obvious to me that 4 weeks at an evening paralegal school is simply not enough time to learn even the basics of bankruptcy. Among the assertions made by the students were these statements:

• Georgia has only one credit counseling agency
• Debtors file plans in Chapter 7 cases
• All taxes are priority debts
• Debtors send all their income to the Chapter 13 trustees, who, in turn pay all of the debtor’s bills
• There are over 100 federal bankruptcy filing districts in Georgia

My goal in recounting these misstatements is not to make fun of the paralegal students. I can’t imagine that it is too much fun to try to become educated about the Bankruptcy Code in a 4 week survey class. My point here is that these students were all well intentioned and they wanted to be helpful. What they lacked in knowledge they made up in enthusiasm and conviction.

I could not help but imagine any one of them meeting with a prospective client and setting out totally incorrect information. This experience was a wake up call for me. Consumer bankruptcy law is not easy nor is it intuitive. Lawyers without experience and knowledge could easily make the same mistakes as these paralegals.

If you are a lawyer, you cannot outsource your fact gathering and client advice work to inexperienced non-lawyers. If you are a paralegal, you must stay away from anything that touches on legal advice. And if you are a prospective debtor in bankruptcy, turn on your radar. \

Legal advice should come only from lawyers, not paralegals. If you accept advice from anyone who is not a lawyer, could be risking your future.