Don’t file blind. Get the analysis first.
Free debt analysis for clients in Arkansas and New Mexico. Before we recommend anything — bankruptcy, no action at all, or fighting back — we sit down and look at your situation. Bankruptcy is one tool. Sometimes you don’t need it.
Admitted: U.S. Supreme Court · U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Supreme Court of Arkansas · Supreme Court of New Mexico
The free analysis comes first.
Most lawyers who advertise “bankruptcy” sell bankruptcy. We don’t. We look at the whole picture — what you owe, what you earn, what you own, who’s suing you, and whether they can actually collect — and we tell you the truth about your options. Sometimes the answer is Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. Sometimes it’s nothing at all. Sometimes it’s pushing back in court.
1. Are you judgment-proof?
If your income is exempt (Social Security, disability, certain pensions), you don’t own non-exempt property, and you have no wages a creditor can garnish — you may already be functionally judgment-proof. The collector can sue and win, and still collect nothing. Filing bankruptcy in that situation costs money you don’t need to spend. We’ll tell you that up front.
2. Is the debt even valid?
A lot of debt that gets sued on in Arkansas and New Mexico is past the statute of limitations, owned by a junk-debt buyer who can’t prove the chain of title, or stacked with charges that violate state and federal consumer-protection law (FDCPA, FCRA, state unfair-trade statutes). We have had collection lawsuits dropped after countersuing the creditor. When the leverage is on the other side of the table, that’s where we use it.
3. If bankruptcy is the right call — Chapter 7 or 13.
Chapter 7: for clients who qualify under the means test. Most unsecured debt — credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, deficiency judgments — gets discharged. Roughly four months from filing to discharge.
Chapter 13: for clients with regular income who need to catch up a mortgage or vehicle loan, address tax debt, or who don’t qualify for Chapter 7. A three- to five-year repayment plan replaces creditor collection with one court-supervised monthly payment.
What to bring to the analysis
- Your last two years of tax returns
- Your most recent two paycheck stubs (or year-to-date if self-employed)
- A list of who you owe and roughly how much
- Any lawsuits, summonses, or garnishment notices you’ve received
Fighting back — not just folding.
Most consumer-debt lawsuits in Arkansas and New Mexico are filed by junk-debt buyers who paid pennies on the dollar for the account. They count on you not showing up. That’s where the real money is for them — and that’s where we go to work.
Standing & chain of title
To win a collection case, the plaintiff has to prove they actually own the debt — with the original contract, the assignments, and the account history. A surprising number of cases collapse the moment we make them produce it.
Statute of limitations
Arkansas and New Mexico both have hard limits on how long after the last activity a creditor can sue. We check the dates. If the case is time-barred, that’s a complete defense — and in some circumstances, suing on a known time-barred debt is itself a violation of federal law.
Counterclaims under the FDCPA
The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act gives consumers actual statutory damages plus attorney’s fees against debt collectors who violate it — threatening false legal action, misrepresenting the debt, contacting you after a cease letter, the works. We have had debt collection lawsuits dropped because the collector did not want to defend the FDCPA counterclaim we filed back at them. Sometimes the right answer is to make the lawsuit cost more than the debt is worth.
If bankruptcy is still the right call
The moment a Chapter 7 or 13 case is filed, federal law freezes most creditor activity — phone calls, lawsuits, wage garnishments, repossessions you’re still paying on, most foreclosure sales. The discharge wipes eligible debts permanently. Most clients keep their house, their car, their retirement, and their household goods. The only way to know what your specific case looks like is to walk through it once — and that walk-through is the free analysis.
Your case is handled by Asa and Alyza together.
Bankruptcy is a serious filing. We don’t hand it to one person and hope for the best. Asa King — the supervising attorney — reviews and signs every petition, every schedule, every motion, and personally appears at the §341 meeting and any court hearing. Legal advice, strategy, and court appearances are his.
Ms. Alyza Olmilla, JD, holds a Juris Doctor and is admitted to practice law in the Philippines; in the U.S. she works as a paralegal under attorney supervision. She brings the procedural fluency and document discipline of a trained lawyer to the part of the file that lives or dies on detail — intake, document collection, schedule preparation, deadline tracking, and communication with the trustee’s office.
Practically: you get two sets of eyes on your file. Asa makes the legal calls. Alyza makes sure nothing slips. Together that’s why our cases don’t fall through the cracks — and why trustees and opposing counsel deal with a clean, complete file every time.
Six courts deep.
Admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, a federal court of appeals, two state supreme courts, a tribal court, and the federal immigration agency. One attorney, broad federal reach.
Czech Bar (ČAK) Foreign-Lawyer admission in progress.*
* Sitting for the foreign-lawyer recognition examination administered by the Česká advokátní komora (Czech Bar). Admission to practice Czech law is pending exam result and registration; until then, no Czech-domestic legal services are provided.
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Free 30-minute consultation.
Call, email, or send a short note — whatever you have, that's the start. There is no charge and no obligation. If your matter is outside what I do, I will tell you and, where possible, point you to someone who does.
Free, 30 minutes, scheduled by phone or email.
Mail only. No walk-ins — all consultations are by video.
European visa clients: free video consultation, USCIS electronic filing.
Evening calls available for European clients on request.