I represent debtors because I like to help people and I get energized by representing the underdog. And I’m a bit of a cynic about civil litigation, especially family law. I thought I liked to argue a lot when I was in law school. But there is something really satisfying about clearing the decks, doing it quietly without banging my fist on the table and getting in anyone’s face, and bringing peace to people’s lives. Finances are everything. And my office helps people reorganize and restart their financial lives.

I love the interaction with people and learning about different things, especially things I have no clue about since I grew up in the suburbs of South Carolina, like the fact that diesel trucks can have more than a million miles, or that snowmobiles do not have odometers…. More than once, my clients have laughed at me for some of the dumb questions I ask about vehicles, machinery, agriculture, etc. (Things people know about around here.)

Another thing that can get really funny is how people assign values to items of property they own. Part of the form filling process requires Tracy, my paralegal, and I to review values to items of property our clients own. We make our best efforts, of course, and consult things like the NADA guides and the internet. However, some things, like household pets are difficult to put a dollar value on…and in those cases, we just let our clients answer the question. It’s hilarious how much—or how little—folks will value a pet, say a normal cat. I see everything from $20 to $2 to negative values given by clients…stuff like I’ll pay you to take the damn thing.

Bankruptcy can be the result of poor financial choices, and there’s a stigma because of it. But what I see a lot more frequently is that it is the result of circumstances outside of the client’s control, such as job loss, major medical problems. In our region of north central Idaho, there are a lot of boom or bust industries and a lot of people have to rely on the weather, or larger market forces, to be able to work, whether it’s for logging roads to thaw or for construction crew bosses to call people back to the job. We don’t live in a place with perfect weather or regular hours. Many people struggle with feelings of guilt and shame when they first sit down across from me. I try my best to calm their nerves and help them not feel alone. The truth is that a lot of Lewiston and this area are struggling.