If overwhelming debt is keeping you up at night, you have options. Our New York bankruptcy attorneys help individuals, families, and business owners use the federal Bankruptcy Code to stop creditor harassment, halt foreclosure and wage garnishment, and obtain a fresh financial start. When you call us at 212-233-1233 during business hours, you are connected directly to the lead attorney, Albert Goodwin, never to an associate or to an assistant.
Filing bankruptcy is a major decision, and the right chapter depends on your income, your assets, your debts, and what you are trying to protect. We sit down with each client, review the full financial picture, and explain in plain English which approach (Chapter 7, Chapter 13, Chapter 11, or a non-bankruptcy debt relief alternative) gives you the best outcome.
Our Bankruptcy Practice Areas
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Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
Chapter 7 is the fastest and most common form of personal bankruptcy. For qualifying debtors, it wipes out credit card balances, medical bills, personal loans, deficiency judgments, and most other unsecured debt in roughly four to six months. New York's generous exemption scheme lets most filers keep their home, their car, their retirement accounts, and their household property. We handle the means test analysis, prepare and file the petition, attend the 341 meeting with you, and shepherd the case to discharge.
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Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Chapter 13 is the right tool when you earn too much for Chapter 7, when you need to catch up on a past-due mortgage to stop foreclosure, or when you want to keep non-exempt property a Chapter 7 trustee would otherwise sell. You repay creditors over three to five years on terms set by federal law, often at pennies on the dollar for unsecured debt, and walk away with a discharge of any remaining balance.
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Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Chapter 11 lets a business reorganize while it keeps operating. We represent small and mid-sized New York companies through Subchapter V and traditional Chapter 11, restructuring secured debt, rejecting unprofitable leases, negotiating with creditor committees, and confirming plans that preserve enterprise value. Chapter 11 is also available to high-income individuals whose debts exceed the Chapter 13 ceilings.
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Foreclosure Defense
The moment a bankruptcy petition is filed, an automatic stay halts a pending foreclosure sale. We use that breathing room either to negotiate a loan modification, to cure the arrears through a Chapter 13 plan, or to surrender the property on your terms. If you have a foreclosure auction date on the calendar, call us; timing in these cases is everything.
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Creditor Harassment
Constant collection calls, threatening letters, lawsuits, frozen bank accounts, and garnished paychecks stop the day your case is filed. Federal law makes it a violation of the automatic stay for a creditor to continue collection activity, and willful violations expose creditors to damages. We file fast when garnishments and account freezes are draining your income.
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Debt Relief Alternatives
Bankruptcy is not the right answer for everyone. In some cases, direct negotiation with creditors, a structured workout, debt consolidation, or simply defending a single collection lawsuit produces a better result. We tell you honestly whether bankruptcy or a non-bankruptcy strategy fits your situation.
Why Choose Us as Your Bankruptcy Attorneys
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Direct Attorney Access
At our firm, the attorney whose name is on the door is the attorney handling your case. You will not be passed to a paralegal mill or a rotating cast of associates. Every call, every hearing, every strategic decision goes through Albert Goodwin.
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Eighteen Years in New York Courts
Our firm has practiced in New York since 2008. We file regularly in the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts for the Southern District (Manhattan, Bronx, Westchester) and Eastern District (Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Long Island), and we know the local trustees, the Chapter 13 standing trustees, and the judges who will preside over your case.
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Honest Advice About Your Options
Many bankruptcy mills file the same petition for every client regardless of fit. We don't. Some of our most valuable consultations end with a recommendation not to file, because a one-time settlement, a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act claim, or simply riding out a statute of limitations is the smarter play.
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Bankruptcy Code Fluency
Successful bankruptcies turn on details: timing the petition to avoid the look-back periods, structuring exemptions to protect maximum value, lien-stripping wholly unsecured junior mortgages in Chapter 13, and navigating the discharge exceptions for taxes, student loans, and domestic support obligations. We handle those details so you don't have to.
How We Work With Clients
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The First Call
When you call us, you are not put on a hold queue, screened by an intake team, or routed to a salesperson. You speak directly with Albert Goodwin. The first conversation is typically twenty to thirty minutes. We listen to the situation, ask the questions that matter for the analysis (income, assets, debts, pending lawsuits, time-sensitive deadlines), and tell you in plain English what the realistic options look like. If the right answer is not bankruptcy (sometimes it is settlement, sometimes it is a statute-of-limitations defense, sometimes it is doing nothing), we say so.
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The Engagement
If you decide to retain us, we send a written engagement letter that quotes a flat all-in fee for the case. The fee covers the petition, the schedules, the means test, every required hearing, and ordinary post-filing motions. There are no hourly surprises. Court filing fees and required course fees are itemized separately so you can see exactly what you are paying for and to whom.
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The Petition
Once engaged, we send you a document checklist and a budget worksheet. We meet with you a second time (in person, by phone, or by video) to walk through the draft schedules line by line before anything is filed. Albert personally prepares every petition that leaves the office. Petitions assembled by paralegals from template software miss things; we don't.
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After Filing
The day the petition is filed, the automatic stay attaches and creditor activity stops. Albert attends the 341 meeting of creditors with you and handles any contested matter that arises in the case. You will have his direct phone number and direct email address throughout the engagement.
Common Situations We Handle
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Wage Garnishment Has Started
A New York creditor with a judgment can take 10 percent of gross wages or 25 percent of disposable income, whichever is less, every paycheck. We routinely file Chapter 7 petitions within a week of engagement when garnishment is the problem, in many cases stopping the next payroll cycle.
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The Bank Account Has Been Frozen
A judgment creditor's restraining notice freezes twice the judgment amount in the debtor's account. The automatic stay releases the freeze. Funds levied within ninety days of filing may be recoverable as a preference.
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The Foreclosure Sale Is Days Away
A Chapter 13 petition filed before the auction stops the sale, and the arrears can then be cured through the plan over up to five years while regular monthly payments resume. We have filed petitions on the morning of an auction. Earlier is better, but not impossible.
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The IRS or NYS Tax Department Is Collecting
Older income taxes can be discharged in Chapter 7 when they meet the timing and filing requirements. Newer taxes that survive a Chapter 7 discharge can be paid through a Chapter 13 plan with no further interest or penalties accruing on most older liabilities.
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The Business Is Failing
For small business owners, the right combination of business and personal bankruptcy filings can preserve operations, eliminate personally guaranteed debt, and protect the owner's home and retirement. We handle Subchapter V Chapter 11 filings, traditional Chapter 11, and the coordinated personal filings that often accompany them.
Areas We Serve
We represent clients throughout the five boroughs of New York City (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island) as well as Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, and Orange Counties. Most consultations can be held by phone or video; in-person meetings are available at our Midtown Manhattan office at 31 W 34th St.
To discuss your situation in confidence, call us at 212-233-1233 or email [email protected]. The initial consultation is free.
What to Bring to the First Meeting
You do not need all of this to call us. It is what we will eventually need to give you a real answer instead of a general one.
- Recent pay stubs, or profit and loss figures if you are self-employed
- The last two years of filed tax returns
- Bank statements for every account, including ones barely used
- The collection letters, court papers, and notices you have received
- Deeds, titles, and any loan or lease on a home or vehicle
- Any prior bankruptcy filing, in any state, however long ago
Questions People Ask Before They Call
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Will I lose my house or my car?
Usually not. New York exemptions protect a substantial amount of equity, and a secured loan you keep paying can generally be kept. Which chapter suits you often turns on this question, so it is one of the first we work through.
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Will everyone find out?
A filing is a public court record, but in practice it is not published or announced. Employers are not notified, and the people who learn of it are generally the creditors listed.
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Can I file if I have filed before?
Often yes, though a prior filing affects what relief is available and which chapter makes sense. Tell us about it early rather than late; it changes the plan rather than ending it.
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Is bankruptcy the only option?
No, and it is not always the right one. Negotiated settlements, workouts, and defending the collection case on its merits are real alternatives. We will say so when one of them fits better.
Where We Practice
- Manhattan
- Brooklyn
- Queens
- Bronx
- Staten Island
- Nassau County
- Suffolk County
- Westchester County
