Bankruptcy Can Be a Fresh Start: This Firm Removes the Stigma to Meet People Where They Are

In a Nutshell: “Bankruptcy” is a word no one wants to hear when speaking with a financial advisor — or anyone. Yet bankruptcy protections can provide a fresh start to rebuild your finances the right way. Across the state of Arkansas, many who are looking to turn the page on debt work with the down-to-earth, people-first team at WH Law, led by CEO Brandon Haubert. Financially struggling Arkansans trust WH Law to give them advice they can trust and guidance they can count on.

Most bankruptcy attorneys have plenty of experience in the legal aspects of their field — proper training, credentials, and courtroom familiarity. But only some have the empathy to help people identify the root cause of their problems and find a way to solve them before moving on to court.

Yet empathy is what’s needed as people contemplate going down what many consider the most one-way street in finance — the road to bankruptcy court.

Honestly, we may not have fully appreciated that until we spoke with Brandon Haubert, CEO of WH Law. WH Law is a “boots, not suits” law firm based in the capital city of Little Rock, Arkansas, and that prides itself on a relaxed dress code and a disdain for legal jargon.

Declaring bankruptcy means placing one’s debts under the jurisdiction of the court for reorganization or discharge. Our conversation with Haubert helped us learn to view it less as closing a door and more as opening one up.

“Bankruptcy is a math problem, and sometimes the math doesn’t work out,” Haubert said. “We’re not yet back at pre-COVID bankruptcy levels in my state, but it does feel like we’re trending up.”

Most will have experienced a credit score decline in the hundreds by the time they arrive in bankruptcy court and will retain access only to the highest-cost, highest-risk credit. What’s more, your bankruptcy record remains on your credit report and continues to affect your credit score for up to seven years or more.

But bankruptcy can also be an opportunity to regroup with the advantage of a fresh financial start.

The WH Law team works only in Arkansas — you must file personal bankruptcy in the federal bankruptcy court for the district where you live. Whether you’re in Arkansas or elsewhere, we think Haubert’s view of bankruptcy may change your thoughts as it has ours. We hope it influences your choice of a bankruptcy attorney should you need one.

“The real reason someone declares bankruptcy is literally never the initial reason they tell you,” Haubert said. “The only way to address the issue is to figure out what’s really going on.”

Haubert partnered with a mentor immediately after law school before striking out under the WH Law brand in 2019. WH Law’s 11-member bankruptcy department in Little Rock covers all of Arkansas.

What impresses Arkansans about WH Law is what it isn’t. Haubert said many clients journeying to the Little Rock office find the modern steel-and-glass space runs counter to their stereotype of the typical law office plush with mahogany and brass.

Team members wear everyday attire — even jeans and ballcaps — instead of suits and other straight-laced courtroom garb and work casually at standing desks. Haubert knows he’s doing something right because these signals convey that the WH Law team is composed of people first rather than lawyers interested only in the bottom line.

“People are surprised when they meet us, but they like what they see,” Haubert said. “Our  brand reflects who we actually are.”

Not surprisingly, the bankruptcy team needs to find out who its clients really are in return. The mandate is to understand the underlying reason people come to the office seeking help.

Haubert said everyone has a reason for thinking bankruptcy is the answer. The challenge is determining whether that’s the case. Say, for example, a person comes to the office needing to file for bankruptcy because a lender is about to repossess their car.

“You may assume they’re here because they care about the car, but they don’t care about the car,” Haubert said. “Instead, they care about the implications of losing the car.”

They may be in the middle of a custody battle and are worried that if they lose their car, they’ll lose custody. They may have a 45-minute drive to work every day and no coworkers living around them, so they’re worried about losing their job.

“Sometimes, we’ll figure out a solution to another problem that will actually change how we deal with the bankruptcy,” Haubert said. ‘We’re going to talk to you about what’s really going on in your life and what we’re really trying to fix.”

We don’t normally think of law firms as serving customers, but that’s what they do. Sure, most firms like to call them clients, but those words mean the same thing. One is just dressed a little differently than the other.

Another refreshing change at WH Law is that it seems to understand that people hiring a law firm deserve an exceptional customer experience just as much as anyone else. Haubert learned early in his career to build customer solutions that solve pain points he experienced outside as a typical consumer.

For example, WH Law incorporated a sophisticated online scheduling platform after Haubert grew frustrated trying to schedule a personal appointment.

“I decided to offer people things I want and expect,” Haubert said.

Details such as communicating via text message rather than email help the firm tailor the customer experience to preferred modalities rather than tried-and-true lawyerly methods.

After clients fill out a form during the intake process, scheduling happens via text link. WH Law saves data for reuse, so clients don’t even have to type their names. They can just pick a time and schedule a consultation when convenient.

Furthermore, clients receive an app download link after they hire the firm. That app provides them with automatic notifications and a secure link to communicate and exchange materials with WH Law.

“We make it like what we expect from any business in 2024 as consumers,” Haubert said. “If this is what people think businesses should do, there’s no reason lawyers shouldn’t do it.”

As for jargon, there’s a reason it exists, which is to convey authority. Haubert and WH Law also know it’s perfectly reasonable to substitute or incorporate descriptions of legal concepts in everyday language. That’s what the team strives to do.

“When you use a term like discharging a debt, for example, people may think they have an idea what it means, but maybe they don’t,” Haubert said. “We just explain they won’t have to pay back the debt.”

People sometimes come to WH Law with a budgeting problem they think is a bankruptcy problem.

“Instead of helping them file for bankruptcy, we’ll explain the six steps we would take if we were in their shoes and how that’s probably going to work out positively for them financially,” Haubert said. “They can always come back and file if it doesn’t work out, but it might be a solution.”

On the other hand, sometimes the math doesn’t work out, as Haubert said above. That’s when the team springs into action to turn a negative into as much of a positive as possible.

Following a client’s initial call, WH Law begins the document collection, review, and prep work for an initial petition. In Arkansas, clients use Chapter 7 bankruptcy to discharge credit card debt, debt from personal loans, medical debt, obligations from judgments and lawsuits, and tax penalties and unpaid taxes. Clients use Chapter 13 bankruptcy to reorganize their debt.

Haubert said there are many reasons bankruptcy filings are increasing to pre-COVID levels in Arkansas. We’ll jump in to say there’s ample evidence of their rise across the U.S.

Haubert has observed the use of the term “foreclosure” trending online. We all know inflation has taken its toll since the pandemic. The Federal Reserve reports that the total U.S. credit card debt is over $1 trillion and is rising.

Meanwhile, Haubert and the WH Law team use their expertise to help Arkansans navigate the challenges of loan delinquency, default, and possible bankruptcy. Haubert said research demonstrates that those who emerge from bankruptcy free of debt often see their credit scores rise within as little as six months.

In fact, a creditor may prefer to approve a loan for someone with a low credit score but no debt and who is just emerging from bankruptcy than they would a person who has never been bankrupt but has thousands of dollars worth of debt. Bankruptcy can be a beginning as much as it is an end.

“It’s an area where we can clear up some miscommunication,” Haubert said.