The Northern District of Florida Bankruptcy Pro Se Assistance Clinic (the “Clinic”) is a nonprofit organization comprised of attorney member volunteers. The Clinic collaborates with other legal organizations to provide unrepresented individuals access to legal assistance in all divisions of the Northern District of Florida. The Clinic is funded by the Northern District of Florida Bankruptcy Bar Association (the “Association”), and received initial funding from the American College of Bankruptcy Foundation.
This initiative was established in 2025 by the Association with the support of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida (the “Court”). This program comes on the heels of the District’s Reaffirmation Assistance Program (“RAP”) through which volunteer attorneys assist self-represented debtors navigate the reaffirmation process.
The central mission of the Clinic is to provide valuable legal resources which address unmet needs in the community, with a focus on the Northern District of Florida (the “District”), and to establish a pattern for future professional involvement in service to the community and to the Court.
The Clinic was formed to provide legal advice to low income debtors and creditors who would otherwise not have access to such legal assistance. The Clinic will connect debtors with qualified volunteer attorneys for three main purposes: (i) to offer legal assistance to debtors that have either already filed bankruptcy without a lawyer or who are considering filing bankruptcy and intend to represent themselves, (ii) to offer legal assistance to unrepresented creditors in a bankruptcy proceeding, and (iii) to ensure that anyone interested in representation has the resources necessary to contact and potentially hire a qualified bankruptcy lawyer.
In addition to serving the public and the Court, the Bankruptcy Pro Se Assistance Clinic is a means to serve the community, train new bankruptcy professionals, and to assist the Court with explaining the bankruptcy process to pro se debtors and creditors. This saves time during Court hearings, prevents unnecessary filings and contested matters and reduces the burden on the Clerk’s Office staff and intake personnel. The District consistently has one of the highest populations of self-represented debtors – the Clinic will help those debtors through one of the most difficult times in their lives.
Our volunteers are committed to assisting the public who find themselves challenged by the basic legal questions and cannot afford to hire a lawyer. The entire bankruptcy bench, bar and community benefit immensely from the Clinic’s service,
which provides substantial value at a relatively low cost compared to the services provided.