First Step in Fixing Biased Bankruptcy Cycle: Getting Lawyers to Acknowledge There's a Problem
Chapter 13 bankruptcy is designed to protect assets like cars, homes, and retirement accounts.
Photographer: Jacob Kepler/Bloomberg
Breaking the cycle of sending Black debtors to the least protective form of bankruptcy starts with the attorneys advising them—but most of them don’t see racial gaps as a problem.
Faced with data on racial disparities in bankruptcy decisions, attorneys guiding those clients defended their decisions as providing the best advice for individuals’ situations, according to a study released Thursday. The survey, which built on Bloomberg Law reporting around racial gaps in bankruptcy, found most bankruptcy attorneys either claimed no knowledge of widespread racial disparities in bankruptcy or expressed little interest in addressing them.