Will Bankruptcy Lawyers Be Obsolete By 2020?
WILMINGTON, Del. (PRWEB) December 29, 2017 -- No longer will consumers be forced to hire a lawyer to file bankruptcy because BankruptcyAnywhere.com democratizes the process. Founded by Mark Billion, a Columbia Law School graduate, this software harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to make bankruptcy easy and affordable. Says Lance Liebman, “As a former dean of Columbia Law School, it is no surprise to me that our alumni are on the cutting edge of both the law and technology. I am excited by Mark's work on artificial intelligence and its application to the Bankruptcy Code, especially given its potential to dramatically reduce legal costs for lower income filers.”
Until now, consumers facing bankruptcy had only two choices: pay an attorney or fill out the forms by hand. At nearly $1,900.00, attorneys are out of reach for many in financial trouble. On the other hand, correctly creating at least fifteen separate legal documents is nearly impossible for the average filer. The National Bureau of Economic Research has determined that this cost and complexity leaves nearly 1 million Americans unable to file for bankruptcy.
BankruptcyAnywhere.com changes the game. Explains Billion, “People are so tech savvy that, with the dawn of AI and the internet revolution, the market needed a digital do-it-yourself solution for bankruptcy. And this DIY bankruptcy option needed to be far cheaper -- legacy law firms charge too much given the consumers that they serve.”
In many ways, Billion’s comments echo the conventional wisdom that the legal market is prime for disruption by SAAS products. These products permit consumers to enter their data into software that has the legal analysis already coded in. Built with web2py, a framework with a strong emphasis on security and the winner of the InfoWorld.com’s Technology of the Year award, BankruptcyAnywhere.com dramatically reduces the cost of a successful bankruptcy. Web2py was created by DePaul University's Professor Massimo Di Pierro, who commented, “I am happy to see the technology leveraged to help consumers solve their financial problems. I fully support BankruptcyAnywhere.com's consumer-driven mission.”
Sources:
Legal Fees: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/average-attorney-fees-chapter-7-bankruptcy.html
NBER Availability of Consumer Bankruptcy: http://www.nber.org/papers/w17807
Five Year Average Chapter 7 Filings: http://www.uscourts.gov/news/2016/07/27/june-2016-bankruptcy-filings-down-69-percent
Massimo DiPierro Contact Information: MDiPierro [at sign] cs [dot symbol] depaul [dot symbol] edu
Web2Py Background Data: http://web2py.com/
Lance Liebman Contact Information: lliebman [at sign] law [dot symbol] columbia [dot symbol] edu
Prime for Disruption: https://www.legalbusinessworld.com/single-post/2016/11/06/Will-AI-and-technology-disrupt-Law-Firms
Kristie Byorek, BankruptcyAnywhere.com, http://www.bankruptcyanywhere.com, +1 3023574568, [email protected]
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