What we handle (and what we don't)

• Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy

  The most common consumer bankruptcy — wipes out qualifying unsecured debt in about 90–120 days. Most working families in San Diego County qualify on the means test.

  Chapter 7 details

• Chapter 13 reorganization

  A court-supervised 3-to-5-year payment plan. The right tool when you're behind on a mortgage or car you want to keep, or when income is over the Chapter 7 threshold.

  Chapter 13 details

• Bankruptcy-adjacent emergencies in California

  Wage garnishments, foreclosure sales, repossessions, creditor lawsuits, debt collector harassment — when the answer involves filing fast, we handle it.

  How we stop garnishments

A focused practice means saying no honestly when your case is outside it. Below are the things we used to handle but no longer do, plus the things we never handled — and a true direction to send you for each.

• Family law (divorce, custody, support)

  Eugenio practiced family law earlier in his career and we still get the calls. The firm no longer takes family-law matters — full focus on bankruptcy means we don't split attention. For family law, the San Diego County Bar Association's Lawyer Referral and Information Service is a good starting point. If you have a bankruptcy AND a family-law matter, we coordinate timing with your family lawyer.

• Criminal defense

  Misdemeanors, felonies, DUIs — not our practice. The San Diego Public Defender (if you qualify) or a private criminal-defense attorney is the right call. Note: criminal restitution and DUI judgments are usually NOT dischargeable in bankruptcy.

• Immigration (visas, green cards, naturalization, removal)

  Bankruptcy and immigration intersect in subtle ways and we can talk through that intersection — but the immigration filing itself needs an immigration attorney. Catholic Charities and the American Immigration Lawyers Association locator are reasonable starting points. The good news: filing bankruptcy does NOT directly affect citizenship, DACA, TPS, or work authorization.

• Personal injury (car accidents, slip-and-fall, medical malpractice)

  Different practice, different specialists. The California State Bar's Lawyer Referral Service can match you. If a pending PI case overlaps with a bankruptcy, the recovery is property of the bankruptcy estate — call us before settling.

• Bankruptcy outside California

  We're licensed in California only. Bankruptcy is federal law but exemptions are state-specific and the local court rules vary. A licensed attorney in the state where you'll file is what you need.

• Business reorganization (Chapter 11, Chapter 12)

  We handle consumer Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 only. Small businesses with under $3 million in debts may qualify for Subchapter V (a streamlined Ch. 11), but it's a different practice. The San Diego Bankruptcy Forum has a referral network for business cases.

• Debt-settlement / debt-relief negotiation

  These aren't legal practice — they're for-profit services that try to negotiate down what you owe. Eugenio strongly recommends NOT using them unless you've already ruled out bankruptcy. They typically cost more than a Chapter 7 attorney fee, take longer, do real credit damage, and a chunk of what they negotiate is taxable income to you. If you're considering debt-relief, please call us for an honest comparison first — even if the answer is "stay out of bankruptcy."

Why focused practice

Bankruptcy is complicated enough that doing it well at scale is a full-time job. Local court rules, trustee preferences, exemption strategy, means-test math, the Statement of Financial Affairs, the 341 meeting choreography, reaffirmation analysis, post-discharge cleanup — there's a lot to know. A bankruptcy attorney who also dabbles in three other practice areas can't track the case-law changes, the USTP cycle updates, the local-court memos. We can. That's the trade.