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Areas of Practice

Consumer Bankruptcy

Hard times can happen to anyone. Bankruptcy is the law's way of giving honest people a fresh start, and we help you claim it.

A man at his kitchen table working through a stack of bills with a calculator

You Are Not Alone

Everyone Can Go Through Financial Struggles

A job loss, a medical emergency, a divorce, a business that didn't make it. Financial trouble is not a moral failing, it is something that can happen to anyone. And once it starts, the system makes it hard to climb out. High-interest credit card rates are designed to keep people in debt, where minimum payments barely touch the principal and one missed month buries you in fees.

Federal bankruptcy law exists for exactly this moment. It is not the end of anything. It is a fresh start, a legal reset that lets you protect what you have, deal with your debts honestly, and move forward with your life.

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Two Paths to Relief

Chapter 7 and Chapter 13

Chapter 7, A Clean Slate

Chapter 7 wipes out most unsecured debts, credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, in a matter of months. Illinois exemptions protect many of the things you rely on every day, and most filers keep what they own. It is the fastest route to a true fresh start for people whose income qualifies.

Chapter 13, A Structured Repayment

Chapter 13 reorganizes your debts into one affordable payment plan over three to five years, letting you catch up on a mortgage or car loan while keeping your home and vehicle. At the end of the plan, remaining qualifying debts are discharged. It is the tool of choice for stopping a foreclosure and saving a house.

A hand erasing the word DEBT from a chalkboard

Relief Starts Immediately

The Moment You File, the Pressure Stops

Filing bankruptcy triggers the automatic stay, a federal court order that takes effect immediately. It stops the harassing collection calls. It stops mortgage foreclosure. It stops wage garnishments, repossessions, utility shut-offs, and most lawsuits and collection actions, all at once, while your case moves forward.

For many of our clients, the first quiet week after filing is the first real sleep they've had in years.

The Dirksen Federal Building, home of the United States Bankruptcy Court in Chicago, with the red Flamingo sculpture

Why Experience Matters

Federal Law, Constantly Changing

Bankruptcy is federal law, practiced in federal court, with its own judges, trustees, means tests, exemptions, and deadlines, and the rules are constantly changing. Filing the wrong chapter, missing an exemption, or mishandling a filing can cost you property the law would have let you keep.

It is important to have an attorney who is experienced in federal bankruptcy law and keeps up with it. We evaluate your full picture, choose the chapter that serves you best, prepare the petition properly, and stand with you at every hearing until your discharge is in hand.

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You're Better Off with Balanoff

(312) 638-1600

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