If you’re a small business in Front Royal and you need help on either the debtor or the creditor’s side of a bankruptcy, Jarvis Law is right around the corner. If you are situated east of Winchester—all the way east to Leesburg—or you live or work in Berryville or Woodstock, even as far down as Luray, you’re only an hour away from our main office. Because of our central location in “Hell Town,” Jarvis Law can offer both actual and virtual appointments to consumers, businesses and anyone who is contemplating or is involved in any chapter of bankruptcy—even chapter 12, which covers family farms (and fisherpeople).

Bankruptcy is a practice area I love, and because I love it, I am comfortable in it. Talking about debt relief, or the automatic stay, or adequate protection—on down the line of topics—feels like wearing an old college sweatshirt. Comfortable. I’ve been wading through the Bankruptcy Code since 1995—my second year at Marshall Wythe School of Law at William and Mary.

To me, it has always seemed fair that just like in most holy scriptures, so too in America: your debts can be forgiven after a period of several years. In Deuteronomy 15.1, for example, it says: “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission of debts.” The U.S. Bankruptcy Code, similarly, allows a debtor to file for personal chapter 7 relief eight years after his or her last filing. Corporations are not required to wait any length of time (with a few exceptions) after filing a chapter 11 reorganization. Debtors have to wait four years to file chapter 13 plans after receiving a chapter 7, 11 or 12 discharge.

In exchange for this fresh start a bankruptcy can give a debtor, the federal bankruptcy courts make you follow a strict set of rules. The same thing applies to your lawyer. More rules and checks: a trustee watches over you and your lawyer. She or he also reports to the federal judge in charge of your case. The best aspects of American law: checks and balances, and they apply to everyone.

To me, as an attorney, I like the mercy aspect of bankruptcy, and I appreciate the rules that apply to everyone affected by a case. It has always seemed to me that in most cases, everyone (debtor, creditor, humans all) receives equitable and fair treatment under the law. And while debtors do in fact get (as so many people describe it to me when they ask questions) a “get out of jail free card,” the bankruptcy process itself makes sure that those who can pay do pay for that “freedom.”

No matter what debt or credit-related issue you’re facing, either as a consumer or a business, Jarvis Law is here to help you find creative solutions to your legal problems. Please visit us online at jarvislaw.org, call 540 546-0220 or visit in person at 29 Crescent Street in downtown Front Royal. We can help.