A Note From the Team ✍️

NextChapter is proud to announce a new partnership with Student Loan Toolbox! To kick off this new partnership, we are hosting a free Student Loan and Bankruptcy Symposium next week! We also have a great lineup of free upcoming webinars in the next month listed below. Interested in seeing a new NextChapter partnership or webinar topic? We would love to hear from you! Email us at hello@nextchapterbk.com.

Student Loan and Bankruptcy Symposium 🚀

Many consumers are feeling the heat from their student loan balances with a national average of $28k owed per borrower. Most consumers aren’t aware of the program updates and unique opportunities to find relief.

NextChapter is excited to partner with Student Loan Toolbox to provide a free educational symposium for attorneys! Join us to learn how to best assist your clients and increase your profit per client in bankruptcy. Register for free using the links below!

Weds, March 1st at 11am ET: Student Loan Basics

Learn the Alphabet soup of student loan acronyms and what they mean for your client. Payment plans, default issues, players and their roles. It’s a quick overview of the student loan landscape.

Weds, March 1st at 12:30pm ET: NextChapter Workshop

This live workshop will guide you through NextChapter’s online bankruptcy software. From setting up your firm’s free account to preparing and filing your first case, you will have all the tools to get started immediately!

Weds, March 1st at 1:30pm ET: IDR Account Adjustment

Learn about the IDR Account Adjustment and how it can speed up forgiveness for Federal student loan borrowers.

Thurs, March 2nd at 1pm ET: Navigating the Attestation Form

SLTB & NC will walk you through the steps to complete the Attestation form and where information can easily be found from a client bankruptcy case in NextChapter.

Thurs, March 2nd at 2pm ET: Fresh Start for Federal Student Loans

A unique once-in-a-lifetime offer from the Department of Education can get defaulted Federal loans fixed with a 5-minute phone call. Get Federal loans back on track quickly.

Want a free case with NextChapter? Make sure to register for at least one webinar along with pre-registering for our upcoming Bankruptcy Week! By pre-registering, you will be the first to know dates, speakers, and more! Register here!

Upcoming Webinars 🖥

Don’t miss our upcoming webinars! This month's featured webinar is today with our co-host USIO! In this webinar, we will be going over how our payments integration will make your firm filing easier, faster and more efficient.

We will discuss how you can create invoices, add fees line-by-line, and send them to your clients via email. Additionally, you’ll learn how you can process one-time payments using ACH or debit card, create payment plans based on time intervals or custom dates, log cash or check payments made in person, invite your client to view the invoice in our innovative payment portal, where they make payments, create and schedule payment plans, and much more. There will be time at the end for anyone who has questions

All Upcoming Webinars:

Tue, Feb 21, 2023, 3:00 PM EST - NextChapter Payments with Usio

Wed, Feb 22, 2023, 2:00 PM EST - MyChapter Training

Tue, Mar 7, 2023, 2:00 PM EST - Credit Report Integration

Wed, Mar 22, 2023, 2:00 PM EDT - NextChapter Training: Additional Documents

Chapter 13 Plan Package Highlight ✨

• Chapter 13 Plan for Southern District of Texas Revised 12/1/2022

• Chapter 13 Plan for Southern District of Ohio Revised 1/17/2023

• Chapter 13 Plan for Northern District of California Revised 1/1/2023

• Southern District of California Form added: Rights & Responsibilities of Ch 7 Debtors and their Attorney

• NextChapter Notices Update: Option to “Select All” after filtering

• Bug fixes

Industry News 🗞

Bankruptcy filings continue to rise nationally year-over-year and January saw one of the biggest hikes since the pandemic. While filings are still below pre-pandemic figures, data provided by Epiq shows that filings across all chapters were up 18% in January 2023 compared to January 2022. Chapter 13 filings continue to increase substantially at 34% in January, a trend that’s been constant over the last few months.

Many are attributing the rise in bankruptcy filings to consumers’ increased dependency on credit cards and home equity loans to cope with the financial pressures from inflation and the rising cost of living. A recent report released by TransUnion found that not only is credit usage growing significantly YoY, but credit card delinquency is also trending upwards.

One important thing to note is that these increases are more prevalent with Gen Z consumers, “who have seen growth of 19% in credit card originations YoY and 64% in bankcard balances over the same period.”

With the rise of financial strain for Gen Z, now might be the time to consider how your law firm is reaching younger generations of consumers for help with filing for bankruptcy. Many firms are reaching broader audiences through social media and online ads. Learn more about law firm marketing through social media to serve younger audiences such as Gen Z here.