Student Loan Practice Tips and Malpractice Traps: What Every Attorney Needs to Know

Federal student loan programs, created as a reaction to the launch of the Sputnik satellite during the Cold War, have enabled generations of Americans to attend college. With the advent of private student loans and for-profit schools, the United States is now drowning in more than $867 billion dollars of student loan debt.  Student loan debt has outpaced credit card debt of $704 billion dollars.

Student loan borrowers are delinquent and in default and student loan debt, which can rarely be discharged in bankruptcy, has reached crisis proportions. But there are solutions!

In this program, Student Loan attorneys Nancy Cavey and Karen Cody-Hopkins discuss the Federal student loan system, the different types of Federal student loans, the life cycle of a Federal student loan, the types of repayment plans, the steps for getting clients out of delinquency, default, wage garnishment, selecting the right repayment plan for your client, student loan forgiveness programs and discharge programs. They pull back the curtain on the ugly world of private student loans and discuss remedies and strategies for dealing with private student loan debt.  

Nancy and Karen, who are also bankruptcy lawyers, explain the pitfalls of Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the traps waiting for the unwary and what you need to know about an Adversary Proceeding in Bankruptcy Court.  They guide you through an analysis of a student loan and what information you need to know before finding the right solutions for your client’s student loan debt.

Learning Objectives:

I.     Grasp the shocking student loan statics and demographics

II.    Know the 11 types of federal student loans

III.   Recognize the key players in the federal student loan world

IV.   Gain familiarity with:

• Repayment cycle of a federal student loan
• Delinquency and default of a federal student loan
• Curing the default of a federal student loan
• The 8 federal loan repayment plans
• Administrative discharges of federal student loans
• Federal student loan forgiveness programs

V.     Know the ugly world of private student loans

XI.    Understand why bankruptcy is rarely the solution

XII.   Explore adversary proceedings in bankruptcy

XIII.  Chart a course for your clients