What is a Bankruptcy Specialist?

Bankruptcy is one of the worst things that can happen to an individual or business. Fortunately, there are bankruptcy specialists that can help minimize the negative effects of this disastrous financial situation. In some cases, a bankruptcy specialist can even help people avoid filing for bankruptcy in the first place. But if it is necessary, they guide bankrupted individuals and help them get back on their feet.

The duties of bankruptcy specialist revolve around communicating with their clients, analyzing financial documents, and ensuring that clients follow bankruptcy regulations. They also spend a lot of time reviewing legal documents and educating clients about bankruptcy procedures in court.

A bankruptcy specialist may be a lawyer, a banking professional, or a financial advisor. In any case, a college degree is most likely required for this role. Furthermore, a bankruptcy specialist must be well-versed in the bankruptcy filing, procedures, as well as how to avoid bankruptcy in the first place.

This job may be done alongside the main profession. A bankruptcy specialist can make an additional income of around $33,000 a year by offering bankruptcy services, on average.

What Does a Bankruptcy Specialist Do

There are certain skills that many bankruptcy specialists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills and research skills.

Learn more about what a Bankruptcy Specialist does

How To Become a Bankruptcy Specialist

If you're interested in becoming a bankruptcy specialist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 50.0% of bankruptcy specialists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 4.8% of bankruptcy specialists have master's degrees. Even though most bankruptcy specialists have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Bankruptcy Specialist
Top Bankruptcy Specialist Jobs Near You

Bankruptcy Specialist Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of analyst you might progress to a role such as consultant eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title service manager.

Bankruptcy Specialist

Average Salary for a Bankruptcy Specialist

Bankruptcy Specialists in America make an average salary of $35,498 per year or $17 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $46,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $27,000 per year.
Average Bankruptcy Specialist Salary
$35,498 Yearly
$17.07 hourly
See More Salary Information

What Am I Worth?

salary-calculator

Roles and Types of Bankruptcy Specialist

The role of a bankruptcy specialist includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general bankruptcy specialist responsibilities:

  • Evaluates account and filing characteristics against legal precedents in order to identify/alleviate potential losses either monetary, or timeline in nature creates a proof of claim, which ensures the accuracy
  • Obtain appropriate court documents and load plan
  • Meet the bankruptcy timeline management requirements by ensuring timely processing of activities

There are several types of bankruptcy specialist, including:

Legal Extern

Role:

Let's rip the Band-Aid off, shall we? As a legal extern, you're probably not going to get paid. But what you take away from these opportunities may prove more useful in the longterm. What you'll take away from a legal externship will be experience and academic credit. Which really is priceless, if you ask us.

You'll have experience right off the bat within a legal setting. This definitely will give you an edge against your other colleagues. A legal extern is very similar to an internship, but is usually much shorter. So while you're getting the experience, you don't have to commit to it for as long.

Since being a legal extern won't last very long, it's a good way to see if you even want to work in the legal industry. It'll give you a glimpse into everything you will be doing, like conducting client interviews, making a court appearance, and even some legal research and writing. Just think of it as a very in-depth glimpse into "a day in the life" of a legal profession.

  • Average Salary: $47,238
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Attorney

Role:

An attorney's job is to be there for people who are down on their luck, legally, of course. They provide legal advice to individuals, businesses and even government agencies (yes, the government can get into trouble too).

While a degree in law may not sound too bad, this profession also requires that you pass the bar exam. Which, if you haven't heard of before, it's pretty difficult to pass. If you're willing to put in the study hours, though, the average attorney makes $122,960 a year. So that's definitely a plus.

  • Average Salary: $109,476
  • Degree: Doctoral Degree

Contract Attorney

Role:

Whether you're a recent law graduate or a seasoned professional with years of experience, becoming a contract attorney might be the best way to generate money using your legal skills. Working as a contract attorney may help secure your dream position, or it may help you make a steady income while you search for that dream job. Not only will you learn valuable skills, but you can also build a valuable network of professional contacts.

In general, a contract attorney works on legal cases on an as-needed or temporary basis. Contracts can be for a few days, a few weeks, or even a few years. Generally, a contract lawyer's core responsibility is drawing up and reviewing legal contracts and documents. They may also perform contract research, prepare case strategies, offer legal advisory services to clients, and support the litigation team.

This position requires a bachelor's degree, a Juris Doctor (J.D.), a law degree, and a Bar certification. Contract lawyers must possess excellent research and multitasking skills, be detail-oriented, and have an ability to adapt to new situations regularly. They may work for an agency, serve as a part of an in-house legal department, or work for a law firm.

  • Average Salary: $97,474
  • Degree: Doctoral Degree
View More

States With The Most Bankruptcy Specialist Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active bankruptcy specialist jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where bankruptcy specialists earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Bankruptcy Specialist Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California90$40,475
2Texas76$31,148
3Florida62$30,248
4New York61$37,069
5Georgia43$31,235
6Michigan41$28,991
7Massachusetts41$32,232
8Pennsylvania39$32,733
9North Carolina39$29,722
10Colorado35$35,821
11New Jersey33$36,782
12Arizona29$31,807
13Tennessee29$27,643
14Minnesota29$28,919
15Virginia28$37,503
16Maryland28$29,115
17Illinois26$31,045
18Washington26$31,240
19Indiana22$23,813
20Missouri21$24,843
21Utah20$30,930
22Iowa17$29,740
23Alabama17$27,889
24Kansas17$23,436
25South Carolina17$24,845
26Connecticut15$31,080
27Oklahoma14$25,417
28Arkansas14$21,134
29Ohio14$25,062
30Kentucky13$28,263
31New Hampshire12$32,971
32Oregon12$27,313
33Wisconsin12$25,365
34New Mexico11$34,703
35Nevada11$31,292
36Louisiana11$27,410
37Mississippi10$35,928
38Maine10$32,235
39Delaware10$27,433
40Nebraska10$25,376
41Idaho10$21,465
42Vermont9$33,956
43Rhode Island8$32,319
44South Dakota8$25,878
45Alaska7$29,891
46Montana7$18,310
47North Dakota6$36,906
48West Virginia6$26,499
49Wyoming6$20,570
50Hawaii5$29,456

Bankruptcy Specialist Education

Bankruptcy Specialist Majors

Business
31.8 %
Criminal Justice
7.8 %
Legal Support Services
7.8 %

Bankruptcy Specialist Degrees

Bachelors

50.0 %

Associate

23.7 %

High School Diploma

12.8 %

Top Colleges for Bankruptcy Specialists

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

4. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

5. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,308

Enrollment

6,819

6. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

7. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

8. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-State Tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

9. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

10. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

Top Skills For a Bankruptcy Specialist

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 7.6% of bankruptcy specialists listed relief on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and problem-solving skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Bankruptcy Specialist Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Bankruptcy Specialist templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Bankruptcy Specialist resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Bankruptcy Specialist Resume
Bankruptcy Specialist Resume
Bankruptcy Specialist Resume
Bankruptcy Specialist Resume
Bankruptcy Specialist Resume
Bankruptcy Specialist Resume
Bankruptcy Specialist Resume
Bankruptcy Specialist Resume
Bankruptcy Specialist Resume
Bankruptcy Specialist Resume
Bankruptcy Specialist Resume
Bankruptcy Specialist Resume
Bankruptcy Specialist Resume
Bankruptcy Specialist Resume
Bankruptcy Specialist Resume
Bankruptcy Specialist Resume

Bankruptcy Specialist diversity

Bankruptcy Specialist Gender Distribution

Female
Female
69%
Male
Male
31%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among bankruptcy specialists, 69.0% of them are women, while 31.0% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among bankruptcy specialists is White, which makes up 75.2% of all bankruptcy specialists.

  • The most common foreign language among bankruptcy specialists is Spanish at 66.1%.

Online Courses For Bankruptcy Specialist That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure  

1. Corporate & Commercial Law II: Business Forms, Financing & Governmental Regulation

coursera

This course is the second course in a two-part series on corporate and commercial law. In this part, we focus on three main topics: business organizations, business financing, and governmental regulation. In the first module, we discuss the characteristics of a number of the most common forms of business entities, such as corporations and LLCs. Module two is devoted to debtor-creditor relationships, including bank financing, debt financing, secured transactions, and bankruptcy. We wrap up the...

2. ESG Investing: Industry Impacts & Transformations

coursera

Through this ESG Investing: Industry Impacts & Transformations course, students with basic knowledge of traditional financial products can explore how certain financial market sectors have been transforming, amid a heightened focus on risk factors that underpin the three pillars of ESG. For example, what led age-old, iconic companies such as Borden and Dean Foods to file for bankruptcy? How are traditional oil giants BP and Exxon Mobil managing the energy transition? And what steps are firms...

3. Effective Legal Office Administration

udemy
4.4
(798)

Effective Legal Office Administration...

Show More Online Courses For Bankruptcy Specialist
Job type you want
Full Time
Part Time
Internship
Temporary

Best States For a Bankruptcy Specialist

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a bankruptcy specialist. The best states for people in this position are California, Virginia, New York, and North Dakota. Bankruptcy specialists make the most in California with an average salary of $40,475. Whereas in Virginia and New York, they would average $37,503 and $37,069, respectively. While bankruptcy specialists would only make an average of $36,906 in North Dakota, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. North Dakota

Total Bankruptcy Specialist Jobs: 6
Highest 10% Earn:
$48,000
Location Quotient:
1.61

$36,906

Avg. Salary

View 6 Bankruptcy Specialist Jobs In ND

2. Vermont

Total Bankruptcy Specialist Jobs: 9
Highest 10% Earn:
$46,000
Location Quotient:
2.93

$33,956

Avg. Salary

View 9 Bankruptcy Specialist Jobs In VT

3. District of Columbia

Total Bankruptcy Specialist Jobs: 8
Highest 10% Earn:
$54,000
Location Quotient:
1.19

$41,766

Avg. Salary

View 8 Bankruptcy Specialist Jobs In DC
Full List Of Best States For Bankruptcy Specialists

How Do Bankruptcy Specialists Rate Their Jobs?

Working as a Bankruptcy Specialist? Share your experience anonymously.
Overall Rating*
Career Growth
Work/Life balance
Pay/Salary

Top Bankruptcy Specialist Employers

Most Common Employers For Bankruptcy Specialist

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Citi$92,804$44.62149
2Ford Motor$84,836$40.7919
3IBM$82,106$39.4712
4JPMorgan Chase & Co.$81,956$39.40135
5GE Capital$70,522$33.9011
6Bank of America$44,894$21.58350
7U.S. Bank$43,851$21.0826
8Wells Fargo$43,782$21.05386
9Regions Bank$42,919$20.6318
10SunTrust$42,863$20.6158
Show More

Bankruptcy Specialist Videos

Bankruptcy Attorney Vancouver WA (360) 205-5054

Bankruptcy Specialist Related Careers

Bankruptcy Specialist Related Jobs

What Similar Roles Do

Resume For Related Jobs

Updated April 6, 2023