Bankruptcy Advocacy Clinic

What We Do

The Bankruptcy Advocacy Clinic is a full-year clinic offered in partnership with Legal Services NYC (LS-NYC), the largest U.S. organization exclusively devoted to providing free civil legal services to low-income people. LS-NYC has neighborhood offices in every borough of New York City.

The Bankruptcy Advocacy Clinic is a full-year clinic offered in partnership with Legal Services NYC (LS-NYC), the largest U.S. organization exclusively devoted to providing free civil legal services to low-income people. LS-NYC has neighborhood offices in every borough of New York City.

The Clinic offers critical and timely legal assistance to New Yorkers. In July 2010, New York City unemployment was at 9.4%. And in the third quarter of 2008, the federal courts in Manhattan and Brooklyn recorded about 36% more bankruptcy filings than in the same period a year before. Yet, with the bankruptcy laws implemented in 2005, Congress has made it far more difficult to file for bankruptcy.

Under the supervision of Adjunct Professor William Z. Kransdorf, Coordinator of the NYC Bankruptcy Assistance Project (NYC BAP), students in the Clinic learn first-hand about bankruptcy law and practice. They meet and screen debtors, gather documents and information and prepare bankruptcy petitions for use in Chapter 7 pro se proceedings. When appropriate cases are available, students also take part in the preparation, filing and advocacy of Chapter 13 bankruptcy petitions, including representing debtors at creditor meetings, confirmation hearings, motion arguments and other court appearances.

Contact Us

William Z. Kransdorf
Clinic Director
Coordinator, NYC Bankruptcy Assistance Project
Legal Services NYC
40 Worth Street, Suite 606
New York, N.Y. 10013
[email protected]
646-442-3646

Our Clinic

How to Apply as a Candidate

Students can apply for the Bankruptcy Advocacy Clinic during the spring semester for the following school year. 

Attend a Virtual Clinical Information Session which is held for All Clinics for one day in April.

  • Next Date:   TBD

Submit an online application

  • Application URL:  

Upload the following within the online application:

  • Cover Letter stating interest in the clinic 
  • Current Resume
  • Unofficial Transcript printed from the Academic Record screen in UIS 

After submitting all required documents, an interview will be scheduled.

The Bankruptcy Advocacy Clinic is a two-semester, ten-credit clinic open to second and third-year students.

Participants attend a weekly, two-hour seminar class consisting of a case review roundtable and a discussion of assigned readings on a range of topics, including:

  • Bankruptcy law
  • Essential lawyering skills
  • Public policy of bankruptcy
  • Access to justice

In addition to attending the seminar class and participating in classroom discussions, students must perform 14 hours of bankruptcy legal work each week on site at the NYC Bankruptcy Assistance Project.