Student Loan Bankruptcy Lawyer: What They Do, What They Cost, and How to Find a Real One

A student loan bankruptcy lawyer helps you erase federal or private student loans in bankruptcy by showing the court that repaying them would be an undue hardshipUndue HardshipThe legal standard a borrower must meet to discharge federal student loans in bankruptcy under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8). Courts apply different tests, most commonly the Brunner Test or the Totality of the Circumstances Test.. Almost any attorney can file a bankruptcy case. Only a small number across the country run student-loan discharges. This page covers what that specialist does, how discharge works in 2026, and what hiring one costs.

What a student loan bankruptcy lawyer does — and why the field is so small

The community of lawyers who genuinely discharge student loans is tiny. Plenty of attorneys will file a routine bankruptcy that wipes out credit cards and medical bills. Far fewer will take on the extra step of proving undue hardship under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8), and fewer still have done it more than once or twice.

Nationally, two attorneys focus on student-loan discharge as a core part of their practice: me (Stanley Tate) and Josh Cohen. A handful of others do this work well within their own states. When people ask me for a name, this is the curated list I give — not a padded directory, just the lawyers I know do the work:

Stanley Tate — based in Kansas City, works with borrowers nationwide.

Josh Cohen — Connecticut and Vermont; the other attorney who takes discharge cases nationally.

Jay Fleischman — California and New York.

Christie Arkovich — Florida.

Latife Neu — Washington.

Natalie Jean-Baptiste — Southern District of New York.

What the specialist actually knows. A real student-loan bankruptcy lawyer understands the different loan types the U.S. Department of EducationU.S. Department of Education (ED)The federal agency that oversees federal student aid programs, issues regulations for federal student loans, and is the ultimate lender on Direct Loans. makes (Direct, FFEL, Perkins, Parent PLUS) and how private loans differ; the repayment and forgiveness alternatives that may make discharge unnecessary; the undue-hardship standard and how your local court applies it; and how to build and file the adversary proceeding that puts your discharge in front of a judge.

Specialist vs. a general bankruptcy filer. The lawyer who files your main bankruptcy case and the lawyer who handles your student loans do not have to be the same person. A general bankruptcy attorney can discharge your other debt competently and still have never run a single undue-hardship case. If wiping out the student loans is the point of filing, that specific experience is what matters — not how many bankruptcies the firm files overall.

How discharging student loans in bankruptcy actually works now

Student loans are not automatically erased when you file bankruptcy. To clear them, you (or your lawyer) file a separate lawsuit inside your bankruptcy case — the adversary proceeding — and ask the court to find that repaying the loans is an undue hardship under § 523(a)(8). Most courts measure that with the Brunner testBrunner TestA three-part legal standard many bankruptcy courts use to decide whether repaying student loans would cause undue hardship. It considers current income, likely future circumstances, and good-faith effort to repay.; the Eighth Circuit and, in practice, much of the First Circuit use a totality-of-the-circumstances approach instead.

The current DOJ process. Since November 2022, there has been a defined process for federal loans. You file the adversary proceedingAdversary Proceeding (AP)A separate lawsuit filed within a bankruptcy case, required to seek discharge of student loans. The borrower files the AP against the loan holder and asks the court to find undue hardship., then submit a sworn Attestation laying out your income, expenses, and circumstances. The Department of Justice reviews it and applies rebuttable presumptions in your favor when certain facts are present — for example, you're 65 or older, you have a disability or chronic injury, you've been unemployed for at least five of the last ten years, you didn't finish the degree, or the loans have been out of school for more than ten years. The government and your lawyer then work toward a stipulated result, and the court rules.

This process is current and stable. The DOJ guidance page was updated in March 2026, and the Attestation form was revised in May 2025 — but that revision only refreshed the expense figures and standards. The framework is the same. So if you've heard that discharge got harder or that the process went away, it didn't: the 2022 process is still in effect in 2026.

Which loans it covers. The DOJ process applies to Direct and Department-held loans, and since an October 2023 guidance letter (updated August 2024) it also covers FFEL and Perkins loans. It does not cover private student loans. Private loans can still be discharged for undue hardship the older way, but the analysis is different — see private student loans in bankruptcy.

Why it still takes craft. The word "attestation" makes it sound like a form you fill out and you're done. It isn't. The real work is still in how the facts are framed, packaged, and presented — the same judgment that used to go into litigating these cases. That matters most in the edge cases: the borrowers who don't land in one of the clean presumption categories. If you're 58 instead of 65, or your income loss has run six years instead of the full pattern the presumptions reward, the outcome depends heavily on how the case is built. That framing is where a specialist earns their fee. Our student loan bankruptcy success rates page gives a sense of the odds.

A note on Chapter 13. People often assume Chapter 13 is the answer for student loans. It usually isn't what discharges them. A Chapter 13 plan can reorganize how you pay for three to five years, and an adversary proceeding can be filed inside a Chapter 13 case, but the discharge itself still turns on proving undue hardship — the same standard as in Chapter 7. If someone tells you Chapter 13 automatically fixes your student loans, that's worth a second opinion. How Chapter 13 actually interacts with student loans has the details.

How to choose a student loan bankruptcy lawyer — cost, questions, what to expect

The experience that actually matters. A law degree is the only credential required to call yourself a student-loan bankruptcy lawyer — there's no board certification or special designation to look for. So what matters is whether the attorney has actually filed these cases, not whether they say they handle student loans. Ask how many undue-hardship cases they've filed and how they turned out. A real specialist can point to concrete outcomes. For example, I helped a single mother reopen a closed Chapter 7 case and discharge more than $80,000 in private student loans — that's the kind of specific, been-there experience worth confirming before you hire.

What it costs. Most specialists, including me, charge a flat fee paid in installments rather than by the hour, so you know the total before the case starts. Fees generally start around $3,500 and can run $20,000 or more, depending on how many loans you have, whether they're federal or private, and how complex your circumstances are. A straightforward federal case with strong presumption facts sits near the bottom of that range; a multi-loan private case with contested facts sits near the top. A rock-bottom flat fee quoted before anyone has asked about your loans is usually a sign the attorney hasn't sized up the work.

The paid consultation. The initial consultation with a specialist is usually paid, and it's worth it. In that meeting the lawyer reviews your loans, income history, and circumstances and tells you honestly whether discharge is realistic — or whether an income-driven repayment plan, settlement, or another route makes more sense before you file. Getting that read before filing is the point of meeting early.

Questions worth asking. When you sit down with a candidate, a few questions separate the specialists from the generalists:

Which undue-hardship test applies where I live? They should know whether your court uses Brunner or the totality-of-the-circumstances standard, and what that means for your facts.

How many student-loan discharge cases have you filed? Few attorneys file even one a year. You want someone who does.

Have you dealt with my lender or servicer before? Not required, but each lender defends these cases differently, and prior experience helps.

Who actually handles my case? Given the stakes, you want the lawyer working your case directly — not a paralegal as your main point of contact.

How is your fee structured? Confirm the flat fee, the installment schedule, and exactly what it covers.

What representation looks like. Once you hire, the lawyer builds the adversary proceeding, prepares and files the Attestation, handles the back-and-forth with the government or servicer, and represents you through to the court's decision. Most cases resolve through that structured process rather than a dramatic trial — the decision usually comes on the papers, not in a courtroom.

Can we help you figure out if discharge is realistic?

If you want a straight read on whether discharging your student loans in bankruptcy is realistic for your situation, we can take a look. Tell us a bit about your loans and where things stand, and we'll tell you honestly whether it's worth pursuing — no pressure either way.

Tell us about your situation