Client intake for bankruptcy and insolvency.

The person calling is usually ashamed and behind on the facts. They know they owe money; they rarely know to whom, how much, and which debts are secured. The intake has to draw the list patiently: each creditor by name, the amount as stated, whether anything is pledged against it, and whether the person signed a guarantee. It also has to find out what has already started: a garnishment, a lawsuit, a seizure date, a demand letter. On the creditor side, the same intake captures the debtor and every other creditor the person knows of. The conflict check is long, because every name on the list is a party.

• Whether the person is a debtor, a creditor, a guarantor, or a director of a company in trouble.
• Whether the debts are personal, a business's, or both, and the business's legal name if so.
• Every creditor the person can name, with the amount owed as they state it.
• Which debts are secured against something: the home, a vehicle, equipment, receivables.
• Any personal guarantee the person has signed, and for whom.
• Assets in outline: the home and its mortgage, vehicles, savings, a business, anything owned with someone else.
• Income now, and whether it has changed recently.
• Any collection action already started: a garnishment, a lawsuit, a demand letter, a seizure or foreclosure notice, with the dates as written.
• Whether the person has already spoken to a trustee, an administrator or a debt agency, and what was said.
• Any prior filing or proposal, and when.

• Every creditor named, including banks, lenders, landlords, suppliers and the tax authority.
• The debtor, and every other creditor, where the person is a creditor.
• Any trustee or administrator already involved.
• Business partners, co-directors and co-guarantors.
• A spouse or co-owner of any asset.
• Any lawyer or agency the person has consulted about the debts.

A garnishment already running, a court date on a creditor's claim, a seizure or foreclosure date, a bank freezing an account, or a demand letter with a date printed on it. The intake records each as the person states it and flags the matter to the lawyer. It never tells the person whether a filing would stop any of it, whether a date has passed, or whether to pay one creditor before another.

• It never recommends a filing, a proposal or any other route, or says which the person qualifies for.
• It never says whether a particular debt would be discharged or survive.
• It never says whether a deadline on a notice, a claim or an appeal has passed.
• It never advises on moving, selling or protecting assets.
• It never contacts a creditor, a trustee or a collection agency.

The machine takes the statement. The lawyer takes the case.