The Rothbloom Law Firm

Howard Rothbloom has listened to the stories of thousands of clients who have sat with him in his comfortable office at the century-old Marietta Square just north of Atlanta. They are stories of fear, of guilt, of regret, of uncertainty and of anguish. And they are never easy stories for people to tell; each story is intensely personal.

"A client once said to me, 'When you owe more money than you can afford to pay, you feel as if your life is threatened,'" says Mr. Rothbloom, his steady tone evoking calm and a measured approach to his work. "What we do relieves the pressure and stress. Too much debt can impact a person's physical and mental wellbeing and threatens the loss of home and family. These are not bad people; they have suffered some financial misfortune, sometimes as a result of poor planning and bad decision making, but more often because of unfortunate circumstances."

"When you owe more money than you can afford to pay, you feel as if your life is threatened."

"Clients often say, 'I am not like the typical person who files for bankruptcy.'" Yet there is no one typical person who files for bankruptcy, Mr. Rothbloom asserts. Dressed in a crisp, white dress shirt and tie on a hot Georgia summer afternoon, the law firm he began twenty-five years ago is winding down at the close of a busy week of handling bankruptcy cases for those many typical people - members of the community, members of families, members of prestigious businesses and professions. It's quiet, except for the sounds of colleagues filing away the week's work and traffic humming on the street outside. Leaning back in his chair surrounded by a wall of law books, photographs, artwork and mementos from his world travels, and his Eagle Scout award, Mr. Rothbloom takes a moment to consider the past two and a half decades of his work. He recalls the many people that he has helped, all the work that he has done to end the harangue of sometimes merciless collectors and alleviate the pressure of crippling debt.

"My favorite part of practicing law is counseling people," he says. "The most important part of what I do is behind closed doors, with just one or two people sitting with me. I am taking my knowledge about bankruptcy and applying it to people's problems, coming up with solutions and then implementing them.These problems are all about money, or, I should say, the lack thereof; and these are problems that can be fixed."