Letter From Our Attorney Paul Choate

I believe if you are considering one of the hardest events an individual can go through - bankruptcy - you should know who is on the journey with you. I would like to introduce myself; my name is Paul Choate. I was born in Oklahoma City and moved to Seminole, OK, in the late 1970s. I am the eighth of ten kids, and I grew up on a horse and cattle farm West of Seminole during the boom-and-bust years of the 1970s and 1980s. I completed Law School in 2006 at the University of Oklahoma School of Law. I served in the Oklahoma National Guard (B Battery, 1/160th FA. 45th ID!) during college. After I passed the bar, I went into practice as a general practice attorney with my father. The year I graduated, the bankruptcy law changed. The process became more technical. Many attorneys (including my father) quit filing cases because of these changes. I chose to gradually grow my practice towards bankruptcy. I have focused on bankruptcy since 2009 and have filed for over 5000 clients in all districts in Oklahoma.

Debt has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My father opened up one of the first payday loan companies in Seminole, OK, around 1984. One of my first jobs was as a debt collector going to people’s homes as a sixteen-year-old kid. I wasn’t very good at it, and frankly, neither was my father. The business muddled along for twenty years before finally shutting down in the 2000s.

Growing up, my family experienced bankruptcy multiple times as my father tried to save the family farm in the 1980s during the various oil and gas collapses and the savings and loan crisis. Banks could randomly recall loans when they needed money, and many farms went under when they did not have liquid assets, including ours. I know the pain of watching the repo person drive off with farm equipment and livestock and losing the land you ran around on as a child. My father focused on fighting banks for himself and other farmers and ranchers. He saw it as a point of pride that he had a judgment against him in the millions of dollars for the amount of legal work he cost his bank in his bankruptcy. Unfortunately, fighting banks is not very profitable, and we were stuck for many years working through the loss of the farm.

In my career, I have worked for banks, loan companies, debt collectors, debt settlement companies, and individuals experiencing debt. I know what debt feels like. I know what options are available and what the law can and can’t do for you. I have chosen to limit my practice to representing individuals in bankruptcy because I believe in the relief it can provide during one of the worst times of your life. It is not magic. It is federal law. There are hundreds of thousands of cases filed every year. I know what you can do. Many of the things you hear or think you know about bankruptcy are incorrect. In a free thirty-minute consultation, I can answer your specific questions about your specific situation. We can develop a plan - within the law - to get you a fresh start and find relief for you and your family.

Thank you for your time and consideration of my firm.

- Paul J. Choate