Best Bankruptcy Lawyers in St. Louis (2026): 10 Firms Compared

Short answer:

The best bankruptcy lawyer in St. Louis for 2026 depends on the kind of relief you need, but for a bankruptcy-only practice with published flat fees, The Bankruptcy Company leads this comparison: a Brentwood firm that states $775 in attorney fees for a standard Chapter 7 and $60 upfront in attorney fees for a Chapter 13, with the full garnishment, levy and creditor-harassment menu on its own site. For scale and a remote filing process, Katz & Wulff brings 25-plus years, 7,000-plus cases and $70 million in debt eliminated; for a bankruptcy-only firm with all three chapters, A Bankruptcy Law Firm, LLC covers Chapter 7, Chapter 13 and small-business Subchapter V from downtown St. Louis; and for a case that mixes consumer debt with tax debt, The Law Office of Tracy A. Brown, P.C. brings a CPA-led practice running since 1997. For business bankruptcy and restructuring, Carmody MacDonald P.C. in Clayton is the commercial pick.

This guide compares lawyers St. Louis residents can hire for bankruptcy and debt relief — Chapter 7 liquidation, Chapter 13 repayment plans, small-business Chapter 11 and Subchapter V reorganisation, debt settlement, foreclosure defence, wage garnishment, repossession and creditor harassment, including claims under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. It covers cases filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, St. Louis division, and firms with offices in St. Louis City, St. Louis County and the wider metro, including Brentwood, Clayton, St. Charles, St. Peters and Crystal City. It does not cover student-loan-only practices that do not file bankruptcy petitions, or out-of-state bankruptcy mills with no St. Louis office. Every firm listed here has a St. Louis-area office and a working website, and every firm's bankruptcy scope is stated from its own published practice — three firms handle consumer bankruptcy only or almost only (The Bankruptcy Company, A Bankruptcy Law Firm and Ridings Law Firm), and the rest state their bankruptcy scope openly within a broader practice. This is the second list on this site with no owner-directed #1 placement: no firm here is featured, and every firm's website link is nofollow.

Quick facts:

• Chapter 7 is liquidation: it does not involve a repayment plan, and the trustee gathers and sells the debtor's nonexempt assets and uses the proceeds to pay creditors. One primary purpose is the discharge of certain debts to give an honest individual debtor a “fresh start”; a Chapter 7 discharge is available only to individual debtors, not to partnerships or corporations (11 U.S.C. § 727(a)(1), uscourts.gov).
• Chapter 13 is the “wage earner's plan”: it enables individuals with regular income to repay all or part of their debts over three to five years. If current monthly income is below the state median the plan is for three years unless the court approves a longer plan “for cause”; if above the median it generally must be five years, and no plan may exceed five years (11 U.S.C. § 1322(d), uscourts.gov). A key advantage is saving a home from foreclosure by curing past-due mortgage payments through the plan. Chapter 13 is available only if unsecured debts are less than $526,700 and secured debts less than $1,580,125 (11 U.S.C. § 109(e), uscourts.gov).
• The means test decides who may use Chapter 7: if an individual debtor's current monthly income is more than the state median, the Bankruptcy Code requires a means test to determine whether the Chapter 7 filing is presumptively abusive, and the court may dismiss a case filed by an individual whose debts are primarily consumer debts if granting relief would be an abuse (11 U.S.C. § 707(b), uscourts.gov).
• No individual may be a debtor under Chapter 7, 11 or 13 unless, within 180 days before filing, they received credit counselling from an approved credit counselling agency, with narrow exceptions for emergencies and for districts where the U.S. Trustee has determined there are insufficient approved agencies (11 U.S.C. §§ 109, 111, uscourts.gov). A separate personal financial management (debtor education) course is required after filing, before discharge.
• Filing a bankruptcy petition automatically stays most collection actions against the debtor or the debtor's property — lawsuits, wage garnishments and telephone calls demanding payment — without any judicial action (11 U.S.C. § 362, uscourts.gov). The stay does not cover certain actions listed in § 362(b), and Chapter 13 adds a special stay protecting co-debtors on consumer debts (11 U.S.C. § 1301(a)).
• St. Louis bankruptcy cases are filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse, 111 South 10th Street, 4th Floor, St. Louis, MO 63102, phone (314) 244-4500. The district has three divisions — Eastern (St. Louis), Northern (Hannibal) and Southeastern (Cape Girardeau) — and all documents must be filed in St. Louis (moeb.uscourts.gov).
• Court filing fees are $338 in total for a Chapter 7 case ($245 filing fee plus $78 administrative fee plus a $15 trustee surcharge) and $313 in total for a Chapter 13 case ($235 plus $78), under 28 U.S.C. § 1930(a) and the Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule (uscourts.gov). In a Chapter 13 case in the Eastern District of Missouri the filing fee must be paid through the plan, and individual filing fees may be paid in instalments under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1006(b) and Local Rule 1006 (moeb.uscourts.gov).
• Missouri sets its own bankruptcy exemptions. The homestead — the dwelling house and the land used with it — is exempt up to $40,000 in aggregate value (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 513.475, as amended by 2026 H.B. 1870, effective January 1, 2027, revisor.mo.gov). Household furnishings and goods are exempt up to $15,000 in aggregate, motor vehicles up to $5,000 plus up to $10,000 of any unused household-goods exemption, tools of the trade up to $3,000, and qualified retirement plans are protected (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 513.430, revisor.mo.gov). Older sources cite lower figures — including a $15,000 homestead — which are the pre-amendment amounts.

• A local office. Every firm here publishes a street address in the St. Louis area on its own site or on its address-matched Google panel, and we confirmed each one.
• A published bankruptcy practice, with scope stated honestly. Three firms handle consumer bankruptcy only or almost only (The Bankruptcy Company, A Bankruptcy Law Firm and Ridings Law Firm); the rest state their bankruptcy scope openly within a broader practice, and their profiles say so rather than overstating them as bankruptcy-only firms. Two firms publish only a practice-area listing for bankruptcy (Carmody MacDonald) or a single chapter mention (Wibbenmeyer Iannelli Law); their profiles say that rather than inventing a fuller bankruptcy menu.
• Coverage of all three chapters. We favoured firms that cover more than one chapter — Chapter 7 discharge, Chapter 13 repayment and, where a business is involved, Chapter 11 or Subchapter V — rather than ranking every firm as if every bankruptcy were the same case.
• Consumer depth first, commercial depth where it counts. We favoured firms that publish the consumer process — the means test, exemptions, the 341 meeting of creditors, reaffirmation and the automatic stay — and kept one commercial pick (Carmody MacDonald) for business bankruptcy and restructuring, rather than filling the list with firms that do not file consumer cases.
• Price transparency where the firm publishes it. We favoured firms that state their fees or offer free consultations on their own sites — The Bankruptcy Company publishes $775 in attorney fees for a standard Chapter 7 and $60 upfront for a Chapter 13; Ridings Law Firm has eliminated hourly billing in favour of flat fees set in advance — because a filer who cannot afford the lawyer cannot use the fresh start.
• Google ratings are reported, not used for ranking. Google star ratings and review counts on this page are reported as published on each firm's Google profile, checked monthly, and never decide rank order. A firm with no rating shown has no verified Google rating line on its firm record, not a zero rating. Ratings on this page were checked in Nov 2026; six firms (The Bankruptcy Company, Katz & Wulff, A Bankruptcy Law Firm, Groswald Law, Ridings Law Firm and Wibbenmeyer Iannelli Law) have no verified firm-level Google panel and so show no rating line.

Last reviewed Nov 2026

Bankruptcy lawyers in St. Louis: at a glance

Related: Debt and divorce often travel together — see our best divorce lawyers in St. Louis — and for injury claims that can change a family's finances, see our best personal injury attorneys in St. Louis.

How we ranked the bankruptcy lawyers in St. Louis

We ranked these firms on published bankruptcy focus, coverage of Chapters 7, 13 and 11/Subchapter V, consumer-process depth (means test, exemptions, the 341 meeting, reaffirmation and the automatic stay), price transparency and geographic spread across the metro — not on Google ratings, which are reported as published and never decide order. This list has no owner-directed #1 and no featured placement: The Bankruptcy Company leads on a bankruptcy-only practice with published flat fees, Katz & Wulff and A Bankruptcy Law Firm follow on scale and all-chapter coverage, The Law Office of Tracy A. Brown brings a CPA-led practice for cases with a tax-debt overlap, Groswald Law and Markwell Law bring virtual filing and St. Charles County process depth, Harness Law Office and Ridings Law Firm bring family-owned and flat-fee consumer practices, and Carmody MacDonald and Wibbenmeyer Iannelli Law close the list with the commercial pick and a straightforward Chapter 7 pick respectively.

The 10 best bankruptcy lawyers in St. Louis in 2026

How to choose a bankruptcy lawyer in St. Louis

• Match the firm to the chapter, not to the advertisement. A discharge case needs a Chapter 7 firm (The Bankruptcy Company, Groswald, Wibbenmeyer Iannelli); a save-the-house case needs a Chapter 13 firm (Markwell, Katz & Wulff, Tracy A. Brown); a business reorganisation needs a Chapter 11 or Subchapter V firm (A Bankruptcy Law Firm, Carmody MacDonald).
• Ask whether the firm files consumer cases in the Eastern District of Missouri, St. Louis division. Every firm on this list has a St. Louis-area office, but a firm that files in this district every week knows its trustees, its 341 meeting practice and its local rules.
• Ask about the means test and Missouri exemptions before you file. What you keep depends on them: the homestead exemption is $40,000 under § 513.475 as amended, and household goods up to $15,000 under § 513.430. A firm that cannot explain what you keep, for your numbers, has not read your case.
• Get the fee in writing, and understand what it is not. Court filing fees are fixed — $338 for Chapter 7, $313 for Chapter 13 — but attorney fees vary, and in a Chapter 13 case the filing fee must be paid through the plan. If a firm quotes a total price before seeing your debts, your income and your assets, it is guessing.
• Ask who will actually handle your case. Ask who prepares the petition, who attends the 341 meeting of creditors with you, and who answers your calls — at a high-volume firm, the attorney you meet may not be the attorney who files.
• Do not hire on a rating. Google ratings on this page are reported as published and never decide rank. A firm with no rating line has no verified line on its record, not a bad record — and the lowest-rated firm on this list, The Law Office of Tracy A. Brown at 2.3 from 3 reviews, is ranked fourth on its published scope and longevity, not last.

How to find the best bankruptcy lawyer in St. Louis

A step-by-step checklist for finding the right lawyer

• Decide what kind of relief you need before you call anyone. A discharge of unsecured debt (Chapter 7), a repayment plan that saves the house or the car (Chapter 13), or a reorganisation for a business (Chapter 11 or Subchapter V) — each answer points to a different firm on this list.
• List every debt, every asset and every source of income before the consultation. Credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, mortgage and car balances, tax debts, lawsuits and garnishments; house, cars, retirement accounts and anything else of value. The means test and the exemptions turn on those numbers, and the lawyer who sees them gives the useful advice.
• Note secured debts separately. Mortgage, car loan and any lien: whether you keep the property depends on the chapter you file, on Missouri's exemptions and on staying current — and a Chapter 13 plan can cure past-due mortgage payments where a Chapter 7 cannot.
• Complete the required credit counselling within 180 days before filing. No individual may be a debtor under Chapter 7, 11 or 13 without credit counselling from an approved agency, with narrow exceptions (11 U.S.C. §§ 109, 111, uscourts.gov). Do the counselling early so it does not delay the filing.
• Shortlist firms with a published bankruptcy practice. Look for a bankruptcy page that names the chapters, the process and the debts it handles — not a general practice list. Every firm on this page publishes one.
• Verify the lawyer's standing. The Missouri Bar's Official Directory of Lawyers lists every lawyer in good standing with the Supreme Court of Missouri, and its LawyerSearch service links lawyers accepting new clients with clients in need (mobar.org).
• Use the free consultation to test the firm. Most firms on this list offer one. Ask which chapter it recommends and why, what you keep and what you lose, what it costs in writing, who attends the 341 meeting with you, and what happens if a creditor objects. Hire the firm whose answers are specific to your debts, your income and your property.

What a bankruptcy lawyer actually does

A bankruptcy lawyer first tests whether bankruptcy helps and which chapter fits: the means test under 11 U.S.C. § 707(b), the Missouri exemptions under Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 513.430 and 513.475, which debts are dischargeable and which survive, and whether a Chapter 13 plan can save a house or a car that a Chapter 7 cannot. The lawyer then prepares the petition, the schedules listing every debt and asset, and the statement of financial affairs, makes sure the required credit counselling is done within 180 days before filing, and files the case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, where all documents must be filed in St. Louis. Filing triggers the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362, which stops most collection actions at once. After filing, the lawyer attends the 341 meeting of creditors with the client, answers the trustee's questions, handles reaffirmation of a car or mortgage debt where the client wants to keep the property, gets a Chapter 13 plan confirmed where one is filed, and sees the case through the debtor education course to discharge.

The Missouri bankruptcy process, step by step

• 1. Get credit counselling. Within 180 days before filing, complete credit counselling from an approved agency (11 U.S.C. §§ 109, 111). A debt-management plan developed during counselling must be filed with the court.
• 2. Gather the numbers and test the chapter. Debts, income, assets and secured loans. The means test decides whether Chapter 7 is available (§ 707(b)); the Missouri exemptions decide what you keep (§§ 513.430, 513.475); Chapter 13 eligibility also has debt limits — unsecured debts under $526,700 and secured debts under $1,580,125 (§ 109(e)).
• 3. File the petition in St. Louis. The case is filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse, 111 South 10th Street, 4th Floor, St. Louis, MO 63102. Filing triggers the automatic stay (§ 362), which stops most lawsuits, garnishments and collection calls at once; the court filing fee is $338 for Chapter 7 or $313 for Chapter 13.
• 4. Attend the 341 meeting of creditors. The debtor meets the trustee — and any creditor who appears — under oath, to answer questions about the debts, assets and financial affairs. A typical Chapter 7 debtor will not appear in court and will not see the bankruptcy judge unless an objection is raised.
• 5. Chapter 7: the trustee administers the case. The trustee gathers and sells nonexempt assets and pays creditors, and the honest individual debtor receives a discharge of the dischargeable debts (§ 727(a)(1)).
• 6. Chapter 13: the plan is confirmed and paid. The debtor proposes a plan to repay all or part of the debts over three to five years — three years if current monthly income is below the state median, generally five if above, and never more than five (§ 1322(d)) — and past-due mortgage payments can be cured through the plan, saving the home from foreclosure.
• 7. Complete debtor education and receive the discharge. A personal financial management (debtor education) course is required after filing, before discharge. In Chapter 13 the discharge follows completion of the plan; a Chapter 7 discharge can generally be received only once every eight years (11 U.S.C. § 727(a)(8)).

How much does a bankruptcy lawyer cost in St. Louis?

Two costs are fixed by law: the court filing fee is $338 in total for a Chapter 7 case and $313 in total for a Chapter 13 case (28 U.S.C. § 1930(a), Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule, uscourts.gov), and in a Chapter 13 case in the Eastern District of Missouri the filing fee must be paid through the plan, with individual fees payable in instalments under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1006(b) and Local Rule 1006 (moeb.uscourts.gov). Attorney fees are not fixed and vary by the firm, the chapter and the complexity of the case — this guide does not publish a market rate, because a firm that quotes a total price before seeing your debts, income and assets is guessing. What firms do publish is useful as a range marker, not a quote: The Bankruptcy Company states $775 in attorney fees for a standard Chapter 7 and $60 upfront in attorney fees for a Chapter 13, and Ridings Law Firm has eliminated hourly billing in favour of flat fees set in advance. Chapter 13 attorney fees are often paid through the plan rather than upfront, which is one reason a filer who cannot afford a Chapter 7 fee upfront can still file. Several firms on this list offer free consultations — ask every firm, in writing, for its fee, what the fee covers, what is billed separately, and, for a Chapter 13, how much of the fee is paid through the plan.

Questions to ask before you hire

• Which chapter do you recommend for my case — 7, 13, or 11/Subchapter V — and why?
• Do I pass the means test, and what happens if I do not?
• What do I keep and what do I lose — house, cars, retirement accounts — under Missouri's exemptions?
• Which of my debts will not be discharged — student loans, taxes, support, fraud debts?
• What is the total fee, what does it cover, and what is billed separately? How much is paid upfront, and how much through the plan if I file Chapter 13?
• Who prepares my petition, and who attends the 341 meeting of creditors with me?
• If I am behind on my mortgage or car loan, can a Chapter 13 plan cure the arrears and save the property?
• What happens if a creditor objects, or the trustee challenges an exemption or a transfer?
• Have you filed cases in the Eastern District of Missouri, St. Louis division, and how often?

Common mistakes to avoid in a Missouri bankruptcy

• Filing without the credit counselling. No individual may be a debtor without credit counselling from an approved agency within 180 days before filing (§§ 109, 111). File without it and the case can be dismissed.
• Hiding assets or leaving debts off the schedules. The petition, schedules and statement of financial affairs are filed under penalty of perjury, and the trustee asks about them under oath at the 341 meeting. An undisclosed asset or an omitted creditor is the fastest way to lose a discharge — or worse.
• Running up debt or taking cash advances before filing. Debts incurred shortly before filing, and luxury purchases or cash advances in the months before filing, can be challenged as non-dischargeable. Stop using credit once you have decided to file, and ask counsel first.
• Transferring property to family before filing. Giving a car, a house or money to a relative to “protect” it is a transfer the trustee can undo, and it can cost the discharge. Exemptions protect property; transfers usually do not.
• Cashing out retirement to pay dischargeable debt. Qualified retirement plans are protected under Missouri law (§ 513.430). Paying a dischargeable credit-card balance with protected retirement money trades an asset you could have kept for a debt that would have been discharged.
• Assuming every debt goes away. Most student loans survive except on a showing of undue hardship (11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8)), as do child support and maintenance, most recent taxes and debts incurred by fraud. Know which of your debts survive before you file, not after.
• Choosing the cheapest fee without asking what it covers. A low Chapter 7 fee that excludes the 341 meeting, reaffirmation or an objection is not a low fee. Get the fee, the scope and the treatment of any balance in writing.
• Ignoring a garnishment or a foreclosure until it is too late. The automatic stay stops garnishment on filing, and a Chapter 13 plan can cure mortgage arrears — but only if the case is filed before the sale or the levy takes the money. The week you wait is the week the options narrow.

The bottom line

If debt has become unmanageable in St. Louis, start with the chapter, not the firm: Chapter 7 for a discharge, Chapter 13 for a repayment plan that saves the house or the car, Chapter 11 or Subchapter V for a business. Then choose the firm for the case you actually have: The Bankruptcy Company for a bankruptcy-only practice with published flat fees, Katz & Wulff for scale and a remote filing process, A Bankruptcy Law Firm, LLC for all three chapters from downtown, The Law Office of Tracy A. Brown, P.C. where tax debt is part of the problem, Groswald Law or Markwell Law for virtual filing or St. Charles County depth, Harness Law Office or Ridings Law Firm for family-owned or flat-fee consumer help, and Carmody MacDonald P.C. where the matter is a business reorganisation. Complete the credit counselling, list every debt and asset honestly, and get the fee in writing before you file.

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