Software for bankruptcy attorneys, and where Coil stops

Consumer bankruptcy is a volume practice with a lot of federal paperwork. A Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 case is built from the debtor’s documents: pay stubs, tax returns, bank statements, vehicle titles and a list of every creditor. Most firms produce the petition and schedules in a specialist product that knows the official forms and the means test. Before that, there is a consultation, a contract, a fee to collect and a document chase. After it come the meeting of creditors, any objections, plan confirmation in a Chapter 13 and the discharge.

This page is about the part before and around the petition, because that is the part Coil covers.

What a bankruptcy firm needs from its software

Petition preparation. The official forms, the means test, the schedules and the credit report pull all belong to specialist software. Coil does not do this, and the rest of this page assumes you have a product that does.

A written contract, signed early. The Supreme Court held in Milavetz (2010) that attorneys who provide bankruptcy assistance to assisted persons are debt relief agencies under the Code. Section 528(a) then requires a written contract, executed no later than five business days after the firm first provides bankruptcy assistance services and before the petition is filed, that clearly explains the services and the fees, charges and payment terms. The client gets a copy of the fully executed contract. The same section sets disclosure language for the firm’s advertising.

Fee records you can disclose exactly. Under 11 U.S.C. 329(a), an attorney representing a debtor files with the court a statement of the compensation paid or agreed to be paid, if the payment or agreement was made within the year before the petition, along with the source of that compensation. The court can cancel an agreement or order a payment returned to the extent it exceeds the reasonable value of the services. Every payment needs a date, an amount and a payer.

A document chase that does not stall the case. Debtors forget a statement, send a photo of a photo, or send the wrong year’s return. The firm needs one list of what is in and what is missing.

Volume intake. Many consultations become few clients, and the follow-up has to happen without someone remembering to do it.

What Coil does for bankruptcy firms

• Intake that keeps up. Web leads with scoring, automated follow-up sequences, and an API for your phone line or website. A lead converts to a client and matter only after the conflict check has run, and parties you add to a matter, such as a major creditor, are part of what the check searches next time.
• The contract, signed in the browser. Coil’s e-signature produces a certificate recording who signed, when, from where and what, with document and signature hashes. The signed document cannot be changed afterwards, and the signed copy goes to both sides. Add a task for your contract deadline so the date is on someone’s list.
• The document chase. The client portal takes uploads from the debtor, documents sit in folders with tags, text is extracted for search, and an upload that is not what its name claims is refused.
• Matter templates and tasks. Build a Chapter 7 and a Chapter 13 template with the document requests and follow-up tasks you use, apply it to each new matter, and see what is overdue.
• Fee records in the trust ledger. Each payment into trust is recorded against the client and matter with its date and reference, the ledger cannot be overdrawn, and the full ledger exports to CSV when you prepare your compensation disclosure.
• Messages. Portal messages and text messages through your own Twilio account, stored on the matter, for the debtor who will answer a text and not an email.

What Coil does not do for bankruptcy

Coil does not prepare petitions, schedules or statements of financial affairs, does not run the means test, and does not pull credit reports. It does not produce the attorney’s compensation disclosure for you; it gives you the records to write it from. It does not track Chapter 13 plan payments to the trustee or read the court’s docket.

Court e-filing is in Phase 3 and depends on a filing vendor. Payment plans, card and ACH payments and invoicing are in Phase 2, in testing, which matters for firms that collect a Chapter 7 fee in installments before filing. Court rule sets are generic starters, so post-filing dates are ones you enter or chain from a trigger date yourself.

Who this suits

A consumer bankruptcy firm that is happy with its petition software and tired of running intake, contracts and the document chase out of email. Coil sits beside the petition product and leaves the petition to it.

Last checked October 28, 2026.