Bankruptcy Lawyers Serving Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia
When the math no longer works, ignoring the problem usually makes it more expensive. The Skeen Firm helps individuals and businesses evaluate bankruptcy and debt-relief options in the Western District of Pennsylvania and the Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia.
We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code. The bankruptcy and debt-relief services described on this page may involve relief under the United States Bankruptcy Code.
Bankruptcy Is a Financial Tool. Not a Moral Judgment.
People rarely consider bankruptcy because everything is going according to plan. Job loss, medical expenses, divorce, business problems, high-interest debt, litigation, or years of accumulated financial pressure can create a situation where monthly payments simply stop making economic sense.
Bankruptcy law exists because sometimes restructuring or eliminating debt is more rational than spending years servicing obligations that cannot realistically be repaid.
The question is not whether bankruptcy sounds good or bad. The question is whether it is the right legal and financial tool for your circumstances.
Our job is to help you understand the options, risks, tradeoffs, and likely consequences before you decide what comes next.
Options for Individuals and Businesses Under Financial Pressure
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
Chapter 7 can provide a discharge of many unsecured debts for qualifying individuals and may offer a relatively direct path toward a financial reset.
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Chapter 13 allows qualifying individuals with regular income to propose a court-supervised repayment plan, often over a period of three to five years.
Business Bankruptcy
Businesses and owners may need to evaluate liquidation, restructuring, secured debt, guarantees, leases, creditor pressure, and available federal bankruptcy options.
Creditor Lawsuits
Bankruptcy may affect pending collection litigation and can trigger the automatic stay after a case is properly filed.
Foreclosure & Home Debt
Chapter 13 may provide options for qualifying homeowners dealing with arrears, foreclosure pressure, or other secured-debt problems.
Vehicle & Secured Debt
Repossession risk, vehicle loans, secured claims, reaffirmation questions, and treatment of secured debt in bankruptcy.
Tax Debt Analysis
Some tax debts may receive different treatment in bankruptcy depending on age, filing history, assessments, and other statutory requirements.
Garnishment & Collection Pressure
Evaluate what bankruptcy may do when collection activity, judgments, attachments, or other creditor remedies are escalating.
Bankruptcy Alternatives
Not everyone should file bankruptcy. Part of the analysis is determining whether another strategy may make more sense.
Two Different Bankruptcy Tools for Two Different Problems
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
Chapter 7 is often associated with liquidation and discharge. For qualifying individuals, it may eliminate many unsecured obligations without requiring a multi-year repayment plan.
- Eligibility may involve income and means-test analysis
- Exemptions affect treatment of property
- Secured debts require separate analysis
- Not every type of debt is dischargeable
- Recent transfers and financial activity matter
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Chapter 13 is a reorganization process for individuals with regular income that centers on a court-approved repayment plan.
- Plans commonly run three to five years
- May help address certain mortgage arrears
- Can provide structured treatment of secured and unsecured claims
- Disposable income and plan feasibility matter
- Successful completion generally requires ongoing plan compliance
Warning Signs That the Current Debt Strategy May Not Be Working
You Are Paying but the Balance Is Barely Moving
High interest and minimum payments can make years of payments feel like financial motion without meaningful progress.
You Are Borrowing to Stay Current
Using credit cards, personal loans, or cash advances to make other debt payments can signal a structurally unsustainable problem.
Collection Activity Is Escalating
Lawsuits, judgments, garnishment concerns, repossession threats, or foreclosure pressure may require a different strategy.
Your Business Cannot Service Its Debt
Business debt can become especially difficult when personal guarantees and operating cash flow collide.
A Major Life Event Changed the Numbers
Divorce, illness, job loss, death, or another major disruption can make a formerly manageable debt load unrealistic.
You Need an Actual End Point
Sometimes the central problem is not monthly affordability. It is having no realistic path to becoming debt free.
From Financial Review to Resolution
Review the Financial Picture
Income, expenses, assets, debts, lawsuits, secured obligations, and recent financial activity.
Compare the Options
Determine whether Chapter 7, Chapter 13, another bankruptcy chapter, or a non-bankruptcy option fits the situation.
Prepare the Filing
Bankruptcy requires detailed schedules, disclosures, supporting information, and required pre-filing steps.
Navigate the Case
Address trustee requirements, creditor issues, hearings, plan obligations, and other case-specific matters.
Move Toward Resolution
The objective may be discharge, successful completion of a repayment plan, restructuring, or another defined outcome.
Federal Bankruptcy Representation in Pennsylvania and West Virginia
Bankruptcy cases are federal matters filed in the appropriate United States Bankruptcy Court. The Skeen Firm currently handles qualifying bankruptcy matters in the following districts.
Western District of Pennsylvania
Bankruptcy representation for qualifying clients within the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
This includes much of Western Pennsylvania and aligns with the firm's broader regional focus.
Northern District of West Virginia
Bankruptcy representation for qualifying individuals and businesses within the Northern District of West Virginia.
This complements the firm's presence throughout Northern West Virginia and the Wheeling region.
Southern District of West Virginia
The firm also handles qualifying bankruptcy matters within the Southern District of West Virginia.
Availability depends on the type of case, facts, conflicts, location, and scope of representation.
When the Business Numbers No Longer Work
Business bankruptcy often requires looking at more than the entity itself. Owners may face personal guarantees, secured debt, tax obligations, leases, equipment financing, vendor claims, lawsuits, and questions about whether the business should continue operating.
The correct strategy depends on the entity type, debt structure, available cash flow, collateral, personal exposure, and whether there is a viable business worth reorganizing.
Sometimes the right answer is restructuring. Sometimes it is an orderly liquidation. Sometimes bankruptcy is not the best tool at all.
Understand the Options Before You File
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
Learn more about who may qualify, what debts may be discharged, and what property and exemptions can mean in a Chapter 7 case.
Explore Chapter 7 resources →Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Understand repayment plans, arrears, secured debt, disposable income, and the obligations involved in Chapter 13.
Explore Chapter 13 resources →Business Debt & Bankruptcy
Learn how business debt, guarantees, leases, and creditor pressure can affect owners and companies differently.
Read business bankruptcy insights →Bankruptcy & Debt Relief FAQs
Chapter 7 is a federal bankruptcy process commonly used by qualifying individuals seeking a discharge of many unsecured debts. Eligibility, exemptions, secured debt, prior filings, and other circumstances affect whether Chapter 7 is appropriate.
Chapter 13 allows qualifying individuals with regular income to propose a court-supervised repayment plan. Plans commonly run three to five years and can treat different categories of debt in different ways.
No. Some debts are generally nondischargeable, and the treatment of secured debt, taxes, domestic-support obligations, student loans, and other claims can differ substantially. The analysis depends on the debt and facts.
Filing a bankruptcy case generally triggers an automatic stay that can stop many forms of collection activity. Important exceptions exist, and creditors may sometimes seek relief from the stay.
A bankruptcy filing can affect foreclosure activity, but the long-term result depends on the chapter filed, timing, mortgage arrears, ability to make ongoing payments, property value, and other circumstances. Chapter 13 may provide options for some homeowners seeking to address arrears.
Not necessarily. Bankruptcy exemptions can protect certain property, but the available exemptions and treatment of assets depend on the case. Property ownership should be reviewed carefully before filing.
Yes. The firm handles qualifying business bankruptcy matters, including business Chapter 7 matters and analysis of reorganization options such as Chapter 11 and Subchapter V, depending on the circumstances and scope of representation.
The Skeen Firm currently handles qualifying bankruptcy cases in the Western District of Pennsylvania, the Northern District of West Virginia, and the Southern District of West Virginia.
Do not make major changes to payment practices, transfer property, repay insiders, take cash advances, or make other significant financial moves based solely on general information online. The timing and nature of pre-bankruptcy transactions can matter significantly, so get case-specific advice first.
The analysis usually begins with income, expenses, assets, secured debt, unsecured debt, lawsuits, financial goals, and whether there is a realistic non-bankruptcy path to solving the problem.
When the Math No Longer Works, Change the Equation.
If debt is consuming income, collection pressure is escalating, or there is no realistic path to becoming financially stable, the first step is understanding what bankruptcy can—and cannot—do.
We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief
under the Bankruptcy Code.
The bankruptcy and debt-relief services described on this page may involve
relief available under the United States Bankruptcy Code.
Attorney Advertising. This page is provided for general informational
purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice.
Viewing this page, using information on this website, or contacting
The Skeen Firm does not by itself create an attorney-client relationship.
Bankruptcy eligibility, exemptions, dischargeability of debts,
treatment of secured and unsecured claims,
availability of Chapter 7, Chapter 13, Chapter 11,
Subchapter V, or other relief,
and potential outcomes depend on the specific facts,
applicable federal law, applicable state law,
the bankruptcy district, and the terms of a written engagement agreement.
Filing bankruptcy may have significant legal, financial,
tax, credit, property, and other consequences.
Bankruptcy is not appropriate for every individual or business,
and no particular result is guaranteed.
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.