Kathryn Jump: I think it was 2004 when Jay went to his first NACBA convention. As it turned out, O. Max Gardner had used some of Jay’s materials in his claims objection presentation and that gave Jay some notoriety he didn’t even know about.
Jay Jump: I remember that. We were having lunch and I was flipping through the materials and there were my motions and orders on claims objections about lack of documentation. Just that little mention by Max changed my practice entirely.
Kathryn Jump: That and the listserv.
Jay S. Jump: True. I joined the listserv as soon as I got back from Boston. It was much smaller then, but there were a core group of us who contributed to the listserv and talked about everything under the sun from bankruptcy code to office management.
Dan LaBert: Did you find the listserv to be helpful?
Jay S. Jump: Absolutely! I was a young solo practitioner who suddenly had an entire law office of attorneys ever present and ready to help. If I didn’t know something, I could ask for clarification, or get a different point of view. That listserv was instrumental in my practice. I even had the trustee pull me aside one day, after I proposed a 20 page Chapter 13 plan, and tell me that I needed to stop spending so much time on the listserv. That plan was shot down by the Judge with a terse lecture to go along with it, but that was the kind of thing that we all had to do. That’s the true benefit of the listserv. If you look at the rules now about claims and documentation, all of those came about because attorney’s like the ones who use the listserv were pushing for this stuff, quietly, all these years. When the great recession came, and Court’s finally started to realize that creditors didn’t always tell the truth or keep accurate records, that quiet movement became law. If we had not had a nationwide listserv to commonly promote those ideas and concepts, it never would have happened. I realize it is part speculation, but I can’t help but think that the listserv and NACBA quietly and inadvertently brought about the very change they were intending to. To me that is a successful mission accomplishment.
Kathryn Jump: That listserv also gave us a platform to announce the existence of www.certificateofservice.com. We were able to market directly and cheaply to our target audience. Our original goal was just to make enough to have some vacation money, but it took hold after about three years and it has grown ever since.
Dan LaBert: It’s a good story, NACBA homegrows it’s own entreupreneurs.
Member Benefits
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