User:Janweh64/new/Austin Smith (attorney)
Austin Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | Austin Connell Smith June 3, 1982 |
| Occupation | Attorney |
| Years active | 2016-present |
| Known for | Student debt; bankruptcy litigation |
| Website | acsmithlawgroup.com |
Austin Connell Smith (born June 3, 1982) is an American attorney and candidate for Congress. He has successfully argued several cases which have expanded the rights of student debtors in bankruptcy proceedings.[1][2][3]
Career
[edit]Smith was previously a corporate attorney working in New York City when he began representing a pro bono client who had taken out a loan to study for the bar examination.[4][3] In March 2016, Judge Carla Craig of the US Bankruptcy Court in Brooklyn, New York ruled in their favor, discharging $15,000 in private student loan debt through bankruptcy.[1]
Since that time, Smith's work has been the subject of significant media and academic interest. [2] In 2020, Smith won a landmark ruling at the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which cemented this new interpretation of the law and opened the door for broader debt relief.[5] According to the Wall Street Journal, the Tenth Circuit's decision "has implications for the millions of Americans grappling with student debt on top of the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic and the recession."[6] Smith's work is estimated to encompass upwards of a million struggling borrowers and may ultimately lead to the erasure of $50 billion in private student debt. [7] Writing for Above the Law, Ian Frisch said that Smith "is the first person in the history of government and law to fight in bankruptcy court to discharge student loans for distressed borrowers."[8]
In March 2021, Smith filed paperwork to seek the Democratic nomination in New York's 1st congressional district to unseat Lee Zeldin.[9] In April 2021, Congressman Lee Zeldin announced his intention to run for Governor of New York, leaving the House seat open in 2022.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Stech (2016)
- ^ a b Chaney (2016)
- ^ a b Kahn (2017)
- ^ Berman (2017a)
- ^ "Private Student Loan Debtors Win Limited Bankruptcy Reprieve (1)". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
- ^ Gladstone, Alexander (2020-09-01). "Appeals Court Weakens Bankruptcy Protections for Private Student Loans". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
- ^ "Meet The Man On A Quest To Upend 1 Corner Of The Student Loan Industry". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
- ^ "How The Bankruptcy Code Protects Lenders And Harms Student Debtors — And What One Lawyer Is Doing About It". Above the Law. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
- ^ "Austin Smith (New York)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
Sources
[edit]- Stech, Katy (2016-03-27). "Judge Rules Bankrupt Law Grad Can Cancel Some Debt". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
- Chaney, Sarah (2016-12-28). "Bankruptcy Becomes an Option for Some Borrowers Burdened by Student Loans". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
- Berman, Jillian (2017-03-03). "These lawyers may have discovered a way to wipe away student debt in bankruptcy". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
- Berman, Jillian (2017-04-08). "This class-action lawsuit may offer hope for student loan borrowers in bankruptcy". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
- Kahn, Madison (2017-04-13). "A Legal Genius May Have Found A Way To Make Your Student Debt Disappear". GOOD Magazine. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
- "Austin Smith (New York)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2021-04-07.</ref>.
- "Meet The Man On A Quest To Upend 1 Corner Of The Student Loan Industry". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
- "How The Bankruptcy Code Protects Lenders And Harms Student Debtors — And What One Lawyer Is Doing About It". Above the Law. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
- "Lawsuit: 30,000 borrowers are being charged for student loans that were already discharged". Yahoo!Finance. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
- "Sallie Mae execs tan at Maui retreat while student debt crisis tops $1.6 trillion". NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Retrieved 2021-04-08.