Is Upsolve real? Is this a legitimate service?

Written by Attorney Andrea Wimmer. 
Updated August 1, 2023

Yes! Upsolve is 100% a legitimate service! Upsolve is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by the federal government through the Legal Services Corporation as well as private charities and institutions across the law, philanthropy, education, and technology. Our service to our users is always free.

We are a small mission-driven team of dedicated individuals, focused on a single goal: Helping low-income Americans struggling with too much debt get a fresh start by filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy. We believe that no one should be too broke to get bankruptcy relief and that everyone should have access to the protections the Bankruptcy Code grants all of us.

We are passionate about providing the best possible service to our users and both realistic and transparent about our limitations. We do not provide legal advice and carefully screen out those whose interests are better served with the aid of a lawyer. To hear from real people who got their fresh start with Upsolve's help, check out our Fresh Start Diaries.

The Founding Story

The idea for Upsolve came out of the Access to Justice Lab at Harvard Law School. One of our co-founders, Rohan Pavuluri, was working as a research assistant, testing paper packets that explained different parts of the law to low-income Boston residents. One of the packets was for bankruptcy. After seeing the massive positive impact bankruptcy could have on someone’s life, Rohan had an idea. He set out to build a TurboTax-like tool that would help people across all of America file bankruptcy on their own for free. 

Rohan soon met Jonathan Petts who had worked for 10 years in the bankruptcy world, getting a Masters degree in bankruptcy law, clerking for two bankruptcy judges, and working at two Big Law firms in NYC. In his free time, Jonathan did a lot of pro bono bankruptcy cases and saw how much impact a technology tool could have in bankruptcy. With seed funding from Harvard University, the Robin Hood Foundation, and the federal government through the Legal Services Corporation, Upsolve was born. 

Upsolve launched nationally in the summer of 2018 and has become the largest nonprofit in America for bankruptcy, with thousands of cases filed and over 2 million website visitors. We’ve built a team of lawyers, engineers, and former bankruptcy judges. We’ve also become a leader in the fight for a more accessible, just legal system.

“Upsolve plays a critical role in making sure that people who can't afford a bankruptcy lawyer are still able to access the bankruptcy system. It's an important part in promoting equal rights under the law.”

- Ed Boltz, Former President of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys 

"The income tax system is extremely, extremely complex. Much more complex than the bankruptcy code. But yet we have TurboTax...I don't understand why we can't do something similar to that for simple Chapter 7 bankruptcies."

- Judge Henry Callaway, Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Alabama and co-author of “Too Broke for a Fresh Start” with Upsolve co-founder Jonathan Petts

Select Press

• Founder of start-up helping poor erase debt for free: Legal fees block ‘civil right’ (Chicago Sun-Times) 

• The 10 most innovative not-for-profit organizations of 2020 (Fast Company)

• Upsolve Moves Upward: Under 30 Cofounder's Bankruptcy Service Is Just One Click Away (Forbes) 

• The 2018 Good Tech Awards (New York Times)

Written By:

Attorney Andrea Wimmer

TwitterLinkedIn

Andrea practiced exclusively as a bankruptcy attorney in consumer Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases for more than 10 years before joining Upsolve, first as a contributing writer and editor and ultimately joining the team as Managing Editor. While in private practice, Andrea handled... read more about Attorney Andrea Wimmer

Read About the Upsolve Team