Attorney Robin De Leo is the ONLY CERTIFIED CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY SPECIALIST ON THE NORTHSHORE. Certification is granted by three different entities: American Board of Certification; American Bankruptcy Institute; and the Louisiana Board of Specialization. Specialization certification requires: a minimum of 36 hrs of CLE/year, a minimum of 70% of the practice be dedicated to bankruptcy exclusively, numerous character references and the passing of a Special Written Exam. In order to maintain the certification, a recertification process must be completed and passed every 5 years. The staff also regularly completes CLE's to stay abreast of the latest bankruptcy law. Robin De Leo has been practicing bankruptcy exclusively for over 23 years.

The personalized attention coupled with the excellent comprehension and expertise of bankruptcy law ensures our clients are best represented and advised. Some attorneys opt out of the specialization process due to the extra exams, continuing legal education requirements and the additional years of school; my position has always been – if I’m going to do it, I want to do it right and all the way. Why not invest the extra time and money to truly guarantee I am as qualified as possible to best represent my clients? Interestingly enough, the various certification exams are aimed to test individuals who actually work in that particular field. They are not exams designed to resemble a college paper or a deep theoretical study – it is the nuts and bolts of bankruptcy - in addition to odd, unique situations and how to best handle them. There comes a great sense of pride in passing these exams and I am proud to be one of only two attorneys in the Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans and surrounding areas), who are specialized in this field.

Ms. De Leo served on the Bankruptcy Law Advisory Committee for the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization and received the Pro Bono Publico and the Pro Bono Century Award from the Louisiana Bar Association, as well as the Distinguished Service Award from Southeast Legal Services. Ms. De Leo has conducted a seminar on consumer bankruptcy law sponsored by the National Business Institute and has been a featured speaker on bankruptcy issues at seminars hosted by the Conference on Consumer Finance, the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees, the Credit Card Organization, the 22nd Judicial District Court Bar Association, the LSU annual bankruptcy law conference, the Fifth Circuit Bench-Bar Conference, and Southeast Louisiana Legal Services.

Ms. De Leo has also conducted numerous in-house seminars on the management of bankruptcy caseloads and has drafted in-house procedures to be used in streamlining the handling of consumer bankruptcy cases. Ms. De Leo also served on the bankruptcy local rules committee for consumer cases for the bankruptcy court in the Eastern District of Louisiana. She is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, the Louisiana Bar Association, the New Orleans Bar Association, and the 22nd Judicial District Court Bar Association.