Statement

Statement by Greg Bohl

A Lifelong Passion for Law

Although I never made it to law school or obtained a law degree, that never stopped me from working in the legal field. At 18 years old, I began helping convicted prisoners in Mississippi with post-conviction relief—working to overturn criminal convictions and sentences, including sentences of death. I won several significant published cases in state and federal courts.

Even now, decades later, I still get emotional remembering the day the Mississippi Supreme Court granted a "pro se" appellate motion I prepared and vacated Turner Paul Smith’s sentence of "life without parole". After reading an article in The Clarion-Ledger newspaper about the Supreme Court’s ruling, I called Mr. Smith’s prison unit and asked him if he had seen the newspaper. He replied, “I can’t read or write.” I asked the guard to show him the newspaper article, and as he did, I told Mr. Smith, “The Supreme Court set you free.”

For a few seconds, there was silence—then I heard Mr. Smith begin to scream and cry uncontrollably. The guard shouted, “He’s on the floor!” I have never heard another human being cry with such force and emotion as Mr. Smith did that day. It was an experience I will never forget—profoundly dramatic and deeply emotional.

I have no doubt that Mr. Smith would have died in prison had I not helped him with his case. After eight years in prison, no one had noticed the "plain error" in his sentence—not his trial attorney, the trial judge, appellate attorney, nor any of the nine justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court during his earlier failed appeal four years earlier. I noticed it immediately upon seeing his indictment and sentencing order. The case I prepared, Smith v. State, 477 So. 2d 191 (1985), was published in the Southern Reporter and has been cited in more than ninety other appellate decisions dealing with “procedural bars.”

Several months after Mr. Smith's case, a "pro se" federal civil rights lawsuit I prepared against Jackson County, Mississippi, and its officials resulted in a landmark published decision by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals requiring county jails across Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas to provide law libraries to state prisoners. It also led to the subsequent release of James L. Hooten, a Baptist preacher serving a life sentence for murder. The case, Hooten v. Jenne, 786 F.2d 692 (5th Cir. 1986) was published in the Federal Reporter and has been cited in numerous other appellate decisions dealing with prisoners' constitutional rights to "access to the courts".

I never charged a cent for any of the numerous criminal cases I worked on in Mississippi. I did it because I was young and deeply passionate about the law. Money was never part of it.

Building a Legal Career Without a Law Degree
After moving to Los Angeles and working in several legal positions during the mid to late 1980s, when I was 27 I was hired as the legal director of an international religious organization with operations in 37 countries. According to Google, my salary in 1989 ranked among the top one percent of the highest salaries in the world. It was set after I located and froze approximately $15.5 million in cash and real estate—assets the organization didn’t even know existed. These properties had been fraudulently transferred to another legal entity by the organization’s former bishop in California. The resulting court battle—fought against some of the most experienced law firms in the country—lasted several years, beginning in the Los Angeles County Superior Court and ending in the U.S. District Court.

Being hired as the legal director of an international religious organization was the opportunity of a lifetime—especially for someone with my background and without a law degree. The organization’s Apostle (leader) and its Supreme Council of Bishops believed in me and trusted me. I was extremely lucky and blessed, but the job was also incredibly demanding—especially with no formal legal training or law degree. I spent countless long, torturous, sleepless nights reading and researching while the rest of the world slept. It was truly “on-the-job training.”

The day before the trial started in federal court in Los Angeles, the Apostle told me, "Greg, it doesn't matter if you win, as long as you do the best you can." He turned to leave, but suddenly turned around and said, "But it's better if you win." I laughed. And we did win—BIG. I retired at 35 and purchased a home in Coral Gables, Florida, and 230 apartments.

Years earlier, I had worked with a former Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee in Los Angeles who had practiced bankruptcy law for more than 50 years. In 2009, I founded LawDocs, which developed consumer bankruptcy training programs for lawyers. For 6 years, I also taught a consumer bankruptcy course for lawyers looking to start a consumer bankruptcy practice or expand upon an existing practice.

In 2018, I became the legal director of four firearm companies in Las Vegas, Nevada, including the largest online gun retailer in the United States. These companies manufactured, imported, exported, and sold assault rifles, machine guns, submachine guns, and other firearms, along with related parts, accessories, and ammunition for both military, law enforcement, and civilian markets.

I prepared federal complaints and obtained settlements against gun manufacturers and retailers in multiple states for trade dress infringement, unfair competition, dilution, and deceptive trade practices.

Challenging the Status Quo
In 2022, I founded BankruptcyUSA, a legal technology company that enables ordinary Americans to file bankruptcy without an attorney. The platform provides online software that helps individuals complete the same official forms used in every U.S. bankruptcy court. The software has the potential to disrupt the bankruptcy attorney monopoly in the United States—and the traditional legal establishment isn’t happy about it.

My competitors—roughly 10,000 bankruptcy lawyers nationwide—claim that my software could “harm consumers.” What truly bothers them, however, is that it competes with their $1,500–$3,500 fees for Chapter 7 cases.

Previously, government attorneys filed enforcement actions against me around the country to stop the sale of my software. None of this is new. State bar associations and other attorney groups have a long history of attacking non-lawyer "self-help" services. In Florida Bar v. Brumbaugh (1978), the Florida Supreme Court discussed various federal constitutional cases from several states and concluded that non-lawyers may sell legal forms and instructions. The Court noted that libraries everywhere are filled with legal self-help books written by people not licensed to practice law in all—or any—jurisdictions.

Texas tried to ban self-help legal books in the 1990s, including Nolo Press titles, until the legislature stepped in and passed HR 1507 protecting books and websites that include a clear disclaimer. A federal judge briefly banned the software “Quicken Family Lawyer” in 1999, but after national backlash, Texas again amended its laws to exempt software and publications with proper disclaimers. Other states followed.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Code also recognizes these protections. Section 101(12A)(E) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code excludes authors, publishers, distributors, and sellers of copyright-protected works—including software—from being regulated as “debt relief agencies.” My software falls squarely within this exemption. But that didn't stop government attorneys from filing enforcement actions against me in multiple venues across the country until three years ago.

This is not the Southern slavery era. People read, write, and use technology. They watch videos and use software to complete legal forms. That isn’t a crime. In fact, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division has warned state bar associations that restricting non-lawyer form-preparation services may violate antitrust laws.

Results That Speak for Themselves
For years, I faced attacks from bar associations (attorney groups), fake online reviews, and name-calling. Through it all, I stayed focused on helping people who need it most.

My customers have successfully filed nearly 9,000 consumer bankruptcies in every federal bankruptcy court district in the United States, and in Guam and Puerto Rico. Despite false claims labeling me a “fraud,” “thief,” “snake,” "jive turkey" and other colorful names, not a single bankruptcy case has ever been denied.

There has been no consumer harm on my part—only benefit. The real harm comes from forcing financially struggling individuals to pay thousands in unnecessary attorney fees to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

The federal bankruptcy program was created by U.S. Congress to provide debt relief to persons and entities suffering from financial difficulties. In most cases, filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy consists of completing the forms, filing them with the bankruptcy court, and attending a 3 to 5 minute Zoom meeting with a bankruptcy trustee. Creditors rarely attend, and no attorney or court hearing is required in most cases.

I’m determined to stay the course—and to keep doing what I know is right.