From: Council Bluffs, Iowa

NACBA’s September Member of the Month and Iowa State Chair, Nicole Engelhardt (IA), began her bankruptcy law career while still in law school - as a bankruptcy legal assistant to Charles Smith, a veteran Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee with a dynamic debtor practice at Telpner, Peterson, Smith, Ruesch, Thomas & Simpson.

After graduating from law school, Nicole joined the Telpner law firm as an associate. Just five days after admission to practice in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, she filed her first Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Since the implementation of BAPCA, she has filed 63 cases, 22% of which have been above median income, including two successful “exceptional circumstances” cases. In addition, Nicole recently successfully resisted a creditor’s objection to a debtor’s homestead exemption. The homestead was the debtor’s major asset and the Court ruled that since the debtor had recently married, the creditor could not divide the homestead interest of his spouse.

“The most significant work I have done in the bankruptcy field has been as an attorney for the Chapter 7 trustee in my office,” says Nicole. “Although I was not acting as debtor’s counsel, my work helped preserve the integrity of the bankruptcy system for truly honest debtors.”

In addition to pre-bankruptcy planning and filing consumer and small business bankruptcies, Nicole also advises clients on debt settlement workouts and handles foreclosure and repossession cases.

Nicole graduated from Creighton University in May 2000, summa cum laude, with a degree in Business Administration (B.S.) and Creighton University School of Law in May 2003, magna cum laude (J.D.). While at Creighton University School of Law, she took courses from NACBA members Professor Marianne Culhane and Professor Michaela White. Professor Culhane ignited Nicole’s interest in bankruptcy law in her Debtor-Creditor Relations course, in which Nicole earned the highest grade in the class as well as a certificate of achievement from The American Bankruptcy Law Journal.

Nicole became a member of NACBA in July 2005 to attend the Members- Only Orlando Bankruptcy Workshop. Since then, she has attended NACBA’s 14th Annual Convention in New Orleans and 15th Annual Convention in Philadelphia. In addition, Nicole was named as NACBA’s State Chair for Iowa.

Nicole is a member of the Council Bluffs Jaycees, Iowa Legal Aid’s Volunteer Lawyer Project and Iowa State Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral Service as well as several other bar associations.