Ep 279: Upsolve’s Jonathan Petts and Ben Jackson on Building the TurboTax for Bankruptcy and Fighting UPL Restrictions

Feb 18, 2025

Jonathan Petts, a former Wall Street lawyer and CEO of Upsolve, teams up with Ben Jackson, an ex-Uber driver and Upsolve's Chief Product Officer. They discuss their mission to make bankruptcy filing as accessible as tax prep, sharing their personal stories of overcoming debt. The duo unveils how Upsolve helps low-income families discharge $700 million in debt for free, their innovative use of AI, and their ongoing legal battles to challenge restrictions on legal assistance. They emphasize empowering financial futures for those in need.

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Intro

00:00 • 3min

Empowering Bankruptcy Relief

03:19 • 21min

Challenging Legal Restrictions: Upsolve's Fight for Voluntary Legal Support

23:56 • 4min

Legal Access for All: The Fight Against Restrictions

28:03 • 6min

Expanding Financial Solutions Beyond Bankruptcy

33:46 • 4min

Exploring Funding Sources for Economic Mobility Initiatives

38:08 • 2min

Building Connections: Legal Support in Bankruptcy

39:47 • 7min

When former Wall Street lawyer Jonathan Petts joined forces in 2016 with Rohan Pavuluri, then a research assistant in Harvard Law School’s Access to Justice Lab, and Mark Hansen, a software engineer, to create Upsolve, they had a simple but powerful vision: make bankruptcy filing as accessible as online tax preparation for Americans crushed by debt.

Today, their nonprofit has helped over 16,000 low-income families discharge more than $700 million in debt through Chapter 7 bankruptcy – all at no cost to users.

In this episode of LawNext, host Bob Ambrogi is joined by Petts, now Upsolve’s CEO, and Ben Jackson, an ex-Uber driver who joined Upsolve’s founding team after his first year of law school and who is now chief product officer. They share their personal journeys that led them to create Upsolve, from Petts' experience as a big firm lawyer helping pro bono clients get fresh starts to Jackson's own struggles with $60,000 in credit card debt.

They detail how Upsolve works, who it serves, and how they maintain quality while providing free services.They also discuss how they're leveraging AI to expand their impact, their battle against unauthorized practice of law restrictions in a groundbreaking federal lawsuit in New York, and their mission to help Americans rebuild their financial futures.

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