Coles & Holton, LLP

Focus and practice areas

This Nashville firm works in one field: bankruptcy. It handles Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 filings for people carrying debt they cannot manage. It also works with clients who are trying to stop a home foreclosure. A firm that does one thing tends to learn the local process well, and that narrow focus is worth noting up front.

In my opinion, the value of a practice like this comes from clarity rather than volume. The site explains what each chapter can and cannot do, instead of offering one fix for every situation. It describes the mechanics of filing in plain terms, which helps a reader work out where they stand before they ever pick up the phone. That plainness is part of what a directory built on evidence tends to look for.

How the bankruptcy work is structured

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 is the route the firm describes for discharging unsecured debts. It lists credit card balances, payday loans and medical bills as the kinds of debt this chapter can wipe out. The firm says the process can take up to five months. For a client with limited income and few assets, it is often the shorter of the two paths, because it clears qualifying debt rather than stretching it across years. Debts with collateral behind them, such as a car loan, follow separate rules.

Chapter 13

Chapter 13 works differently. It sets up a repayment plan for people who have a steady income, and that plan can run up to five years. Eligibility turns on that income, since the plan depends on regular payments over time. The firm points out that Chapter 13 may help a client keep a home out of foreclosure. A plan like this buys time to catch up on what is owed, rather than forcing a sale of the house.

One practical detail the firm raises is the tax refund. Before a client files, it reviews whether that refund can be kept. A point like this matters to a household counting every dollar, and it is a fair sign of a firm that looks at the client's full financial picture rather than the filing alone. Keeping a refund can mean the difference between a fresh start with a small cushion and one that begins at zero.

Foreclosure and the home

Stopping a home foreclosure sits beside the two bankruptcy chapters on the firm's own pages. The link is direct: a Chapter 13 plan can hold off a sale while a homeowner works through the arrears. For many people, keeping the house is the whole reason they walk in the door, so it makes sense that the firm treats foreclosure as a named service and not an afterthought. The firm does not promise a set result here, and that is a sound position, since whether a sale can be paused depends on the numbers and on the timing of the filing.

Where the firm works

The firm is based in Nashville and covers the Greater Nashville and Middle Tennessee area. Its stated reach includes Davidson County, Montgomery County and Robertson County. Named communities include Clarksville, Springfield, White House, Goodlettsville, Hendersonville, Gallatin, Lebanon, Smyrna, La Vergne and Brentwood.

Bankruptcy cases go through federal court, and local knowledge still counts inside that system. Familiarity with the district, its trustees and the usual county paperwork can smooth a filing. Listing the counties plainly gives a prospective client a quick way to check whether they fall within the firm's area. For a client outside those counties, the same list makes it easy to look elsewhere, which is its own kind of honesty.

Who runs the firm

Josh Coles owns the firm and is a member of the Tennessee Bar Association. He is originally from Cross Plains. He earned a BA in business administration from Belmont University, then a J.D. from the Nashville School of Law.

The site says its lawyers have helped Middle Tennesseans with debt for two decades. Coles brings a business background to that work, with the business degree coming before the law degree. That pairing fits debt cases well, because bankruptcy sits where money trouble and legal procedure meet. A local upbringing and a Nashville legal education give the firm a footing in the same communities it lists, which matters in a field where people often want to sit across from someone who knows the area.

How clients are handled

The firm makes a specific point about how it staffs a case. It says it provides one-on-one representation and does not hand the file to a paralegal once a case is filed. It frames this as keeping the person and the lawyer connected from the first meeting through the final discharge. For someone in the middle of a bankruptcy, steady contact with the same lawyer can take some weight off an already hard stretch.

As a reviewer, I read that as the firm's own account of its service, and it fits a small, owner-led practice. The claims stay modest and checkable: which chapters it files, which counties it covers, and what happens to a tax refund. That restraint suits a directory that puts proof ahead of slogans. Nothing on the pages reaches for a grand claim, and for a debt client weighing a hard decision, that measured tone reads as a point in the firm's favor.