Yando Law Offices, PLLC

Focus and practice areas

The work here centers on personal and business debt, handled through the federal bankruptcy system and through direct dealings with creditors. Washington Fresh Start is the debt relief practice of Yando Law Offices, PLLC, and it operates out of Tacoma. The home page lists six services, and each one connects back to the same core problem of debt a client can no longer manage.

The two bankruptcy chapters

Two of the six services are bankruptcy filings. Chapter 7 aims to eliminate qualifying unsecured debt, and it usually runs on a shorter timeline. Chapter 13 sets up a court-approved plan to adjust and repay debt over a period of years, which can suit a client who wants to keep a home or a car. Both fall under the federal Bankruptcy Code, and the choice between them turns on a client's income, assets, and goals.

Beyond the two chapters

For clients who want to settle balances without a filing, the firm handles debt negotiation with creditors. Foreclosure defense takes on the risk of losing a home, and tax relief covers debts owed to tax authorities. The sixth service, credit restoration, comes once a debt is cleared, and it works on the mark that a bankruptcy or settlement leaves on a credit record. In my opinion, including that last step is a sensible touch, since a discharge on its own does not repair the credit history behind it.

Who runs the firm

A single attorney, David A. Yando, manages the firm and carries its cases. He states more than 30 years of experience in debt relief matters, and his court admissions reach past the state level. Yando is licensed in Washington and has appeared before the United States District Court and the United States Tax Court. Three decades in one area of law is a long tenure, and the site presents that experience as the backbone of the firm's work.

Those federal admissions carry weight for the kind of work the firm does. Bankruptcy is a federal matter, heard in federal court, so a lawyer admitted to the United States District Court is on home ground. Tax Court admission is a further step, and it lines up directly with the tax relief the firm offers. The pairing of debt and tax practice under one lawyer is, as a reviewer, the detail I find most telling about how the firm is built.

Background and credentials

Yando's education runs through both business and law, with a clear tax emphasis at the end. He earned a Business Administration degree from Siena College, then a Juris Doctor from the University of Puget Sound. He went on to complete an LL.M. in Tax Law at the University of Washington, a graduate law degree that sits a level above the standard qualification.

His experience away from the courtroom adds to that picture. He served in the United States Army as a commissioned officer, and he taught business accounting as a college professor. The teaching background in particular suggests a habit of explaining detailed material in plain terms, which can help a client who is new to bankruptcy law. Both roles carry a grounding in numbers and procedure that fits the financial nature of debt and tax work.

Professional memberships fill out the file. Yando belongs to the Washington Bar Association, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, and the Tacoma Estate Planning Council. The consumer bankruptcy body ties straight to the core of the firm's work, and the Tacoma council points to the firm's local footing.

Who the firm serves

The client base is local and clearly drawn. The firm describes the people and businesses it helps as based in Tacoma and the surrounding Pierce County. It also identifies itself as a debt relief agency that helps people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code, which is the standard federal disclosure that firms in this area of law make.

For a client in that region, having several paths handled in one place has practical value. A person might begin with a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 filing, or with debt negotiation, and later move to credit restoration once the debt is cleared. Keeping those stages with one attorney can hold the process together and keep a single lawyer familiar with the whole matter.

Individuals and small businesses

The mention of businesses alongside individuals widens the scope a little. A small business carrying debt can face the same choices between liquidation and a repayment plan, and the firm's listing signals it takes on that work as well as consumer cases. For a Pierce County owner in that spot, a local lawyer who handles both sides can be a practical first call.

As a reviewer, I read this listing as a focused, single-attorney debt practice with a distinct tax component alongside the bankruptcy work. The site backs that reading with specifics. It names one lawyer, David A. Yando, and it lists the courts he can appear before: the United States District Court and the United States Tax Court.