Hackett Law Firm, LLC

A practice limited to consumer bankruptcy

Hackett Law Firm, LLC is a bankruptcy practice based in Vancouver, Washington. The firm works in one area of law and stays there: consumer bankruptcy. It handles Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases and does not branch into other fields. That focus tells a prospective client what to expect before the first meeting.

In my opinion, a practice that files only these two chapters builds a familiarity that a general office, spread across many fields, is less likely to develop. The firm's own pages return to the same subject again and again, which is what you would want from an office that files this kind of case day in and day out. There is no attempt to look like a full-service shop.

What the two chapters cover

Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 solve different problems, and the firm handles both. Chapter 7 is the liquidation route. A trustee reviews a filer's assets, exempt property is protected under state and federal rules, and qualifying unsecured debts are discharged. For many filers with limited income, that process runs in a matter of months.

Chapter 13 works another way. It sets up a repayment plan, usually over three to five years, that a court approves and a trustee oversees. It can help a person keep a home or car while catching up on missed payments. Which chapter fits a household depends on income, assets, and the type of debt involved, and that sorting is part of what the firm reviews at the start.

The attorney behind the firm

Ryan Hackett owns the firm and has practiced bankruptcy law since 2004. His path through the field is set out on the firm's site. He was an associate at Macey and Aleman from 2004 to 2005, then at Harris Law Firm from 2005 to 2008. He was a partner at Hackett and Harris LLC from 2008 to 2014 before he ran Hackett Law Firm, LLC. The Hackett name carries through the last two of those, which points to a steady base in the same region rather than a run of unrelated moves.

That timeline shows about two decades in one area of law without a detour into other practice types. Hackett earned his J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law in 2004 and holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the same university. He is admitted to practice in Washington and Oregon, which lets him appear in the bankruptcy courts on both sides of the Columbia River.

The firm states that Hackett has filed thousands of Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases in the US Bankruptcy Courts of Oregon and Washington. That is a volume figure from the firm rather than one I can independently confirm. It does fit the length of his career and the single focus of the work.

Where the firm works and who it serves

The firm serves Southwest Washington. Its named service area covers Camas, Battle Ground, La Center, Ridgefield, and Salmon Creek, along with Clark, Cowlitz, Pacific, Skamania, and Wahkiakum counties. The firm keeps offices in Vancouver, Portland, and Beaverton, which places it on both the Washington and Oregon sides of the metro area.

That presence in both states matters for bankruptcy work. Federal courts handle these cases, and the districts split along state lines. Because Hackett is admitted in both states, the firm can take a client whose life crosses the river for work, family, or property. A household in Clark County and a household in the Portland suburbs can turn to the same office.

Hackett Law Firm identifies itself as a federally designated Debt Relief Agency. That label comes from federal bankruptcy law and applies to firms that help people file for relief under the code. It is a factual designation and not a rating.

How clients begin and what the record shows

The firm offers a free initial consultation. In that meeting it reviews a person's debt relief options and, where bankruptcy applies, explains the costs and any payment plan. As a reviewer, I read that as a low-barrier way to get an early read on a hard decision before any money changes hands. It also puts the fee conversation up front rather than after a commitment.

The firm's home and about pages describe the same attorney and the same single field of law without contradiction. Hackett Law Firm does not publish settlement figures or client counts, and I will not add any it does not claim. What the site gives instead is a plain account of who does the work and where it happens.

For a person weighing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 in Clark County or across the state line, the firm presents a profile a reader can check against public records: a single field of practice run by an owner with a long record in the same bankruptcy courts. That kind of narrow, checkable listing is the sort this directory is built to reward.