National Association of Virtual Bankruptcy Assistants
Code of Ethics
All members of the National Association of Virtual Bankruptcy
Assistants pledge to adhere to the following Code of Ethics:
Pledge to Attorneys
I PLEDGE to solely use my skills as a virtual bankruptcy assistant
to work under the direction of licensed bankruptcy attorneys.
I will never use my skills to work directly for the general public.
I PLEDGE to refer a minimum of two (2) licensed bankruptcy attorneys to potential clients interested in
filing bankruptcy to maintain and uphold my adherence to preventing unauthorized practice of law.
I PLEDGE to continually strive to build skills in thinking and reacting with a logical mind, which is
required when working in the legal field.
I PLEDGE to make business decisions based on ethical perspectives rather than my personal beliefs
and emotions.
I PLEDGE to safeguard the interest of my colleagues and clients and will not knowingly be a party to
any illegal or unethical activity.
I PLEDGE to protect any type of confidential information that is obtained in the performance of my
duties, and will not use such information for personal gain nor in a manner that would be detrimental to my
client or any other party.
I PLEDGE to accurately represent my skills, recognize my limitations and only offer professional
services that I feel competent to provide.
I PLEDGE to refer my client business to other virtual bankruptcy assistants that I know to be competent
to perform any services that I do not have the skill, training or ability to perform.
I PLEDGE to place each attorney’s best interest first and foremost, making reasonably certain that I
have the necessary skills and resources to provide the support needed before entering into a client
relationship.
I PLEDGE to accept responsibility for all the work I perform, admit my mistakes and do whatever is
necessary to rectify any problems that arise to the satisfaction of the attorneys I serve.
I PLEDGE to maintain accurate and sufficient records of all work that I perform and provide this
information to the attorney in the form of a detailed and accurate invoice.
I PLEDGE to safeguard and protect all confidential data as well as backing up all client data. I will
provide this data to the attorney at no cost on CD, DVD or other secure method upon request.
I PLEDGE to exercise due diligence in preventing identity theft by shredding all personal information
regarding attorneys and their debtors in regard to credit card information, social security and other
identifiable data that is not being retained in relation to the bankruptcy case.
I PLEDGE to maintain the highest level of professionalism, and refrain from misrepresenting any
authority entrusted to me.
The National Association of Virtual
Bankruptcy Assistants ("NAVBA")
was established on October 1,
2007. It is the first nationally-
recognized professional
organization in the United States
dedicated to the education and
development of the virtual
bankruptcy assistant industry. We
also dedicate time to increasing
awareness to bankruptcy attorneys
of the benefits of employing highly
skilled and trained virtual bankruptcy
assistants.
The NAVBA was developed by
Victoria Ring, the original developer
of the virtual bankruptcy assistant
field in 2001. Therefore, the NAVBA
is the only organization offering the
VBA Certification Exam. This exam
is used by law firms for employment
pretesting of legal assistants and
paralegals as well as virtual
bankruptcy assistants looking for
national recognition of their higher
What is a Virtual
Bankruptcy Assistant?
A virtual bankruptcy assistant
("VBA") works under the sole
discretion of debtor bankruptcy
attorneys; preparing Chapter 7 and
Chapter 13 bankruptcy petitions.
This process has been proven to
dramatically reduce the overhead
expenses for attorneys and by hiring
VBAs to handle the bankruptcy
petitions (without office
interruptions) will vastly improve the
quality of the bankruptcy petitions,
resulting in a very smooth operation
for the attorney, the bankruptcy
court and more pleasant experience
for the debtors.
i
Notice
If any member of the NAVBA is
found in violation of any of the
pledges set forth on this page, you
are required to report the violation
to the NAVBA for investigation. If
we determine the violation is valid,
the member will immediately lose
their membership and not issued a
refund of any portion of prepaid
membership they may have.
The NAVBA is an organization that
works hard for its members and
helps them to find attorney clients
based upon their satisfactory
completion of the VBA Certification
Exam. All VBAs who pass the
Exam are granted a free one-year
membership in the NAVBA so they
can be provided with ongoing
training and support.
The NAVBA is not simply an
organization that collects dues and
maintains member records.
Instead, we take an active role in
the building of virtual bankruptcy
assistant companies across the
United States. We are honored to
have members who not only ahere
to high ethics and morals in their
business operations but also they
enjoy working together to help each
other expand and grow.
Note to Attorneys
The NAVBA is your partner in
locating highly professional virtual
bankruptcy assistants to help your
law firm grow and prosper. If you
find any virtual bankruptcy assistant
perfoming at or below this expected
quality, please notify the NAVBA at
once so that we can investigate and
potentially dismiss the membership
of the questionable NAVBA. We
appreciate you helping to maintain
the high standards of the NAVBA.
