Attorneys

Scott N. Orona Esq.

Supervising Attorney - Bankruptcy Law Center

Attorney Scott Orona became licensed to practice law in 1987. He has been practicing law for over 23 years. Attorney Scott Orona began his career in the public defender´s office where he gained extensive trial experience representing indigent defendants. For the last 20 years Mr. Orona has focused his law career on bankruptcy and real estate law. From 1993 to 2000, Mr. Orona was the legal counsel for the current standing Chapter 13 trustee David Skelton. While acting in the capacity as the trustee´s attorney he conducted 341 (meeting of the creditors) examinations and reviewed thousands of bankruptcy petitions. Mr. Orona also possesses a Real Estate Broker´s license with the California Department of Real Estate. With his combined extensive experience in the bankruptcy law field as well as his background in real estate, Mr. Orona understands the complex situations many of our potential clients face regarding foreclosures, loan modification programs, and the inner workings of the chapter 13 trustee´s office. Mr. Orona handles and oversees the majority of the Chapter 13 cases that Bankruptcy Law Center does. His vast bankruptcy law experience as well as his background in real estate law allows him to truly help the majority of our clients who are suffering from foreclosure related issues.

Ahren A. Tiller Esq.

Supervising Attorney - Bankruptcy Law Center

Attorney Ahren Tiller grew up in the bay area and graduated from the University of California with High Honors receiving admission into the prestigious Golden Key Honors Society. He moved to San Diego to attend Thomas Jefferson School of law and fell in love with living in San Diego and decided to make it his permanent home. While attending Thomas Jefferson School of law, Mr. Tiller received the Thomas Jefferson School of Law Medal for academic excellence, the Witkin-Cali Award for academic excellence, and was named to the Dean´s List. He graduated law school at an accelerated pace of only two years (usually takes 3 years to graduate). After graduating from law school, he passed the California Bar Exam on his first try (only 28% of the people who sat for that exam passed). After becoming a lawyer, Mr. Tiller began working in bankruptcy as well as criminal defense. While working as a criminal defense attorney, Mr. Tiller gained extensive trial experience. He became a skilled trial attorney and obtained multiple not-guilty verdicts for his clients. To date Mr. Tiller has yet to lose a trial. This trial experience has given him a strategic advantage over many other bankruptcy lawyers when faced with going to trial regarding an adversarial proceeding in bankruptcy court. He handles all of Bankruptcy Law Center´s adversarial proceedings. Unlike many of the fly by night bankruptcy law firms, Bankruptcy is the only area of law in which Ahren Tiller and the other lawyers at Bankruptcy Law Center practice. He has been the attorney of record on over a thousand bankruptcy petitions and has yet to have one of his over 1000 Chapter 7 Bankruptcy client´s petitions involuntarily dismissed or involuntarily forced to convert to a Chapter 13. Mr. Tiller has received over 1000 bankruptcy discharges for his clients. Attorney Ahren Tiller is licensed to practice in the Northern, Central and Southern Bankruptcy Court Districts. He practices primarily in the Southern District of California Bankruptcy Court, therefore he is very familiar with every San Diego Bankruptcy Judge and all of the nine (9) Trustees in the Southern District of California. Attorney Ahren Tiller possesses the skills and experience to diligently advocate for his clients, providing them the fresh start they so desperately need.

Mark Maniscalco Esq.

Attorney At Law - Bankruptcy Law Center

Attorney Mark Maniscalco´s background consists of years of civil litigation experience. He graduated from California Western School of Law in San Diego in 2004. He began his career as a plaintiff´s attorney and a family law attorney (divorce law), where he initiated litigation against multiple large companies and corporations and helped countless families receive an amicable divorce. He handles all of Bankruptcy Law Center´s creditor harassment litigation, motions for relief from stay, and a majority of the law and motion work. His extensive background in the area of divorce law offers great assistance to many of our clients who are not only suffering from crushing and overwhelming debt related problems, yet also are dealing with issues related to their divorces ranging from child support garnishments, custody issues, and disputes over divisions of assets. As with all of the attorneys at the Bankruptcy Law Center, Mark Maniscalco focuses primarily on bankruptcy law. He works with clients suffering from crushing credit card debt, tax issues, foreclosure related issues, and repossessions. Mr. Maniscalco has the experience in litigation to take on the banks when they do not comply with the automatic stay imposed by Bankruptcy Code section 362, and/or the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Title 15 USC 1692. He has been able to sue collection agencies in order to recovery money for our clients, which has ultimately paid for their bankruptcy legal fees.

Carolina Kotzias Esq.

Attorney At Law - Bankruptcy Law Center

Carolina Kotzias was born and raised in Brazil. She graduated in law from the Pontifice Catholic University of Parana (Brazillian Law School) in 2003, and thereafter became a lawyer in Brazil. Ms. Kotzias graduated at the very top of her law school class. She impressed her law school professors so much that after graduation she was invited to become the youngest law school professor at the University of Tuiuti of Parana. After 2 years of working at the university, Ms. Kotzias decided to move to Boston, Massachusetts, in order to be closer to her Mother and Sister who were living in the United States at that time. After working in the United States as a medical interpreter for two years in order to perfect her English, Ms. Kotzias enrolled herself in the New England School of Law, in Boston, MA. While at the New England School of Law, Ms. Kotzias received the Cali Award for Academic Excellence in Modern Remedies and was placed on the Dean's List. In May of 2008, Ms. Kotzias received her Master's of Law Degree (LLM). After earning her Master's Degree in Law, Ms. Kotzias sat for the California Bar Exam. She passed the California Bar Exam in 2008 and became a California Licensed Attorney (only 21% of all foreign lawyers who sit for the California Bar Exam passed - Ms. Kotzias passed on her first attempt). Ms. Kotzias has focused her entire career in the field of bankruptcy law. She has worked on thousands of bankruptcy cases and is extremely familiar with all five (5) Bankruptcy Judges in the Southern District of California Bankruptcy Court, as well as all seven (7) Chapter 7 Trustees, and both of the two (2) Chapter 13 Trustees. She has developed a great reputation around the local bankruptcy community and is known for diligently advocating for her clients. Carolina Kotzias possesses a passion for the area of bankruptcy law. Her goal is to help everyone of her clients get their life back on track and receive a fresh start. Her diligence, intelligence, and great reputation within the bankruptcy community allows her to provide her clients with the best representation possible.

Brett Bodie Esq.

Attorney At Law - Bankruptcy Law Center

Attorney Brett Bodie graduated from the University of San Diego´s School of Law (San Diego´s most prestigious law school). During law school Brett worked full time and attended school at night. He passed the California State Bar Exam on his first attempt. He received numerous academic awards throughout college and law school. Attorney Brett Bodie has focused his entire career in the field of Bankruptcy Law. He has worked on hundreds of bankruptcy cases from start to finish. He has extensive knowledge and experience in the field of bankruptcy law. Unlike many other bankruptcy law firms that send an appearance attorney to the 341 hearings, attorney Brett Bodie attends the majority of the bankruptcy hearings on behalf of the clients at Bankruptcy Law Center. Unlike other firms in town, Brett Bodie works on almost all of the cases he appears on and is familiar with every aspect of the case prior to attending your 341 hearing. He has extensive experience in the field of bankruptcy law and frequently interacts with the Bankruptcy trustees in the Southern District as well as the US Trustee´s office. Brett Bodie is a skilled legal researcher, who constantly keeps himself and the rest of the attorneys at the firms updated on the new Bankruptcy case law. Mr. Bodie is a skilled attorney who works tirelessly to go above and beyond to obtain the very best result for all of his clients.