Mr. Colwell received his B.A. Degree in Philosophy from Ripon College in Ripon, WI in 1977; and his J. D. degree from California Western School of Law in San Diego, CA in 1984. He is a member of the State Bar of California (1985) and is admitted to practice before the following U.S. District Courts (Southern District of CA) and (Central District of CA), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States. In San Diego County, Mr. Colwell is one of only 13 certified bankruptcy law specialists as Certified by the State Bar of California.
Mr. Colwell maintains his practice at the Law Offices of John C. Colwell, a P.L.C. d/b/a Debt Relief Legal Clinic of San Diego County, where he has worked exclusively in the field of consumer bankruptcy since 1989. He manages a practice averaging 20 Ch. 7 and 10 Ch. 13 consumer bankruptcy cases per month. Under his guidance, his firm filed the first “electronic” Ch. 7 bankruptcy case in San Diego, and his firm is the largest filer of cases filed via the internet/electronically in San Diego County for the Southern District of CA (over 10,802 Ch. 7 and Ch. 13’s filed electronically as of 08/2020).
Mr Colwell is a member and a Director on the Board of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, and is the immediate past President of the NACBA Board (2017-2022). He was a member of the following: 9th Circuit Information Technology and Telecommunications Committee, National Assoc. of Ch. 13 Trustees, American Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, American Bankruptcy Institute, National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees, and currently maintains membership in the San Diego County Bar Association (Bankruptcy Section), and the California and San Diego Bankruptcy Forums.
Mr. Colwell has participated on many panels regarding the representation of debtors, on a variety of subjects, and venues, including NACBA, NACTT, Visa USA, Inc., Toyota Motor Credit, Mitsubishi Motor Credit, CA Credit Union Collectors Council, S.D. County Bar ‘Free Law Day’, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District visiting Judges panels, and for other MCLE providers. He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell and 10.0 on AVVO.