Kevin J. Rattay: The Phoenix Bankruptcy Attorney Who Started as a Tax Accountant

Anyone comparing a Phoenix bankruptcy attorney with a genuine tax-accounting background will find Kevin J. Rattay a useful specific fit — a former tax accountant turned bankruptcy attorney, with 39 years of practice and a bankruptcy judge’s own selection to teach professionalism to other attorneys. This independent profile examines what that Phoenix bankruptcy attorney practice actually offers.

At a Glance

Origin and Founder History

Kevin J. Rattay earned his B.S. from Central Connecticut State College (1980, magna cum laude) and his J.D. from Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law (1986, cum laude), and was admitted to the Arizona bar the same year. This platform independently confirmed his Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law designation via the State Bar of Arizona’s specialist framework and his Super Lawyers selection for 2010 directly against Super Lawyers’ own published attorney directory. Before law school, Rattay worked as a tax accountant — a background his firm describes as giving him direct, practical understanding of the complex rules governing discharge of tax debt in bankruptcy, a genuinely specific niche within consumer bankruptcy practice.

Practice Area Breakdown

Per Rattay’s own Avvo practice breakdown, bankruptcy and debt work makes up roughly 75% of his practice — including Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13 filings, tax debt resolution, contested bankruptcy matters, creditor representation, and non-bankruptcy debt workouts — with tax law making up the remaining 25%, consistent with his accounting background. The firm’s own materials note Rattay has cultivated relationships with bankruptcy trustees and trustee attorneys over his career, which the firm states often helps achieve positive outcomes for clients.

Case Outcomes

Public sourcing did not surface an itemized case-results table with specific figures from the firm’s own materials. Past results do not guarantee similar outcomes in any future case; case results depend entirely on the specific facts of each matter.

Client Voice

“Kevin helped my grandmother file for bankruptcy, and my family and I had a wonderful experience with him. Kevin was extremely patient with my grandmother as she took her time gathering the requisite paperwork for the bankruptcy filing. Throughout the process, Kevin was very responsive to emails… We highly recommend Kevin Rattay.” — Matthew, Avvo review

Rattay holds a 5.0 out of 5.0 rating across 7 reviews on Avvo, an independently viewable platform rather than firm-curated testimonials alone.

Beyond the Courtroom

Per the firm’s own materials, Rattay was selected by a bankruptcy judge to serve on the faculty of a course on bankruptcy professionalism — a detail suggesting judicial-level regard for his professional conduct, distinct from a self-reported marketing claim.

Recognition

Independently verified: Super Lawyers selection for 2010, confirmed directly against Super Lawyers’ own published attorney directory; AZ State Bar Board of Legal Specialization Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law designation.

Firm-stated: Martindale-Hubbell “Distinguished” peer-review rating and “Client Champion” award are presented per Martindale’s own published listing for the firm; his selection to a bankruptcy-professionalism course faculty is presented per the firm’s own account.

Arizona Legal Backdrop

Bankruptcy is federal law (11 U.S.C.), filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona. Not all tax debt is dischargeable in bankruptcy — income tax debt generally must meet specific age and filing-history requirements under 11 U.S.C. § 507(a)(8) and related provisions to qualify for discharge, a fact-specific analysis directly relevant to Rattay’s tax-accounting background. Arizona’s own property exemption statutes (A.R.S. § 33-1101 et seq.) determine what filers can keep in a personal bankruptcy case. This is general legal information, not legal advice specific to any individual’s circumstances.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Rattay’s tax-accounting background before law school is a genuine, specific credential relevant to the tax-debt-discharge niche within bankruptcy, and his independently-viewable perfect review score and confirmed Super Lawyers selection add real transparency. The honest gap: public sourcing did not surface an itemized case-results table with specific figures, and his sole Super Lawyers selection (2010) is a single year rather than the multi-year streaks some other attorneys in this batch can show.

Methodology and Sourcing

This profile draws on Avvo’s attorney profile for Kevin Rattay (license status, reviews, practice breakdown), LawTally’s attorney profile, Super Lawyers’ published attorney directory, and Martindale’s published firm listing. See our other Phoenix-metro Bankruptcy & Debt attorney profiles for comparison.

Publisher Disclosure and Independence Notice

This profile was independently researched and written by Awesome Attorneys. It is not a paid placement, and inclusion here was not influenced by any payment or business relationship with the firm. Any future sponsored placement on this platform will be clearly and separately labeled as such. This content is legal information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship with this firm or with Awesome Attorneys.