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A San Antonio Debt Attorney Who Spent His Early Career on the Other Side, Filing the Same Kind of Lawsuits He Now Defends Against
Daniel Ciment’s first law practice after graduating from South Texas College of Law in 2003 was a high-volume debt collection firm — the kind that files the debt-collection lawsuits people later hire attorneys like Ciment to defend against. He later worked as a partner at a Chicago consumer bankruptcy firm representing debtors, before opening his own multi-city Texas practice. The result is a genuinely unusual vantage point: an attorney who has seen the collection side’s playbook firsthand before spending most of his career on the opposite side of the table.
At a Glance
| Attorney | Daniel Ciment |
|---|---|
| Firm | Ciment Law Firm, PLLC (also operating under the name “The Debt Defenders”) |
| San Antonio Office | 401 E Sonterra Blvd, Suite 375, San Antonio, TX 78258 |
| Law School | South Texas College of Law (J.D. 2003) |
| Experience | 15-plus years in bankruptcy, debt collection defense, and consumer protection |
| Certification | No Texas Board of Legal Specialization certification found; not attributed as “board certified” or “specialist” for that reason |
| Practice Focus | Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy, debt lawsuit defense, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act violations, bank garnishments, student loan assistance, judgment lien release, and a non-bankruptcy debt settlement program |
Career History
Ciment’s early career was on the creditor side: after law school, he opened a high-volume debt collection law firm and filed thousands of debt-collection lawsuits himself, according to his firm’s own account. He later became a partner at a Chicago consumer bankruptcy firm representing debtors — the opposite side of the same kind of case — before founding his own practice, now operating offices across multiple Texas cities including San Antonio, Houston, and Katy (the firm’s current headquarters). Awesome Attorneys independently confirmed the San Antonio office as a genuine, separately listed location at 401 E Sonterra Blvd, Suite 375, via its own Yelp business listing with location-specific photos, distinct from the firm’s other Texas offices.
Practice Concentration
The practice covers more ground than a pure bankruptcy filing shop: Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy sit alongside debt-lawsuit defense, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act violation claims (which can yield statutory damages up to $1,000 per violation when a creditor breaks the law during collection), bank garnishment defense, student loan guidance, judgment lien release, and a separate non-bankruptcy “Debt Assistance Program” for clients who want to negotiate down debt without filing. Ciment’s own marketing frames the FDCPA-violation work as a direct product of his creditor-side background — knowing what collectors are and aren’t allowed to do because he once worked that side of the industry.
Track Record
The firm’s marketing materials state it “saved clients over $31 million” in 2025 through its debt resolution process; Awesome Attorneys was not able to independently verify this figure and treats it as the firm’s own unaudited claim rather than a sourced statistic. As with most bankruptcy and debt-resolution practices, there is no comparable jury-verdict or settlement-figure table to publish — a bankruptcy discharge, a negotiated debt settlement, or a dismissed collection lawsuit is the outcome, not a monetary award in the litigation sense.
Client Voice
Independent review sources are generally positive: one third-party review aggregator lists the firm at 4.7 out of 5, with reviewers specifically praising the intake team’s ability to explain the process clearly and citing a specific case in which an attorney at the firm, Christian Maciel, identified a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act violation in an outdated debt claim. A separate independent review compilation notes the same overall pattern — positive marks for communication and staff responsiveness — while flagging that a few reviewers wanted more frequent case-status updates, a specific and genuine minor criticism Awesome Attorneys is disclosing rather than omitting. Awesome Attorneys did not locate any seriously negative reviews for the San Antonio office specifically during this research.
Beyond the Practice
The firm markets itself under two names in parallel — “Ciment Law Firm” and “The Debt Defenders” — with the latter functioning as a consumer-facing brand for the same underlying practice; Awesome Attorneys is noting this explicitly so readers searching either name understand they are looking at the same firm rather than two separate options.
Recognition
Ciment holds Avvo’s Client’s Choice Award badge, which reflects a significant volume of 4-plus-star client reviews, and an Avvo Top Contributor designation for legal-guide contributions on the platform — both are Avvo-specific recognitions rather than TBLS board certification or a peer-reviewed legal award, and are described here as what they are. Awesome Attorneys did not find a Texas Board of Legal Specialization certification for Ciment in bankruptcy or consumer law, and does not use “specialist” language on that basis.
Texas Bankruptcy Backdrop
San Antonio Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 filings go through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas, with the creditors’ meeting typically held at the Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building downtown. Texas’s homestead exemption protects a debtor’s primary residence at unlimited value on up to 10 acres in a city, and up to $50,000 in personal property is exempt for a single filer ($100,000 for a family). Separately, the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act — central to part of this firm’s non-bankruptcy work — allows consumers to recover statutory damages up to $1,000 per violation when a debt collector breaks specific rules, independent of whether a bankruptcy is ever filed. This is general background information, not legal advice, and current figures and eligibility should be confirmed with a licensed attorney for the specific facts of a case.
Awesome Attorneys Assessment
Ciment’s clearest differentiator is a genuinely unusual career arc — creditor-side debt-collection litigation early on, then a shift to debtor-side bankruptcy work — that translates into a practice offering more non-bankruptcy debt-resolution tools (FDCPA violation claims, negotiated settlement programs, judgment lien release) than a pure Chapter 7/13 filing mill. The honest trade-off: no TBLS certification is on record, the firm’s own $31 million savings figure is unaudited marketing language rather than a sourced statistic, and this is a multi-city practice rather than a San-Antonio-exclusive boutique. This is a reasonable fit for a client who wants to explore non-bankruptcy debt-resolution options alongside a possible Chapter 7 or 13 filing, or who suspects a debt collector has violated federal law; a client who has already decided on bankruptcy and wants a TBLS-certified specialist may be better served elsewhere in this directory.
Methodology & Sourcing
This profile was compiled from Ciment Law Firm’s own websites (cimentlawfirm.com and thedebtdefenders.com), Avvo, Yelp’s San Antonio-specific business listing, and independent third-party review aggregators. Awesome Attorneys was not able to independently verify the firm’s stated 2025 client-savings figure and discloses that limitation directly.
Publisher Disclosure & Independence
Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, sponsored, or reviewed prior to publication by Ciment Law Firm, PLLC or any affiliated party. Inclusion in this directory does not constitute a referral, endorsement, or guarantee of outcome, and nothing in this article should be construed as legal advice.