Attorneys & Staff

Nancy L. Thompson is the founding member of Thompson Law Office. Her experience covers all practice areas of the firm, including representing consumers, farmers and small businesses in bankruptcy, representing debtors in negotiations with lenders, responding to problems with debt collectors and credit reporting agencies, and in preventing foreclosures. Before founding Thompson Law Office, she served for seven years as the Farm Law Attorney for the Nebraska Legal Aid Society and thirteen years as an attorney with the Center for Rural Affairs leading projects dealing with agricultural credit and beginning farmers. Since 1996 she has been in private practice working in the area of consumer and farm bankruptcy, debtor and creditor law, and agricultural law. Nancy was appointed Chair of the Iowa State Bar Association Commercial and Bankruptcy Section for the 2006/2007 year and  reappointed as Chair for the 2007/2008 year.

 

Education

J.D., with honors, University of Iowa College of Law, Iowa City, Iowa, 1984
        President, Environmental Law Society
        Member, Equal Justice Society

B.A., Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 1981
        Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society
        Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society

 

Admitted

Iowa State Bar, 1984; Nebraska State Bar, 1984
U. S. District Court of Nebraska, 1984
U. S. District Courts of Iowa (Southern and Northern Districts), 2001

 

Professional Memberships

Iowa State Bar Association (Commercial and Bankruptcy Law Section Council)
Nebraska State Bar Association
National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys
National Association of Consumer Advocates

 

Legal Teaching

Adjunct Instructor of Administrative Law, University of South Dakota, 1998 

 

Legal Authorships

"Anti-Corporate Farming Laws," Encyclopedia of the Great Plains, Univ. of Neb. Press 2004
"Rise of the Dormant Commerce Clause," ISBA Agricultural Law Section Newsletter, 2003
"Initiative 300 After Twenty Years," The Nebraska Lawyer, 2001
Raising Hogs Legally in Nebraska, Nebraska Pork Producers Ass. and Center for Rural Affairs, 1998
Financing Beginning Farmers, Center for Rural Affairs, 1995
A Farmer's Handbook on Livestock Regulation in Nebraska, Center for Rural Affairs, 1994
Farm Mediation and Debt Restructuring in Nebraska, Nebraska Dept. of Agriculture, 1989
Rebuilding Family Farms through Bankruptcy, Center for Rural Affairs, 1987
"Reagan Farm Debt Relief Plan," National Legal Services Clearinghouse Review, 1984

 

Volunteer and Public Service

Iowa Legal Aid Society Hotline for Older Iowans, 2002 to 2006
Board of Directors, Nebraska Legal Services Corporation, 1999 to 2000
Vice-President, Board of Directors, Legal Aid Society of Nebraska, 1994 to 2000

 Melissa Ansley Brooks is a six year veteran to the Thompson Law Office as law office manager and bankruptcy paralegal. She holds her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa and a Master’s degree in legal studies from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.   In her capacity as a paralegal, Melissa works directly with clients in completing intake information and the client questionnaire as well as fielding routine questions about bankruptcy and the filing process. She can be reached via email at melissaatthompsonlaw@gmail.com.