John Rao

Senior Attorney

John Rao is a senior attorney with the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) focusing on consumer credit, mortgage servicing, and bankruptcy issues. He appears frequently as a panelist and instructor at bankruptcy and consumer law trainings and conferences, serves as an expert witness in court cases, and provides testimony, comment and assistance to members of Congress, Congressional staff, and federal regulatory agencies on issues affecting low income consumers.

John is a conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, member of the editorial board of Collier on Bankruptcy, board member of the National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center, former commissioner on the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy, and former board member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys and the American Bankruptcy Institute. John served as a member of the federal Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules from 2006 to 2012, appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts. John was the 2017 recipient of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges’ Excellence in Education Award.

John is a contributing author and editor of NCLC’s Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice; and a co-author of NCLC’s Mortgage Servicing and Loan Modifications, Home Foreclosures, and Bankruptcy Basics. He is a contributing author to Collier on Bankruptcy and the Collier Bankruptcy Practice Guide. John authored the 2012 report, The Other Foreclosure Crisis: Property Tax Lien Sales, and the Pro Bono Bankruptcy Training Program Material.

Before joining NCLC, John was a managing attorney at Rhode Island Legal Services and headed the program’s Consumer Unit.

Education: 

J.D. University of California, Hastings College of the Law

B.A. Boston University