Jessica Méndez-Colberg

JESSICA is the founder and CEO of Student Loan Advisors PR in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where she specializes in providing legal counsel in the area of student loan law in Puerto Rico. Previously, she was a capital partner and vice president at Bufete Emmanuelli, C.S.P., where she led its Bankruptcy and Consumer Law Division for 10 years and mostly focused on consumer bankruptcies under chapters 7 and 13, as well as other consumer issues and labor law. She also developed a unique expertise in student loan law, a topic that no other lawyers on the island specialize in. This unique student loan practice led her to found her firm, through which she has been able to aid people in achieving financial wellness, mostly via avoiding bankruptcy and restructuring their finances to fulfill their life goals through financial planning or student debt forgiveness. She also maintains a solo practice as a bankruptcy lawyer and provides legal counseling to small businesses, particularly women-owned businesses, on labor and financial matters.

Jessica is a public notary and mediator authorized by the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico. She is admitted to the federal court for the District of Puerto Rico, the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. She currently is pursuing an LL.M. in tax law and has published several law review articles and other works in newspapers and journals on such topics as student loans, labor law, bankruptcy, torts, and civil procedure combined with evidence. In addition, she has served as a delegate of the governing board of the Puerto Rico Bar Association for the past eight years and is an active member of various commissions, including the Bankruptcy and Young Lawyers Commissions. She also has collaborated as a lecturer and speaker for universities and the general public on matters of labor law, student loans and bankruptcy. In 2019, at age 33, she became the youngest Puerto Rican woman to present oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case concerning Puerto Rico’s insolvency proceedings.

Jessica grew up in a small town on the western side of Puerto Rico, where she learned the value of hard work and perseverance. While in law school, she did not anticipate that her career path would be in the bankruptcy and insolvency field, but once she began working with clients, she quickly realized how much of a positive impact she could have on those going through a very vulnerable period in their lives, and it turned out to be the most rewarding practice area of her career. In 2022, the Puerto Rico Bar Association presented her with the Bar Member of the Year award and the Juan Santiago Medal, which is awarded to attorneys who have been practicing for less than 10 years and have shown leadership in defending constitutional and civil rights and a commitment to representing underserved communities. She is the designated attorney for several regions of the Bar Association to provide pro bono consultations on bankruptcy matters, and for a decade, she has served as a pro bono speaker for the Business Training Program for Entrepreneur Women at the Center for Puerto Rico, Sila Calderón Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides numerous resources to help entrepreneurial women achieve their small business goals.