Paralegal vs BK laywer, which is better?

[Emmy]

I talked to my dad yesterday about filing bk and he suggested that I steer clear of bk laywers and go with a paralegal. His reasons are that the paralegal does all the work for the lawyer anyway, is cheaper, and more honest.

What do you all think? And saying you are getting tired of all my questions is not an option!

[lrprn]

I talked to my dad yesterday about filing bk and he suggested that I steer clear of bk laywers and go with a paralegal. His reasons are that the paralegal does all the work for the lawyer anyway, is cheaper, and more honest.

What do you all think? And saying you are getting tired of all my questions is not an option!

If you have a very straightforward, no asset Ch 7 case, Emmy, then dear old dad could be right. But for anything beyond that (and most certainly for a Ch 13 filing) you need the expertise and knowledge of a bankruptcy-specialty lawyer. Just because a paralegal knows how to fill out the forms doesn't mean he/she knows all the nuances of the revised bk law that went in to effect a year ago. There are many new gray areas in the law that are still being decided in the bk courts. You want someone handling your case who is knowledgeable about all the recent court decisions and also knows your trustee and local bk court customs well. Paralegals also can't represent you in court in case the trustee or your one of your creditors gets cranky about your case. I'm sure some paralegals are very good at what they do, but in my opinion you're better off with the real deal lawyer.

Here are two links that explain how to find a good bk lawyer. (If you can find one that used to be a trustee, then you've hit pay dirt! )

http://bankruptcy.lawyers.com/Bankruptcy-Preparing-to-Meet-with-a-Lawyer.html

http://www.moranlaw.net/selecting.htm

[HHM]

I don't think the statement about "being more honest" is accurate...but lrprn is right, a paralegal service only makes sense for a very straight foward chapter 7, no asset case.

Strictly speaking, paralegals cannot give you ANY legal advice, so they really can't answer any of your questions, i.e. what will happen if??????. All they do is use a software program that cost them a few hundred dollars to prepare your BK petition, but you are fully responsible for the content of that petition, so if there are any problems, you can't blame the paralegal...you will have no recourse against the paralegal.

Given what is at stake, your probably better off spending the extra money on a BK lawyer from the start, because if things go wrong, and you are using a paralegal...it will be far more costly to fix it after the fact.

[Emmy]

Thanks for the links. I'm so nervous about the whole thing, I'd prefer a bk laywer even though we are no assest just to be on the safe side.

[emoney]

As a guidepost is use in life is if I am trying to gain assets and increase my standard of living I do what rich people do. I do know of any rich people not using an attorney when legal advice is needed.
Just my view thoughts.
emoney

[HHM]

The real question is whether you actually know if you have a straight, forward, chapter 7, no asset case.

For example, a person posted in another thread on this forum regarding her problem with a Trustee. She had some annuities that paid a monthly dividend, and she only thought that the monthly dividend would be treated as part of her income; so between her job and the annuity income, she just barely had enough money to survive. She thought she had a straight forward, chapter 7, no asset case; after all, she barely makes enough to survive and doesn't own anything of value, i.e house is mortgaged to the hilt, car is financed, etc. However, she did not know that annuities are not wages under the BK code, annuities have cash value, and may not be exempt (some are, some are not), so now the trustee is hitting her up for $37,000 and there is probably nothing she can do about. To be fair, this was not her fault, she was advised by an attorney, or I should say, ill advised...but I hope my point is clear...do your homework...don't "think" you have a no asset case, "know" you have a no asset case.

A paralegal service would not be able to warn you of the consequences of your actions, an attorney is supposed to.