Visited Lawyer for 1st time...

[loonzilla]

I think I found a winner...1st lawyer visited based on my searching Pacer and seeing his cases. He hasn't had a chapter 7 dismissed yet, for he won't file chapter 7 if he thinks anything will be contested. I was worried since I have higher income and had to pass the means test. However, he looked at my medical expenses (around $700 a month), saw I had receipts for the past 6 months with that average, and determined I have the documentation required to easily post that amount (which let me pass the means test).
A couple things...he said our district only allows operating expenses for cars with loans on them, so I had to remove my "2" to "1". Also, our district doesn't allow 401K loan repayments or reductions to be figured into the means test or Schedule J. He said no case has yet to be the "trial" case in our district to test the courts and he doesn't want to be the test case. No big deal, since my schedules still show negative without those numbers.
Anyway, I'm extremely overjoyed since we're planning for a July 1st filing. Plus, he stated it's pretty standard once you get past the means test process...trustees just want documentation. Finally, he stated that he always does a trick if student loans are involved. He places my student loan in the notes section in the means test...it doesn't get factored in means test, but the trustee will see it and amount. This basically stops them from nickel and diming the means test numbers since the loan repayment would be priority payment, making a chapter 13 meaningless. Something he's learned from his multiple filings...
Anyway, thanks to everyone on this forum. I could have never planned accordingly without you!!

[SinkingFast]

WTG, Loonzilla!!!

I am so glad to see saving receipts paid off for someone!!

[lrprn]

Woo hoo and way to go, Loonzilla! You did a great job finding a good lawyer - that's the way to have a painless Ch 7! Congrats and here's hoping your filing goes smoothly!

[Chicago]

How do you go about searching PACER for the info on various attorneys? Sounds like a great way to pick one.

[loonzilla]

Search for lawyer via pacer...

First, I was randomly looking at cases, trying to find one that resembled my own case (above median income, 2 people, home mortgage, etc). When I found a case, I researched the lawyer in that case by quering how many cases he/she had for chapter 7 since the new law came out. Then I looked at the specific cases to see the major steps in the file. That stated whether any admin errors, filing errors, or stupid messups by the lawyer occurred. The one I picked had none plus plenty of cases under the new law. Plus, he had handled multiple cases with similar numbers to mine. I figured those were the key points on the lawyer I would hire, so I went to him first. I liked what he presented so I retained him after 90 minutes. I know its recommended to visit 3-4, but the research said this guy was the real deal, so I pulled the trigger. Price was $1500, but you get what you pay for.

NOTE: yes, this cost me some dough via Pacer costs, but I figured it would be worth it.

[Chicago]

Thanks! I just signed up and my password will be effective tomorrow. Then I'll check out how effective the various attorneys have been.

[SinkingFast]

I did a similar thing, Loonzilla. Looked at BK attnys listed in the phone book. Cross referenced them on PACER. Looked at how many cases they'd filed. How many years of practice. Etc.

We wound up doing a dozen Consults. Partly 'cuz I was not comfortable with the lower number of cases our attny had filed over the years. Even tho he gave us good advise, I thought he was "less experienced" in filing.

Then I found Martindale Peer Review and saw our attny was AV rated. Learned too, that our attny practices Creditor's Rights Law mainly. Files a BK's on the side each month. That explained his "inside knowledge", lower case ratio, and his success record. Not being a "cattle call" BK attny, we got lots of personal attention from him and his paralegals.

We visited with a lot of attnys, but it wasn't a total waste of time. We did learn things from the other guys and gals.

[Chicago]

Martindale Peer Review?

Hey SinkingFast, I checked out Martindale's site but couldn't pull up the attorneys I've met with. Is there a special trick to getting info from there?

[SinkingFast]

Not all attnys are Martindale Peer Review Rated. In our town, there's maybe 4 BK attnys that are. The rest aren't.

I think attnys do advertise there. I've found a listing of BK attnys in our area. But again, very few were rated. Our Trustee and our attny were 2. And if I remember correctly, there were a couple others as well.

[whatamess]

How???

Do you look up your attorney on pacer w/o having a huge bill? I tried to search, couldnt figure anything out unless I had a case # (dont yet) and already have a few dollar bill.
Anyone have an explanation for this dumb dumb???
WAM

[SinkingFast]

On the Query page, you can search by attnys' names.

Instead of entering a Case Number or SSN, you'd enter each attny's last name. Smith, Jones, whatever.

PACER does wildcard type seaches. If the attny you're looking for has a first name of James, you can enter J for the first name and all J....... Smiths will come up.

Then, be sure to select Attny for the type of Search you want performed. You'll get a list of attnys with J......... Smith names. You'll have to pick the one you're interested in looking at.

Keep in mind too,............. Attnys change names over the years. An attny may start out using his/her whole name. James Thomas Smith. Then, over the years, they change to using James T. Smith or Jim Smith. So 2 or 3 attny names can really all be the same person.