Which lawyer?

[laurannm]

Back in March I met with 3 attorneys. There was one in particular who we really liked, we'll call her Lawyer A. She has been very nice, has always taken my calls and answered all of my questions, and was even nice enough to run our means test and schedules for no charge, to get a sense of what chapter we are looking at (she believes we can do a Ch 7 even though we are slightly above median). Probably looking at a July filing

Other day I as poking around Pacer and saw a local lawyer (we'll call her Lawyer B) who has filed a boat load of cases (about 20-25 this year alone). Most of them were the run-of-the-mill below median Ch 7 cases. For the heck of it I called the office and did a consult over the phone. We had a great conversation, she was very personable and really seemed she would be the type. Here is the tale of the tape :

Lawyer A:

- Her boss is a Chapter 7 trustee
- always takes my calls, always answers my questions, seems nice
- ran means test/schedules for free to give us an idea of where we stand (she is confident on our ch 7)
- seems very knowledgeable, but also seems to be the type who will work very much "by the book"
- has filed quite a few cases, both Chapter 13s and Chapter 7s (1 or 2 above-median cases in t he past year)
- rates are reasonable


Lawyer B:

- has filed a ton of cases this year (most though are generic Ch 7)
- very personable, seemed very knowledgeable
- Won't run our numbers without a 50% deposit
- In our conversation, based solely on our above median status, she made the statement a couple of times that we would almost automatically be a Ch 13. Almost gave me the impression that she won't try to work for a Ch 7
- Does seem like she would be the type who would really work as low a payment plan as possible in a Ch13 (more so than Lawyer A)
- rates are slightly cheaper than lawyer A


Thoughts? I am a little torn between the two. The saying has always been "to go with your first choice", but I have a feeling that if we got stuck in a Ch13 for whatever reason, Lawyer B would be the better choice. However, our case is pretty straightforward even with us being above median. I can't see how Lawyer B could conclude we can't file Ch 7 given our numbers (when I run the base numbers on legalconsumer.com we pass the means), then again, I know some lawyers won't even really try for a Ch 7 since they can make more money on a Ch 13.


Sorry for all of my ramblings!

[magyar123]

Flip a coin: Heads - Attorney "A", Tails - Attorney B

[Phillymanhere]

Both sound OK to me, and because they both impressed you, I would go with the one who feels you can do the Chapter 7. Why not?
I mean if you can do a 7 and if you don't have to "push" your lawyer to do it, sounds to me like that's the way to go.
Lawyer A it is.

[lrprn]

Since Lawyer A works under a current trustee, that could be an advantage because she could be more aware of the current customs and interpretations of the court, especially in a borderline case like yours.

Is there a significant difference in their fees? (Normally I would NEVER suggest using fees as the sole deciding factor when choosing a good bk lawyer. However in this case where you have two good lawyers you feel would both do a good job representing you, then their fees can take on more weight in the decision.)

[laurannm]

Thanks to everyone for their response.

Both would charge about the same for a Ch 7, but Lawyer A would charge about $800 more for a Ch 13. However, what lawyer A would charge for a Ch 13 was about the same as all of the other lawyers I spoke with.

I am with the both of you, I like the fact that Lawyer A works for a trustee, and that could be why she feels a Ch 7 would work. Before I first spoke with Lawyer A I was pretty sure we would only qualify for a 13. But she kept telling me not to say that just yet without running numbers, especially where we are a family of 5.

It's killing me a little because I am so afraid of picking one lawyer and than wishing I went with the other down the road

[yoyoma51]

We hired a trustee for our Ch. 7.

Best decision we could have made.

Was he "by the rules"? Yes.

Did he know the rules (and local trustee customs) well enough to coach us on how to bend without breaking them? Certainly. He even told us what week to file to make sure we got (who he considered) a 'favorable' trustee.

And he was more than willing to help us during the 7 or 8 months we spent "pre-planning".

Local trustee locater: http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/private_...ator/index.htm

[PaKettle]

"A" sounds better to me.