Attorney Fees this high?

[Falcon]

Went to my first consult today and the guy told me I would easily qualify for Chapter 7.....but his fees are out of this world....he either wants a one time payment of $1500 or 5 payments of $400 each. Is this the norm??

[nc73]

eh that one time payment is cheap. I'm paying 1750 and that's not including filing fees.

[jacra777]

Mine was 1000.00 plus filing fees to the court of 299.00

[blessed]

I paid $1200 in one lump sum. And another attorney (mill) quoted me $1750.

[Falcon]

I mean I understand that the attorneys have to charge money and all, but I simply cant afford $400 per month nor $1500. What are my other options?

[Exployer1234]

I paid 1200.

I was quoted 2250 plus filing fees from another attorney.

[Ann]

I would say 1500 is pretty reasonable. You could try to file yourself. There is nothing that says you have to have a lawyer but in my opinion I think it would be highly advisable to hire one.

[idainc]

Quoted over $3000 including fees. Wow ! Did it myself.

[GettingGoing]

I mean I understand that the attorneys have to charge money and all, but I simply cant afford $400 per month nor $1500. What are my other options?

If you have a simple bk7 case then you could always file pro se. Total cost would be around $400.

[momofthree]

$1500 for a ch.7 is cheap for this area.

[wickedlate]

$1600 for everything.

[ryan]

I have found quite a few in my area who will do a Ch7 for $1000, and a number in my town who will do it for $650-$1,000 plus filing costs and classes. This is pretty cheap from what I understand, but there are alot of lawyers in my area. Must be competitive.

[HHM]

$1,500 is quite reasonable in any area.

Just be sure you understand what is, and more importantly, what IS NOT, included in the fee.

Any attorney that charges less than $2,000 can really leave a client hanging in the wind if ANYTHING beyond the 341 meeting happens after the case is filed.

[ecsclb1724]

cheaper is not always better...

if you stop paying all your creditors would you be able to put the money you've been paying towards a $400 a month payment? Sounds like a good option to me.

[sunydoesitbe]

My lawyer was $1800. Which seemed very high to me. But I went with the advice on this forum that cheaper isn't always better and to interview more than 1 attorney. The fee included all filing fees and courses though. He's also the biggest bankruptcy attorney in our area and way more efficient than the others I've come across.

He is short and to the point and semi grumpy at times. I've had 2 meetings with him and 1 with a paralegal. But he has made this a smooth process, up to this point. We will see how the 341 goes however.

So the money was well worth it in the end to me becuase I'm able to sleep at night because I feel that I have a very capable attorney. It was very hard to come up with the money though.