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    First meeting with BK lawyer

    This post may be more interesting to newcomers but if any of you vetrans have any comments they're welcome.

    FYI - I live in Indiana, which may be relavent if you're comparing my experience to yours. Anyway, I met with a lawyer about ch7 BK last Wednesday. It was an odd meeting. I went through Legal Helpers and the attorney has a satellite office in my city-his main office being about an hour away in Indianapolis. He was playing receptionist when I arrived and was very friendly and helpful with the paperwork. He was tidying up the sparse office space while I filled it out and joked that he was an expensive secretary and asked if he was bothering me with the noise.

    When I was done we went into his equally sparse office and got down to business. He asked me the expected questions about my financial situation, debts, assets, income, what I want to keep, etc. I asked him about the trustees and he said there's two trustees here-one's a man, the other's a woman and gave me their names. He said the guy couldn't care less about assests, etc. I can't remember exactly what he said about the woman but overall I got the impression that the trustees here aren't sharks. He commented that I seem to know alot about the BK process already and I told him how I've researched at this forum. I also asked him what'd I lose. He said nothing because I don't have any assets that would be worthwhile to take and my income is well below the means test. I asked him what could go wrong. Of course, he said he can't predict the future but as long as I haven't hidden any assets from him (and he said he didn't think I was hiding anything) that everything should go smoothly.

    He was up front about all the fees which come to $1500. He set me up on a payment plan for the fees and unless I get them paid earlier, I'll be filing in September.

    Before I decided to hire him I mentioned that I had appointments with some other lawyers and he asked with who so I showed him my list. He said he could tell me who would be good and who wouldn't. He looked at my list and said that each of them were good BK lawyers and that one of them was the woman trustee. He said it was too bad that she isn't taking new clients right now because if I hired her I'd have the best of both worlds...an excellent BK attorney and the trustee who could care less. Anyway, I was impressed with his candor and honesty about his colleagues. He said a few of them were "small potatoes" but didn't say anything bad about any of them. He also had this attitude that it was ok if I didn't hire him so I didn't feel like he was just after my money. He made it clear that I would have more questions after meeting with him and to call him with any questions.

    I asked him how long he's had the satellite office in my city and he said 7 years. I figure the guy's not out to show off anything since the office and waiting room had only the bare necesscities and not even a plant or painting to decorate it with. He had this air of laid-back confidence but not arrogance. I got the impression that he felt my case was just a run-of-the-mill, been there done that a thousand times kind of case and he's done it so many times that he knows exactly how it will turn out and he wasn't concerned that there would be any glitches or problems. Now, I know there can always be problems but I just feel this guy has experience and knows just how to deal with whatever may turn up.

    Bottom line, I decided to hire him. I had a really good gut feeling about the guy. Now I just have to get him paid so I can file.

    Niteflyes
    Filed Ch. 7 - 11/30/06; 341 meeting 1/10/07; Discharged 3/19/07
    TU: 535

    #2
    So what are you going to do until you file?

    I'm glad you had a good meeting with your attorney. What I'd like to know is, why wait until September? What is holding you up, paying the fee to the attorney? And what are you doing about your bills in the mean time? Do you have wages that can be garnered?
    First Appoint w/ Attorney: 3/23/06
    First Appoint w/ Tax Guy: 3/25/06
    First Appoint w/ CCCounselor: 3/24/06

    Comment


      #3
      Hi Niteflytes

      Welcome to the board and good luck w/ your case.

      We filed in NY State, old law, back in Oct. We are discharged now, but our "no asset" case turned into an asset case due to a "preferential payment" (balance transfer to a new credit card over the summer, before we'd even thought about BK). After the discharge the trustee decided he'd like some additional assets to "round out" the dollar amount he would have available for our creditors (added to the preferential payment which he "took back" from the old credit card which we'd paid off with the new). Long story short, he went for our "non-exempt assets", i.e. household items that were listed separately on our schedules due to not falling under the blanket exemption of "household goods": our DVD player, VCR, & DVD dics & VHS tapes, our CD's & CD player, our computer, our garden tools and lawn mower and our misc. hand and power tools (drill, hammer, etc !).

      We ended up offering him to "buy back" our own stuff from him rather than go through the hassle of turning it over and having to save and shop for new. Fortunately he accepted, though maybe he would have just let the assets go as being too small to be worth his time if we'd called his bluff and told him to come and get them.

      Anyways, the way this relates to your attorney question is that our attorney was the same exact set up as yours. He has a sattelite office near our town and his main office (where he is a partner) is in a major city about 1 1/2 hours from here.

      When we met he seemed SOOOO awesome. Very relaxed and friendly, kind and self-deprecating. Had no secretary, did everything himself and had a real "Jimmy Stewart" demeanor. Seemed to know what he was talking about and made us feel that our case would be a cake walk. We ended up choosing him. At the time we decided we didn't even know he actually lived and worked 95 miles away, and he didn't tell us.

      After our 341 meeting when we gave him the check for our final payment of his fee, he suddenly was very rude and condescending towards us and since that time it has been like pulling teeth to get him to return calls or do anything that we needed. I ended up spending hours on the phone getting my own auto reaffirmation forms and having them sent to my lawyers office. I then spent days and weeks calling and calling trying to get him to do his part in a timely manner so that the auto reaffirmations could be filed with the court before discharge.

      Turns out he dragged his feet too long on the 2nd car and I'm pretty sure it didn't "take". The reaffirmation wasn't "filed" with the court until the DAY AFTER our discharge.

      Anyways, BE CAREFUL! Our guy was far away and very busy and after he got his full fee from us I don't think he really gave a crap. We have had to deal directly with the trustee on our asset negotiations because the lawyer informed us that once we're discharged his job is done unless we can cough up more dough, which we can't afford.

      An aquantaince of mine who was going through bankruptcy at almost the same time we were used a local attorney and had MUCH better results. Not only did he have a full office staff, and brought his assistant to the 341 meeting with him to keep all the paperwork in order, he or his assistant was ALWAYS available to take calls, answer questions, and help throughout the process.

      Unfortunately we were rushed when we had to choose. We were in a hurry to get in before the law changed and we didn't decide to do bk until end of Sept.! We should have researched much more but we were in panic mode. We had been summonsed on an old credit card debt and were about to get a judgement put on us, so we had to move fast.

      Frankly, if I had to do it over again, I would DEFINITELY go with the lawyer who is also a trustee. Our lawyer, though he specializes in BK seemed to be ignorant of some things and I think he made many mistakes with our case. I could kick myself !

      I know you said you hired him, but if you haven't started paying him yet, or given him your info, I'd seriously consider interviewing others, particurlarly the trustee/attorney.

      Good luck. If you do stay with the one you chose I hope your case works out better than ours !


      ~ Bubbly

      Comment


        #4
        I think he has told you everything you need to know that you are a good pro se case. save the 1500 bucks and do it yourself. your comments about the office make me think he is just there for your 1500 bucks anyway. probably no plants because no one is there often enough to water them. and no secretary cause there is not enough to keep one busy, except maybe water the plants if they had any. But in any case, good luck.

        Comment


          #5
          We have a Legal Helpers here. Same set up. Guy comes one afternoon every other week.

          He really pushed hard for us to bring our checkbook with us to the Consult. Strange request. No other attny had asked for that. So I asked the LH attny what was with the checkbook.

          It was so we could pay a $100 retainer fee right then and there during the Consult appt.

          Uhmmmmmmmm.......... I don't think so.

          To be fair, tho, someone, maybe it was Pink, used Legal Helpers and had great luck with them.

          I hope you can last until September, Nite.

          Some people here who filed under Old Law got a long, long time before they had to file.

          Someone that's either getting ready to or just did file New Law, only got 5 months of missed payments before the first suits started.

          We're on our 3rd missed payment this month. The CC companies must know something is up with people in general. I've seen several people post they've gotten offers from CC companies to settle their debts.

          Guess what came in the mail over the weekend for us??

          I got an offer from Chase to settle. They were knocking $5K right off the top. Call to discuss the terms.

          Hubby got a pretty card. On the outside. On the inside was a note about how he hadn't paid his bill in a while. If he doesn't fork over money soon, they'll be forced to permanently revoke his charging priviledges.
          Filed Ch 7 - 09/06
          Discharged - 12/2006
          Officially Declared No Asset - 03/2007
          Closed - 04/2007

          I am not an attorney. My comments are based on personal experience and research. Always consult an attorney in your area to address concerns related to your particular situation.

          Another good thing about being poor is that when you are seventy your children will not have declared you legally insane in order to gain control of your estate. - Woody Allen...

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by SinkingFast
            We have a Legal Helpers here. Same set up. Guy comes one afternoon every other week.

            He really pushed hard for us to bring our checkbook with us to the Consult. Strange request. No other attny had asked for that. So I asked the LH attny what was with the checkbook.

            It was so we could pay a $100 retainer fee right then and there during the Consult appt.

            Uhmmmmmmmm.......... I don't think so.

            To be fair, tho, someone, maybe it was Pink, used Legal Helpers and had great luck with them.

            I hope you can last until September, Nite.

            Some people here who filed under Old Law got a long, long time before they had to file.

            Someone that's either getting ready to or just did file New Law, only got 5 months of missed payments before the first suits started.

            We're on our 3rd missed payment this month. The CC companies must know something is up with people in general. I've seen several people post they've gotten offers from CC companies to settle their debts.

            Guess what came in the mail over the weekend for us??

            I got an offer from Chase to settle. They were knocking $5K right off the top. Call to discuss the terms.

            Hubby got a pretty card. On the outside. On the inside was a note about how he hadn't paid his bill in a while. If he doesn't fork over money soon, they'll be forced to permanently revoke his charging priviledges.
            I got an offer on Friday, and I was only 30 days late with my payment. It was for 50 cents on the dollar after I mentioned I was filing BK. It was with one of them companies that I have heard are rough on you in court. If I had the 50 cents, I would probably pay them and be done with them, but then again, I would owe 1/2 that amount again on taxes...Uncle Sam is immune to the BK system I understand, so no thanks!!!

            PS...I have been told not to post my State or names of specific companies on this thread. Everybody might wish to adhere to the same advice. Sometimes I might slip, but I understand it is not wise to do so!
            Chapter 13 Filed 4/03/06 :blink: 341 Meeting Complete 5/11/06 :yes2:
            Plan Confirmation 6/16/06 :yahoo:
            Discharged: 1/5/2010 :yahoo::yahoo::yahoo::yahoo:

            Comment


              #7
              So now I'm wondering if I made the right decision...

              I paid him but he's holding my check. Can I call and tell him the deal is off before he deposits it on the 22nd?

              I can't get in with the lawyer who is also a trustee since she's not taking any more clients right now. But I guess I could wait it out a bit and see if she takes me later. I'm doing ok right now and I can wait a little bit.

              And why shouldn't we share what state we're in or names of companies? Just curious.
              Filed Ch. 7 - 11/30/06; 341 meeting 1/10/07; Discharged 3/19/07
              TU: 535

              Comment


                #8
                I guess giving too much information to identify yourself might not be a good idea in some cases, but I don't know why giving just your state would matter?

                Maybe depending on the situation, I dont know? In my case, I am done with my chapter 13 and have paid off the trustee. In fact, he owes me money--hes taking his sweet time auditing my case and is sitting on quite a bit of my money!!! oh well,,,,,,, I guess I will get it eventually.

                Comment


                  #9
                  The other side probably is reading the Forum.

                  Someone could pick up enough tidbits about a person to identify us when we go to Court.

                  If that's the case, I'm not real worried.

                  I haven't talked about committing fraud or anything. No assets to hide. All sold already. Used up all the savings to pay bills. We're BROKE, BROKE, BROKE. So not much to learn about us.
                  Filed Ch 7 - 09/06
                  Discharged - 12/2006
                  Officially Declared No Asset - 03/2007
                  Closed - 04/2007

                  I am not an attorney. My comments are based on personal experience and research. Always consult an attorney in your area to address concerns related to your particular situation.

                  Another good thing about being poor is that when you are seventy your children will not have declared you legally insane in order to gain control of your estate. - Woody Allen...

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Yep, thats me too. Nothing to hide! : )

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Same here...they can look all they want! Just enough to cover monthly expenses, maybe buy a pack of gum here and there (don't tell anybody!). We live a fairly modest life. Just unexpected expenses and mismanagement of our money got us here.

                      We were able to vacation last year in May. That probably made it worse, but it was fun and we needed it. I think that's the only thing they may question, but I'm ready for them!
                      Filed: March 29, 2006
                      341: April 21, 2006
                      Discharged: June 28, 2006
                      Closed:July 18, 2006:yahoo: :clapping: :yahoo: :clapping:

                      Comment

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