Who to hire? High profile or Low?

[holycowe]

Who would you hire?
1- high profile with many offices in town. But you'll prolly never see him (just deal with his paralegals).
2- low profile atty, but you'll deal directly, meet him directly almost all the time?

Thanks all

[despritfreya]

Your definitions are off:

High profile ='s attorney who takes on many noteworthy cases (good or bad) or has many "famous" clients thus throwing themselves into the lime-light.

Low profile ='s everyone else.

Mill operator ='s attorney who floods the market with advertising, has many offices and, as a result, has many clients.

You use the attorney you feel most comfortable with regardless. . .

Des.

[DIY]

You want the attorney who appears the most credible in front of the Trustee, and appears most organized and knowledgeable on your specific issues. The size of the law firm does not matter. If you hire someone known as the attorney people go to when the other attorneys won't touch their case, your case will be more susceptible to extra scrutiny by the Trustee.

[holycowe]

In that case, #1 would be "mill operator" then

[AngelinaCat]

You want the attorney that will BE IN COMMUNICATION with you--and you feel comfortable with.

Our biggest beef with our attorney, who was in her own practice with a paralegal, was that she did not communicate with us when we asked questions.

When the paralegal, *Sue* was there, we had our questions answered in a fairly timely manner. When *Sue* left, and *Adam*, an accountant-not a paralegal, arrived on the scene, the communication factor took a dump into the toilet. We had to actually take our time and go sit in our attorney's office and essentially 'camp' there to get our questions answered.

This was long before we found this forum.

Good luck to you!!

[DIY]

Hi Angelina. You probably fared better not getting bankruptcy advice from an accountant.

[despritfreya]

If you hire someone known as the attorney people go to when the other attorneys won't touch their case, your case will be more susceptible to extra scrutiny by the Trustee.

I take a tiny bit of offense to this since these are exactly the type of cases we handle. We do not advertise. All clients are either referrals from other attorneys (case has too many "issues") or referrals from past clients (got them through the system relatively unscathed). In fact, the reputation we have is exactly why Trustees and Judges like to point folks in trouble in our direction. Yes, our cases are "scrutinized" when the issues in them dictate such, but, due to our thoroughness, all Judges and Trustee's know that the Schedules and Statements are as complete as possible (barring any nonsense from the client- which, if we discover we withdraw). Since, most of the time there is a specific reason the client comes to us, the rule is. . . you come to us, you disclose, disclose, disclose.

I actually relish the “simple” case when it come in the door. A nice change of pace.

Des.

[DIY]

Sorry, Des. I should have been more blunt with my statement, as I realize now that it reads different than what I intended. If your attorney is known as one who repeatedly represents debtors found engaging in bankruptcy fraud this will be a flag to the Trustee. This isn't my opinion, it's stated in the handbook Trustees use to identify fraud. Most of the attorneys who take the time to post on this forum are those who are happy to take on the complex cases that the bankruptcy mills won't take on. We're the good guys.

[despritfreya]

Sorry, Des.

No problem. If you noticed I did say "a tiny bit".

Des.

[holycowe]

Hi Des,
If you happen practicing in my state or at least know someone you can recommend here, please pm me.
Haven't decide yet but I'm looking at a "low profile" atty now (the one that deal directly).
Our case is very complex. Involving house, 4 cars, s-corp, and LLC. Thats why we'd like one that willing to show us what to do...

[despritfreya]

Unfortunately the only firm I know in Nevada is a creditor firm. Based upon what you indicate is involved, I certainly do not recommend a "mill" type firm, however, "mill" type firms typically refer the more complex cases out. You might want to set a meeting with one and see what or who they recommend. While I am not in your state I can tell you that we do get cases from such firms.

Des.

[holycowe]

Tia, i dont think they will turn any case down (the mill). Talked to 2 of them already and quoted min. $6k for our case.
We'll do 13, just because of 2nd mortgage (forclosured 3 years ago) and ~150 cc debt.

[IamOld]

I take a tiny bit of offense to this since these are exactly the type of cases we handle. We do not advertise. All clients are either referrals from other attorneys (case has too many "issues") or referrals from past clients (got them through the system relatively unscathed). In fact, the reputation we have is exactly why Trustees and Judges like to point folks in trouble in our direction. Yes, our cases are "scrutinized" when the issues in them dictate such, but, due to our thoroughness, all Judges and Trustee's know that the Schedules and Statements are as complete as possible (barring any nonsense from the client- which, if we discover we withdraw). Since, most of the time there is a specific reason the client comes to us, the rule is. . . you come to us, you disclose, disclose, disclose.

I actually relish the “simple” case when it come in the door. A nice change of pace.

Des.

I have a similar issue - have had three meetings with atty - generally answers emails with very short VERY short replies...I'm almost afraid to email him - next meeting in a week or two...a bit of a complex case...is teh atty a mill??? Don't know...does nothing but bkptcy for...decades...excellent reputation, seems very nice and very very knowledgeable and dedicated.

Am I unrealistic (and atty isn't cheap) in having someone "hold my hand?" I know I'm not the only client, but I'm probably the most anxious one - to put it mildly.....I've got a suit pending and they just said, oh, meeting before suit, just bring it in...

[puggymoo]

I would check to state bar to see if any attorneys you are looking at have complaints. I had a attorney (was also a accountant)who I thought was good but ended up firing him and having to seek arbitration with state bar for partial refund of fees paid. This took 5 months. I then went to the old time go to attorney(everyone seeks his advise) and have had no problems. All the flashy attorneys at the 341 were ill prepared and should have been ashamed of there conduct.

[tada]

We started to hire a young attorney with little experience. He probably could have handled a standard case very well. But he saw that we were having to use the means test for Chapter 7 and decided that he could not handle it. We instead went with a proven attorney who did nothing but bankruptcy. He is also a trustee and knew very well what to expect. He had a cocky attitude, but he got the job done. I felt we really did all of the leg work gathering the information. I also had studied the subject and the means test a great deal. It cost $2299 including the filing fee.