Additional Lawyer Fees in Ch 13

[dovette7]

What is your experience with additional lawyer fees in Ch 13?
I am paying $2500 to lawyer. $1000 upfront and rest in plan.
Attorney told me if trustee won't confirm case and we have to go to court, that I will be charged additionally for that. I remember in one of the first conversations with lawyer that he was bringing up talking to judge about our situation and how we would explain things to judge. It was never brought up that court would be additional until now....when court is almost here and our case is so complicated. I brought up the fact that he commented on "talking with judge" at the beginning and he said he was talking about the trustee.

So basically, if I go to this hearing and have to go in front of judge, is that over and beyond basic bankruptcy case or should that be included?

[SinkingFast]

It might be.

Generally, BK attnys give you a "contract" of their services covered in the fee you pay. You probably got the statement in with the batch of papers you received at your Consultation. Just about every attny we Consulted with gave us one. Ch 7 fee covers this. Ch 13 fee covers that.

Your attny should have given you some sort of statement as to what services the Ch 13 fee covered. Read thru that statement and see what service the attny has said he/she will perform for the fee paid. What other types of services will be charged at an additional rate. Sometimes the attny quotes their usual hourly rate for service. Sometimes they offer Ch 13 filers a different billable rate.

[lrprn]

So basically, if I go to this hearing and have to go in front of judge, is that over and beyond basic bankruptcy case or should that be included?

For most bk lawyers, this would be above and beyond the standard Ch 13 fee contract. Typically going to court for hearings and court appearances other than the 341 and confirmation will generate additional fees. Our Ch 13 lawyer explained up front before we retained him that we would have to pay additional fees by the hour if we veered off the typical Ch 13 path. We did, so we are. (And our lawyer is worth every penny!)

[wayne-o]

dovette, I know your not confirmed yet so it may be different, but my lawyer explained to me that anything above the norm would cost extra, but that too would be paid through the plan and the trustee had to approve the added costs.

[HHM]

This issue varies from district to district. Your district sounds similar to mine in that, if the lawyer actually has to attend the confirmation hearing, then the client will be charged additional fees. (most attorney's do not attend the confirmation hearing unless there is a dispute that cannot be resolved with the trustee).

I wouldn't worry about it, the additional fees will be paid by the Chapter 13 Plan, and those fees will not effect your chapter 13 plan.

[CityGirl]

I didn't get one from mine

It might be.

Generally, BK attnys give you a "contract" of their services covered in the fee you pay. You probably got the statement in with the batch of papers you received at your Consultation. Just about every attny we Consulted with gave us one. Ch 7 fee covers this. Ch 13 fee covers that.

Your attny should have given you some sort of statement as to what services the Ch 13 fee covered. Read thru that statement and see what service the attny has said he/she will perform for the fee paid. What other types of services will be charged at an additional rate. Sometimes the attny quotes their usual hourly rate for service. Sometimes they offer Ch 13 filers a different billable rate.

[gunsmoke]

same as wayne-o