Is it worth finding a new attorney?

[justbroke]

You can fire them, ask for your files, report them, and even sue them. You could sue them for all the fees to rework/fix the case for example.

Not that simple if the fee agreement doesn't provide for services post-filing. This is why I said that the issue is likely the employer-provided "free" legal services. Most of these are not as simple as they appear from the outside.

[bornfree2]

We would have to see if the benefit would pay out more if we wanted to switch. Thanks for the info!

You can fire them, ask for your files, report them, and even sue them. You could sue them for all the fees to rework/fix the case for example.

You can read about these kind of options in this NOLO book which i have in my own bookshelf handy as I write this.

Its an old book 1996(references AOL email) but it has plenty of form letters and 'how-to' Nolo style

"Mad at your Lawyer?"

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclope...ies-29925.html

You can find it on amazon or for free at a local law library that provides access to NOLO texts.

[justbroke]

My husband’s work has a legal benefit so that paid for our attorney. We would have to see if the benefit would pay out more if we wanted to switch. Thanks for the info!

This, that I underlined, is likely the issue. The attorney probably received a flat-rate (no look) payment for the services and the engagement agreement may or may not provide for a la carte services (post confirmation).

[imtryingtho]

Post confirmation, Chapter 13 lawyers are generally scarce. Personally I think it's unprofessional to avoid the client and not return calls. If this attorney is overworked, they should just let the client know that they are overworked and took on too much (happens with small firms). Larger firms have more resources and can delegate much of this type of work to paralegals, law clerks, or even interns. The smaller office just has no resources.

For the average person, hiring an attorney is a daunting process. An unresponsive attorney makes the profession look bad, when it's not. It's usually because they are overworked because they took on too many clients. That's why I appreciate the larger firms even though I may not talk directly with my attorney except for when it's an issue which requires them to speak directly with me. I don't mind working with the paralegals or clerks in the attorney office. They are there to relieve a lot of pressure off the attorney(s) in the office. They are a great asset to putting a good face forward.

Yessss so true! When looking for an attorney initially, we couldn’t find a place that didn’t have us talking to a paralegal and we didn’t like that. Well that came back to bite us! The one we landed on is a small place with only one attorney and I think he only now got a paralegal, who we are also emailing. She is a bit more responsive and at least apologizes, the attorney doesn’t which I think is probably just typical practice of attorneys to avoid admitting fault. My husband’s work has a legal benefit so that paid for our attorney. We would have to see if the benefit would pay out more if we wanted to switch. Thanks for the info!

[justbroke]

And this is why i dont trust lawyers

Post confirmation, Chapter 13 lawyers are generally scarce. Personally I think it's unprofessional to avoid the client and not return calls. If this attorney is overworked, they should just let the client know that they are overworked and took on too much (happens with small firms). Larger firms have more resources and can delegate much of this type of work to paralegals, law clerks, or even interns. The smaller office just has no resources.

For the average person, hiring an attorney is a daunting process. An unresponsive attorney makes the profession look bad, when it's not. It's usually because they are overworked because they took on too many clients. That's why I appreciate the larger firms even though I may not talk directly with my attorney except for when it's an issue which requires them to speak directly with me. I don't mind working with the paralegals or clerks in the attorney office. They are there to relieve a lot of pressure off the attorney(s) in the office. They are a great asset to putting a good face forward.

[justbroke]

Switching after confirmation is a royal pain since the other attorney must withdraw, and you must pay a new attorney to take over. Few attorneys would take over a post-confirmation Chapter 13 because all of the work, for which a bankruptcy attorney gets paid, has been done at the point of confirmation.

Now, after confirmation it can be difficult to deal with some attorneys because they generally don't make any money after confirmation. If your attorney is slow in response, then keep asking and if they have an office with a secretary and/or clerks and paralegals, make an appointment. Since you have done this and it's still very slow to respond, you could try to get another bankruptcy attorney, but it will be a pain. The new attorney must figure out how to get paid, and they may charge you a good chunk of money to takeover the case.

I'm not saying don't do it. I'm saying that it will likely cost you more money and there is a process.

Maybe someone else has a suggestion... despritfreya may have done this before.

[bornfree2]

And this is why i dont trust lawyers

[imtryingtho]

Has anyone switched attorneys in the middle of their chapter 13? Was it a huge headache?

Our attorney is super smart and knows the trustee and system well, when he actually responds. But he doesn’t reply to us or submit things to the court in a timely situation, so now we are in a terrible situation. We asked in February for him to submit a request for temporary lower payments due to a new roof deductible as well as a modification due to our son’s increased medical expenses. He told us to move forward repairing the roof and get him documentation paperwork and he would submit everything by March 8th. That came and went and it was radio silence. Called and left voicemails, emailed repeatedly. We got the roof repaired and the mortgage company endorsed the insurance check and then sent it to our trustee. Well our trustee has no information about our property damage but that is not our fault. We have no idea what is going to happen now and we owe the roofer $30k. Our lawyer finally responded a couple weeks ago and sent us loan modification documents to sign and now radio silence again. PACER doesn’t show any activity at all, so we don’t even think he’s sent the stuff to the trustee. Additionally, we gave him our tax return as soon as it was filed and last year he didn’t send it to the trustee and she filed a motion, so we don’t trust that he’s sent that either.

In October we will be 2 years into the chapter 13 and I don’t know if I can do 3 more years of this. I have constant anxiety, I’m probably racking up a huge PACER bill checking for updates. It’s true when they says bankruptcy affects every part of your life, things you just don’t even see coming. The idea that the mortgage company would send the check to the trustee when she can’t even cash it makes no sense to me. My only hope is she forwards it along with no fuss, but I kind of doubt it. It’s also infuriating to me that the mortgage company didn’t tell us that this was the policy as we would’ve had our ducks in a row. Well not really, it’s not like our lawyer would’ve done anything…