Can I fire my attorney?

[frustrated51]

We are not happy with our attorney. Communication is very unclear and is like pulling teeth when we want clarification. We have filed and hearing is set for May 20th. If i is possible how would we go about changing attorneys?

Thanks

[jayalln]

Yes you have the right to fire your counsel whenever you wish. You will just have to pay him for the services he provided so far. What is he/she not clarifying for you?

[frustrated51]

Yes you have the right to fire your counsel whenever you wish. You will just have to pay him for the services he provided so far. What is he/she not clarifying for you?

First we had trouble getting clarification on whether we would be including both or our bills when only one of us was filing.

The IRS has requested that our deductions are single and zero, however, in recent months we have made changes to fix the problem. At first they told us no problem they would challenge it at the hearing and now they are basically saying too bad you can't owe at the end. We said we would rather pay quarterly on the small business because that income is so variable that is better than leaving almost nothing in the main paycheck ($2900 payment, 600 health insurance, plus increasing the withholding).

Now, we were told the homeowners insurance would be paid out of the payment. We wrote asking for clarification because a payment is coming up May 10th and the budget is set with only the auto portion and they responded that the insurance is NOT included in our payment. So now it is back to refiguring everything and seeing how to add another $100 into that week when I only have $51 available.

I also haven't figured out how they came up with the payment amount. They say the unsecured will be dismissed so that is only the IRS, mortage, and car so it looks like the trustee and atty are making $52K over the 5 years. Can that be right?
I have found there communication very unclear all along.

[jayalln]

First we had trouble getting clarification on whether we would be including both or our bills when only one of us was filing.

The IRS has requested that our deductions are single and zero, however, in recent months we have made changes to fix the problem. At first they told us no problem they would challenge it at the hearing and now they are basically saying too bad you can't owe at the end. We said we would rather pay quarterly on the small business because that income is so variable that is better than leaving almost nothing in the main paycheck ($2900 payment, 600 health insurance, plus increasing the withholding).

Now, we were told the homeowners insurance would be paid out of the payment. We wrote asking for clarification because a payment is coming up May 10th and the budget is set with only the auto portion and they responded that the insurance is NOT included in our payment. So now it is back to refiguring everything and seeing how to add another $100 into that week when I only have $51 available.

I also haven't figured out how they came up with the payment amount. They say the unsecured will be dismissed so that is only the IRS, mortage, and car so it looks like the trustee and atty are making $52K over the 5 years. Can that be right?
I have found there communication very unclear all along.

It is a little confusing but I will try and address your concerns as best I can. You are likely going to need to talk with your attorney. I suggest you go by and just wait it out until he meets with you.

Now I need some clarification from you. You filed chapter chapter 13 and your wife/husband did not? Did you file for a business or did you file for personal because you mention that you would like to pay your taxes quarterly on the small business taxes. Is your business incorporated or is it a sole proprietor?

Now let me try to answer some question about the payments. Whoever told you the insurance would be paid through the trustee payments to the creditors were misleading you. Insurance is always paid outside of the plan. And your mortgage arrears are paid within the plan but usually your mortgage payments are paid directly to your lender. So the trustee will only collect the arrears on your mortgage and you should be paying the rest directly to your lender. Now your situation can be different. I don't know what the circumstances are so I can't say for sure that it is that way with you. And your unsecured debt won't be dismissed but it will be discharged meaning you won't be responsible for having to pay it back. It seems in all honesty since your unsecured is being discharged you likely qualified for a chapter 7 and you filed chapter 13 because you were unable to come up with the arrears on for your auto or mortgage.

I know I didn't answer all your questions but as you reply and give more details I should be able to reply with better answers.
I hope this helps some. Sorry you are experiencing this

[frustrated51]

Thank you.

We live in a rural area and the attorney is 60 miles away so it isn't easy to just drop by. We did receive an e-mail from the atty rather than the assistants last week. We replied, but she didn't.

My spouse filed personally. I did not. I get paid with 1099's from an employer so the sole proprietor "business" is mine, but we are in a community property state. Our mortgage is included in our payment, but we pay our insurance separately. We were originally told it would be included and they would contact the insurance company and take care of it, but now they say since it wasn't included in the mortgage payment it will not be included.

As of this morning I still can't get a clear answer about the homeowners insurance.

How hard would it be to finish it ourselves w/o an attorney?

Most of our debt is IRS and they were going to garnish most of my spouses's check that is why we had to go 13.

Before we even filed I was worried we made a wrong choice in attorney, but we had already given then the retainer.

[lrprn]

Think carefully before you fire your current bk lawyer. Many bk lawyers are reluctant to take on another local attorney's case, and to make matters more complicated, sometimes won't even speak to you unless you have already fired attorney #1. Then also keep in mind that lawyer #2 will probably charge you more to rework the case.

If the problem is communication only, have you told your current attorney politely that you are dissatisfied with the quality and timeliness of your communications and you are thinking of finding another attorney to resolve it? Often after that conversation, you'll see a marked improvement going forward. Don't walk away until you do this.

The other hard question to ask yourself is are your questions truly important enough to require an immediate answer? (Often what is incredibly stressful for us is just another day for your bk lawyer who has many other clients besides yourselves. Bk attorneys typically respond quickly when the problem really does require immediate action.) Also are your expectations about the time it might take for your lawyer to return a call or email realistic? Not saying your issues are not important or that your lawyer is indeed not being responsive enough - just encouraging you to try and see things from another perspective.

[frustrated51]

Think carefully before you fire your current bk lawyer. Many bk lawyers are reluctant to take on another local attorney's case, and to make matters more complicated, sometimes won't even speak to you unless you have already fired attorney #1. Then more pain is likely - lawyer #2 will probably charge you more to rework the case.

That is what my fear was. I was going to try to find a new one before firing the current one. It isn't that they don't answer the paralegal and the legal assistant answer, but they are wrong most of the time and when we push it then they send the e-mail that says "I looked at your file" and in the insurance case they are still wrong. They make too many assumptions.

I put together a budget based on the homeowners insurance being included and now it isn't included. I made a budget based on our take home and now our take home is changing due to changes in withholding (changing to single and zero).

[frustrated51]

dumb

I do believe the problem is that the paralegal is dumber than a rock, but thinks she knows more than anyone.

Today she says the insurance in included so we are still totally confused. My insurance payments will come out of my account automatically until someone does something.

[SMinGA]

Was your homeowner's insurance/property taxes escrowed prior to filing? If so it would continue to be. If not, you will probably need to pay it in the same manner as you always have.

Your plan payment should be based on your disposable monthly income. Assuming your spouse gave proper income/expense information to the attorney AND verified the petition included the correct information, there should be no confusion about how much you're paying. Could part of the mis-communication be based on the fact that you are trying to resolve/understand the process that your spouse signed/setup? That could be a problem. I'm not sure if the atty/etc. would be able to discuss much with a non-filing spouse.

You do have the option of dismissing and refiling with another attorney, but that should be a last resort as atty fees already paid will be lost. And depending on what has happened in your case, there could be a 6 month waiting period before you're allowed to refile.

A good thing to do ASAP would be get a copy of the petition that was filed, and review schedules I & J (income & expenses) and the plan itself.

[frustrated51]

Was your homeowner's insurance/property taxes escrowed prior to filing? If so it would continue to be. If not, you will probably need to pay it in the same manner as you always have..

No, our insurance has not been escrowed. Our taxes were. However, the attorney apparently included the insurance in the amount of our payment. But we have gotten no clarification how how or when this is all going to change because we have it automatically taken out of our account monthly. If the amount was included in the payment then we are just out the $100 a month.

My spouse is just confused as I am.

We would have to refile if we got another atty? The new atty can't just pick up when we left off?

We have a copy of the paperwork and it doesn't say.

[frustrated51]

So, we still don't have an answer. The atty counted the insurance in the amount of the house payment, but we currently pay it outside the payment. Send an e-mail to the paralegal saying "OK, so back to our original questions. How and when will someone notify or pay the insurance company so it isn't coming out of our account?" No response. Friday we forwarded it again to the paralegal and the attorney. Still no answer. Insurance deduction comes out of my account a week from Monday. So who is going to get that extra $100 that is in the plan that I am paying outside the plan?

[lrprn]

Some advice - stop emailing and make a face-to-face appointment within the week to discuss this issue directly with your attorney. You can also go sit in your lawyer's office on a day when he/she has office hours and state you are staying until you speak to your lawyer for 15 minutes.

[enginegirl]

Frustrated 51... I feel your pain.. my atty is awful about communicating.. I ask a question and never get an answer until I hound them all day on the phone... or show up at the office and when she finally responds to an email it is rude and uninformative and never addresses the original question... I would love to fire her but at this point I am so far into this ... 2nd confirmation is 10.11... I just want it all over with and be out of this g-d awful limbo land that I have been in for the past 4 months... (i'm OK with the next 60 months of payments.. including every single pay rise, tax refund, bonus.. I just want to move forward)

[lrprn]

enginegirl, it's counter-productive to post to old, inactive threads like this one. Most of the members in this thread (except for the moderators ) have moved on or are not very active currently. Also it's possible that an old thread may contain information that was accurate at the time but is not longer accurate now.

In the future if you have a question or want to make a point, please start a new thread of your own. Thanks so much!

[enginegirl]

didnt release it was so old.. consider my hand slapped..... and it was unnecessary for you to slap it in public....