I think I screwed up

[Rudolph]

DRAMA

Ok, so back in January I hired this lawyer to handle this. I made all my payments to him on time. Now, it has been about 2 weeks since the last payment, and not a word from him, so I called his office. First, let me say, this lawyer, once I made the agreement, changed from Mr. Kissass to Mr. InYourFace. Ok, I just figured that is how they do things. So, anyway, I call his office, and his assistant answers. I explain who I am, and that I needed to find out about this counseling class you have to take before you file. She proceeds to lecture me that the instructions are in thr Memorandum I was given when I signed the agreement. There are no such instructions, and I tried to explain that to her, but she was adamant, to put it nicely, that those instructions were there. Finally, I told her I would bring the paperwork down and show her, but she told me that she would have the lawyer call when he got in. After an hour or so, he calls. He then tells me he wants me to apologize to his assistant for being rude. ???? I'm confused? I explain the entire call, but he still tells me I have to apologize. He said that HE wanted me to do this. Now, I'm thinking, what the heck? Needless to say, I'm starting to smell a scam. I was never rude, maybe a little frustrated, but not rude, and even if I was, whoever heard of anything like that? So, I said fine, I'll apologize if she felt I was rude, and he transferred me. So, she gets on the phone, I tell her I'm sorry if she felt I was rude, and she actually laughed and told me to have a nice day. And then she hung up. Never transferred me back to the lawyer, and he still hasn't called with the info. I am afraid to call, so I sent him an email requesting this info. I think I'd prefer all communication this way from now on, so I have a permanent record. But could this be possible, that this guy may actually work for the creditors, and that once they have you, they drag it out, and then get you so pissed off you just fire them? I'm really worried now, because I can't afford to do this again.

[BKOnce]

Ridiculous!... Now, ya don't tell me that she... must be his mom, girl friend or.. a wife-to-be..!!??

[Rudolph]

no earthly idea. But he still hasnot replied to the email. I'll call him again and just ask to speak directly to him.

oops, take that back, he just replied with the bkcert.com info. Of course, he did not admit this was his fault. In fact, no apology for not providing this info earlier.

[freshstart06]

I hear so many terrible stories using Lawyers after paying them all that money. I really do not regret going pro se, I truly think tht unless you major issues, a lot of assets or a home to save I dont see the point. I paid a paralegal to file my BK and trust me they are good. There is a ton of BK info out there for free or very cheap. I mean I am starting to hear more success stories from Pro Se then using a lawyer. I have a friend right now that I just found out has went BK, the lawyer told her a bunch of lies, took her money and told her she did not need to pay on all of her mortgages (she owns 6 properties and was never late) Now the lawyer is telling her that she needs to file chapter 13 even though she passed the means test and is giving up the homes. My friend got another opinion but all of this is cost her money, Heck, after paying almost over $4800 dollars total in lawyer fees she could have paid down her debt.

I feel like this, I have no assets to lose. I know first hand what is going on with my case, I am not out of money I dont have to protect asset I dont have and if for whatever reason this goes soar but I really doubt it, it was not meant to be but I did not lose a lot of money to find out.

[Rudolph]

yes, a question I have now is, what if I decide to just do this myself, and fire this guy? I know I'll be out the money, but at least he can't get any more from me. Could I just get my certificate, file myself, then fire him?

[familyof7]

You should be able to get your money back if you havnt even filed yet. And you can get your certificate yourself online through cccs or hummingbird and yes you can file your self I suggest nolo book or office depot also has the bk kit you may have to hand write but it is allowed and you could also go to a paralegal service. You do not have to accept this service from this attorney.

[Rudolph]

well, he has a little disclaimer in his agreement that says "For our representation, you have agreed to pay a fully-earned, non-refundable flat fee of "

[familyof7]

But has he represented you yet has he filed yet?

[Rudolph]

no, but couldn't he argue that because he had to deal with creditors and such, that he has represented me? I'm sure he would be entitled to something.

[JRScott]

This sounds bad . You can't go into bankruptcy with a lawyer you can't trust. However I"m not sure how you could get your money back

[marzipan13]

threating suit...

wasn't there someone on here who posted about how they retained a lawyer who ended up a dead-beat, decided to go pro se and threatened to file suit against the lawyer for giving him wrong information? I don't remember all the details, but I do remember he said the lawyer offered a settlement of $5k!
maybe you can do a little searching on here and see what that guy ended up doing.... just a thought

[familyof7]

I would ask for at least half of it back because he technically has not filed yet . It could not hurt to try or you could just let it be and pray he does what he is supposed to and it goes smoothly.

[Rudolph]

after much thought, I'm going to give him another chance. I've come this far, might as well make him earn his pay. I'll just email all my questions from now on, so I have a permanent record of our communications. Got my fingers crossed.