Lawyer who specializes in bk or not??

[coffee]

There are no lawyers near me that only do bk. We have lawyers who do bk in addition to other things. Would it be worth it to drive over an hour for a lawyer who only does bk or try one local??? What was your expirience?

As you can see I'm still researching.....

[MSbklawyer]

Lawyers who do nothing but are usually "mills", i.e. high volume, high speed cookie cutter practices.

Personally, I would be more comfortable with a lawyer who does a good bit of bk, but does other things too.

[aces67]

It would depend. If you're an easy case I'd probably let someone local do it. But if you have anything out of the ordinary I'd probably talk to a BK specialist first.

[bankruptsee]

Have you called the state bar for a referral? Maybe they know of someone close by.

[AngelinaCat]

Call the Clerk of the BK Court in your district and ask for a list of attorneys. The people in the Clerk's office deal with these people on a daily basis and will give you a list of attorneys that they know are 'good people', prepared, on-time, and all that--as opposed to attorneys who are lazy, slip-shod, and just plain rude.

Tell the clerk where you are located, and they can give recommendations of someone located near you.

Good luck~~

[HHM]

Lawyers who do nothing but are usually "mills", i.e. high volume, high speed cookie cutter practices.

Personally, I would be more comfortable with a lawyer who does a good bit of bk, but does other things too.

That is not necessarily the case. Lawyers that do other things (unrelated to debt) are mere dabblers in BK, not very experienced.

It really depends on your area. Granted, if you are in a small population area or rural area, no attorney can only do BK and survive. But, every state has at least one large enough metro area to have BK specialists that are not necessarily BK mills.

[LuciluS]

Our small town of 2,400 doesn't have any Lawyers.

The closest city of 20,755 has an Attorney who only file Bankruptcies and has been doing so for 20 years. He is our Attorney and I save up my questions for two weeks, email them to him and replies within 2-3 days. One time he replied on a Saturday and we will be filing on 9/30/09 as he files all of his cases on the last business day of each month. I don't believe his practice would be called a BK Mill LOL!

[justplaintired]

We choose an attorney who deals in mostly BK, he does a few criminal cases, but for the most part he does BK. Reason being we wanted someone who we felt was up to date on all BK laws and knew the BK system. It was obvious at our 341 our trustee knew our BK attorney and they were friends, seems like we chose well. So I would say find someone who maybe does more BK then other type cases. We are not a complicated C7, I know that now, but when we went in, and knew nothing about BK, we wanted someone who knew alot about BK if that makes sense.

[jb300]

I would have to agree with HHM. I live in a rural area and I drove an hour to the attorney I am using.

I interviewed 3 before I chose the one I went with.

My experience... #1 that I saw did BK but also other things. He just gave me the packet and told me to fill it out and when I had it filled out and my money saved up to contact him.

#2 was definately a BK mill. All he did was BK and at first I thought he was the one until I went and saw him. He was rude, condenscending and did his filing in batch filing once a week and you had to conform to his schedule. Well as a small business, sole prop. that didn't always fit my needs.

#3 was a winner. He also does only BK. He runs a TV ad in our area but he was very good. He took care of my concerns. Saved my house for me that # 2 told me would have to go or I would have to buy back. That hasn't happened and #3 told me it wouldn't happen from my first appt. with him. He told me he knew the TT's and they didn't want my house. #3 worked with me with my needs. He files everyday, so we found the best day for me with my business deposits and then he filed on that day. His office staff is knowledgable and caring. I suppose you could call them a mill but he knows his stuff and I am almost through and it has been easier than I would have thought and certainly easier than the first 2 were going to make it for me.


My last day for objections is Tues the 4th of Aug. and I am hoping to see that discharge later next week.

So I say interview 3 or 4 at least and not to rule out what others might call BK mills you just have to see how they are when you meet them.

[music12]

i think it's important to have a lawyer who is on good terms with the trustees, regardless of whether they do only bk or not. also, may be a good idea to have someone local, because trustees are local. maybe check who the ch7 trustees are in your area, look up where their offices are, and find a lawyer in that vicinity? and/or go on pacer, search for all cases filed on a particular day or week, and see who the lawyers are. or, like 'hub says, see if the clerk of the court will give you some leads.

[brokeasajoke]

I went with a firm that does primarily foreclosure prevention, real estate and some (not much) BK. They are fairly large firm (several lawyers.) They were the most attentive that I came interviewed. I'll deal with the same lawyer for the duration of the case and she doesn't use a paralegal. She used to be one and got her law degree, does all her own filings (data input and all that jazz.) She knows my case to the point where she can shoot off an answer to about any question from her Blackberry @ 12:00 midnight and has on more than 1 occasion. (She has done this since before I gave her a retainer.)

I just went with my gut on it. I didn't rule out any firm because they were a "mill" or based on their specialty, for me was finding someone who at least gave the impression of giving a sh*t about my family and our outcome...

[coffee]

Thank you for all your replies and advice. I'm going to start calling around tomorrow!