meeting with lawyer today....nervous and excited!!

[goblue]

I'm 90% sure we're going with this attorney who was highly recommended by a close friend.

I'm so stressed about whether we will qualify -- we do pass the Nolo on-line means test.

So, what will happen today? They didn't say to bring anything, but I am bringing some stuff I pulled together and a copy of the means test print out. They said it could last 15-60 minutes long.

Also, once we pay him a retainer, do I immediately get to refer creditors to him? We hope to file late October. So far, we only missed payment with one credit card (Chase). We're not even 30 days past due but they are calling me weekly at work. I told them last week I could not accept personal calls at work. Today, I simply gave him my home phone number and told him to call in the evening.

[needhelphere]

Our lawyer gave us a letter we can send out to creditors the day we paid him. It basically just said that we were filing BK and to send all written documents to the lawyer's office directly. However, we only sent them out to the non-secured creditors as we didn't want the secured creditors come and pick up the cars before we actually filed since our car payments were already behind.

[HakunaMatata]

I've been experiencing the same emotions...excitement and nervousness. I've interviewed three attorneys (all highly recommended by others). My first gave me a lengthy list of items I needed to bring (which proved futile because he seemed to simply offer BK overviews, didn't really touch on my personal details). The second requested a smaller list of items and spent a considerable amount of time with numbers. The third didn't require anything. Since I had already compiled a folder of documents, I brought it with me.

I wish I could tell you what to expect. From my experiences, all three had very different consultation platforms. Thankfully, as my knowledge grew, I was increasingly prepared to ask pertinent questions and had supporting financial evidence.

I can't answer your question regarding creditor calls as this process hasn't started for me. I do suggest (as I learned here) that you interview more than one attorney. While the attorney you're meeting with today comes highly recommended, you may prefer someone else (this happened to me as I originally thought attorney #1 was my pick prior to meeting with him based on recommendations. After meeting with him, I decided he doesn't have a remote chance of representing me!). Even if you enjoy your first consult attorney, you can gain additional insight and perspective from others. This knowledge can then be offered to attorney #1 if you select him/her.

I think a lot of us feel our situation is really complicated especially since this process is new. Knowledgeable attorneys provide comfort and understanding. Most of us, ultimately, discover we're not so unique after all (and this works to our advantage!).

Good luck!

[downsized]

Hope it went well today! I remember having the same feelings when we went to meet the attorney we hired back in April. We retained him and I got the best nights sleep I had in a long time that night. When I called to make the appt, they told us to bring our last 2 years of tax returns, 6 months of income, and all bills. Basically the things they need to do the means test and file the case. We hired him at the first meeting and we were given a card with a "creditors line" and were instructed to give any creditor that calls that phone number. We were also given a packet of paperwork to fill out and bring back to our next appt, which was our "filing appt". We scheduled that for 2 weeks later and the rest is history. We were just discharged a week ago and it's a huge relief. Our attorney was awesome as was his staff. They made the potentially stressful process very easy and everything went smoothly. I hope you have the same experience.

[klandsb]

Well tomorrow is my big day to pay the retainer fee to the attorney of my choice. Went to 3... All different personalities and I think if I have to deal w/someone any length of time I want someone I can communicate with and someone very knowledgable in BK.. The first 2 were ok...The first one very rushed and had other things on his mind was the attitude I got from him... Number 2 was just awful... I felt like a real loser when I left his office.. He had the you got yourself into this mess attitude...Number 3 does nothing but Bk's... Very knowledgable.... Young & aggresive...
Its funny because in the last week (after not paying since last sept on most of my cc's) the lawyer offices are non stop on my answering machine....I cant wait to tell them I retained an attoney and please leave me alone !!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are the real bottom feeders....I cant ever imagine working for one of those companies....